Congestion tolls & the 2022 TLC plates update

[0:01] welcome back to our uh taxi driver

[0:04] informative podcast for new york city

[0:07] drivers professional taxi driver of new

[0:10] york my name is Mario Sena for the grace

[0:12] of god and the president of agape

[0:14] transportation one of the companies that

[0:17] operate here in new york city taxi

[0:20] company dedicated 100 to a non-emergency

[0:23] medical transportation that's all we do

[0:26] agape transportation

[0:28] we take a patient's members to the

[0:30] doctor's appointment that's all we do we

[0:32] specialize on that area on this po on

[0:35] this podcast we we talk about the

[0:38] information regarding the taxi driver as

[0:41] a whole in new york city yellow taxi uh

[0:44] for a big old kind of full for heart

[0:47] vehicle and the black card also here in

[0:50] new york city so we have a couple of

[0:53] information a couple of topics we're

[0:55] talking about the the plate the new

[0:57] plate the tlc taxi and limousine

[0:59] commission which is the institution that

[1:01] regulate the taxi in new york city has

[1:04] put a a hole on the new plate so there

[1:07] hasn't been a new car

[1:10] with the new place for the last two and

[1:12] a half years in new york city on the

[1:14] contrary out of 30 000 drivers we have

[1:17] after the pandemic we left now with

[1:20] about 7 000 drivers only

[1:24] now

[1:25] the new plate they have a new proposal

[1:27] we're going to talk about that later on

[1:29] but the new topic that the heavy topic

[1:32] now is the the central business district

[1:35] tolling program that the mta the

[1:37] metropolitan transit authority

[1:40] in charge of the transportation here in

[1:42] new york city one to a

[1:44] one note they want they propose and they

[1:47] already is a proof that they're going to

[1:49] have a congestion

[1:51] of tolls

[1:53] for the people uh getting into the the

[1:56] the district the business district in

[1:58] manhattan that meaning meaning 60th

[2:00] street below so

[2:02] if you know the area from 60th street

[2:04] below uh they proposed that everybody

[2:08] have to pay now they have different

[2:09] options they went on a public hearing

[2:13] and they they were listening to the

[2:15] public different opinion on why we

[2:18] should have it why we shouldn't have it

[2:21] uh who should pay

[2:23] who uh who'll be accent

[2:26] so

[2:27] uh so private card absolutely they have

[2:30] to pay

[2:31] up to now

[2:32] and the commercial vehicle also they're

[2:34] gonna have to pay now they the uh the

[2:37] question is whether the the taxi

[2:39] industry going to have to pay the tolls

[2:42] in this case if the taxi at the first of

[2:45] all that they they suggested that the

[2:47] yellow cap the official yellow cab here

[2:49] in the city they they should be extend

[2:53] from this payment uh but the other group

[2:56] is is extending that extension to the

[2:59] the whole industry the for hire vehicle

[3:02] uh industry and on my opinion if i may

[3:05] have one

[3:06] uh i think the the taxi industry as a

[3:09] general should be extend

[3:12] from paying this uh congestion tolls

[3:15] going into manhattan

[3:18] even though in the case of the taxi

[3:20] driver the passenger is responsible for

[3:24] paying these new tolls

[3:26] that the the the the people of the city

[3:30] is going to be hurt with the with

[3:32] another expense that they're going to

[3:34] have so we're going to have

[3:36] less people taking taxes into the city

[3:39] so which is going to hurt the whole

[3:41] industry uh leave it a taxi and block

[3:44] our taxi here in the city if in case the

[3:47] only the yellow are extent from from the

[3:50] regulation but we we my opinion our

[3:54] opinion is that all four hire vehicle

[3:57] including yellow taxi uh

[4:00] liberty and blackheart should be exempt

[4:04] from the the congestion pricing

[4:07] it's going to be very expensive too much

[4:09] to too expensive for the people to go

[4:12] into the city by car that

[4:14] i agreed that it should be a a price to

[4:17] get in so that we can reduce the

[4:20] the congestion but i just

[4:23] think about it

[4:24] if you go to manhattan nowaday you feel

[4:27] the congestion is the same

[4:29] even though we have 30 000 i mean like

[4:32] 22 000 less taxi

[4:35] in the city

[4:37] so

[4:37] from 30 we have 7 000 taxi drivers now

[4:41] so even though you see their congestion

[4:43] in into manhattan so

[4:46] uh of course they have to be figured out

[4:48] the mta the metropolitan uh transient

[4:50] authority is the one proposing this new

[4:53] charge uh it's good for the congestion

[4:56] it's good for the

[4:58] uh

[4:59] for the as you call it for the

[5:02] uh atmosphere

[5:04] i mean you know it's better off with

[5:06] less card

[5:08] uh but uh i suggest

[5:11] my opinion my suggestion to the

[5:12] authority is that that all taxi driver

[5:16] should be extended extend extend from

[5:20] the charge of the congestion price

[5:23] going below 63 in manhattan so that uh i

[5:27] think it's going to be very very

[5:29] difficult

[5:30] for the driver to make it because uh the

[5:32] reduction on the on the right it don't

[5:35] know

[5:36] it's going to be uh very very much so a

[5:40] lot lot less people

[5:42] are going to be into the city by using

[5:45] our services so it's going to be very

[5:48] difficult for the for the whole industry

[5:50] so

[5:51] uh so we have no no place and now we

[5:54] we're gonna have a search er for our

[5:56] customer which are not gonna use our

[5:58] services so please authority pay

[6:01] attention to this i hope i pray that

[6:04] they take the decision that the taxi

[6:07] driver uh gonna be all as a whole

[6:10] extent

[6:11] uh from from this uh toll

[6:14] into the the central business district

[6:17] in new york city

[6:19] uh that's that's what we have so

[6:22] uh we have to be

[6:24] aware of what's going on in in the city

[6:26] with our industry concerning the taxi

[6:29] driver another thing going back now with

[6:31] the new plates uh so i i i told you

[6:35] before

[6:37] the new place for the new taxi drivers

[6:39] and new cars had been on on hold it will

[6:42] be stopped over two and a half years

[6:44] almost three years now

[6:46] uh but uh the city is is again

[6:49] talking about uh having new plates

[6:53] uh they i think they decided they're

[6:55] talking about a number they have not

[6:57] decided yet but they're talking about a

[6:59] number of 2000 new plates

[7:02] 2000 new plates that they think they

[7:05] might be enough

[7:06] for for for the industry so for the lack

[7:09] of driver we we're suffering in the

[7:11] whole industry now

[7:13] now out of the 2000 they debating also

[7:17] to whom

[7:18] should we shoot should those car goes

[7:21] because if if they they open up the 2000

[7:25] new plate for the whole industry so the

[7:27] big the big company the the the

[7:31] the you call it the

[7:33] high value uh company from downtown they

[7:37] might absorb all those new drivers uh

[7:40] leaving the the crisis for the rest of

[7:43] the industry liberty and black are uh

[7:45] the same so they they figuring out

[7:49] to who should be what is the restriction

[7:52] they they thinking about a restrict

[7:55] plate

[7:56] for the new car

[7:58] for the car that's going to be working

[8:00] either for liberty only or for medical

[8:03] transportation only or for black car

[8:05] only in that sense so they they have not

[8:08] figured out

[8:10] how to distribute those

[8:12] uh those numbers in this case they say

[8:15] 2000 new plates

[8:17] so on this months they they going to

[8:19] decide already they already have uh

[8:23] gathered they have gathered all most of

[8:25] the information now and they almost

[8:27] ready to to uh distribute those plates

[8:30] so we want to keep you informed of

[8:33] what's going on with the new plates you

[8:35] have any friends or you yourself you you

[8:38] looking information uh but as i said

[8:40] before

[8:42] so don't wait for the new place get your

[8:44] car get you your tlc license taxi uh

[8:47] your license as a taxi driver on the

[8:50] meantime and another alternative you

[8:52] might have remember if you know drivers

[8:55] you have your car you haven't been able

[8:57] to get a new plate uh you have an option

[8:59] to go to westchester county western tlc

[9:04] you can get a new plate on on your car

[9:07] now and westchester tlc we have we had

[9:10] agape we have enough jobs we can we we

[9:14] we're getting more jobs in westchester

[9:16] county so you don't have to wait

[9:18] in case you don't have to wait for the

[9:19] new york city

[9:21] plate you can go right now this week you

[9:24] can start you know in a couple of weeks

[9:26] because you have

[9:27] you have to apply for the for the for

[9:29] the car

[9:30] uh license and for you for your own

[9:33] license tlc of westchester so

[9:35] westchester is an alternative for you to

[9:38] work in westchester on the until they

[9:41] decide decide what to do with the new

[9:44] plate so westchester is an alternative

[9:46] and we have an agape transportation and

[9:49] there is all the bases that do

[9:52] vouchers they do a cash job they do

[9:56] credit cards there is plenty of company

[9:59] now working in westchester county so you

[10:02] can have you don't have to wait for the

[10:04] new york city uh plate you can start

[10:08] with westchester county it's a good

[10:10] alternative and we have uh plenty of

[10:14] jobs in westchester so agape

[10:17] transportation was uh where one of the

[10:21] it was uh recognized at the top

[10:23] non-emergency medical transportation

[10:25] service for as provider for 2022.

[10:29] so agape transportation was recognized

[10:32] as the best

[10:34] non-emergency medical transportation in

[10:37] the united states

[10:39] including you know first place from the

[10:42] group of transportation big

[10:44] companies in the in

[10:46] that operate in the whole united states

[10:49] we were selected by the healthcare uh

[10:52] uh is a magazine it's a magazine that

[10:55] they find out about us and they do a

[10:58] review and we're going to show you you

[11:00] see it now in the screen hopefully

[11:02] the engineer is putting that there so we

[11:05] at agape will recognize that the number

[11:07] one non-emergency non-emergency medical

[11:10] transportation

[11:12] in the united states it's a it's a is a

[11:15] blessing for us it's a it's a privilege

[11:17] we we feel honored

[11:19] uh

[11:20] for that recognition of course

[11:23] because of you the drivers because of

[11:26] the drivers of agape transportation

[11:29] we've been recognized in different

[11:31] occasions uh

[11:32] [Music]

[11:34] magazine in indy 500

[11:36] [Music]

[11:38] what was this other company big

[11:41] magazine from new york

[11:44] we've been recognized for a couple of

[11:46] magazines and this lately that was uh

[11:48] two weeks ago that we recognized for

[11:50] this medical

[11:53] magazine it's a medical magazine that

[11:56] that recognizes agape transportation as

[11:58] the number one we're going to have the

[12:00] link that you can see that the

[12:02] you can see the uh

[12:04] the interview that they did to us

[12:07] and we feel very proud of our company

[12:10] and we feel very we feel very proud of

[12:13] agape drivers of course our employees

[12:16] everybody in the 45 of them

[12:19] in the office doing the best the best

[12:22] for the customer and for the drivers

[12:25] always so agape transportation number

[12:28] one

[12:29] transportation company

[12:31] in in the united states for 2022.

[12:34] thank you to all of you we appreciate

[12:37] thank you thank you very much

[12:39] so

[12:40] [Music]

[12:41] uh

[12:42] what else do we have if you have any

[12:44] questions do you have any suggestions

[12:45] you can you can

[12:47] go right ahead and we might ask you

[12:49] before even the the you can now you can

[12:51] now click click there

[12:54] the comment comment okay you can comment

[12:56] you can comment now

[12:58] live over there was not live but you can

[13:02] comment and uh you know and then we we

[13:05] if you have any questions we can answer

[13:07] uh on the next podcast do you have any

[13:09] suggestions for us any any topic that

[13:12] you really want to us to talk about

[13:15] we here open for you so agape

[13:17] transportation is a non-emerging

[13:19] american transportation here in the city

[13:21] of new york

[13:22] we cover the fight border with chester

[13:24] and long island we go all the way long

[13:27] distance if we can get by car from the

[13:29] city we go anywhere

[13:31] in this this past week we've been in

[13:34] buffalo new york from new york city to

[13:36] buffalo from new york city to binghamton

[13:39] from new york city to middletown we have

[13:43] plenty of long distance calls

[13:45] [Music]

[13:46] you only have to be there with the

[13:48] application open agape transportation

[13:50] open we have job in long island people

[13:53] that work the drivers that work only in

[13:54] long island long island to long island

[13:56] long island to queens queens to queen is

[13:58] up to you you can see on our app uh the

[14:02] drivers app where the the customer is

[14:05] going which borrow the call is going to

[14:08] uh most of the time you you even see the

[14:10] price the price that we paid to you

[14:13] uh it's amazing that we have a driver

[14:16] last week we announced the driver the 29

[14:18] days it makes

[14:20] seven thousand dollar plus seven

[14:22] thousand in 29 days and new drivers so

[14:25] every day we have a new driver than

[14:27] scott

[14:28] and we we're getting more jobs uh thanks

[14:32] uh to those uh new drivers that we can

[14:34] cover and we can accept more jobs job we

[14:38] can have you know almost unlimited as i

[14:40] tell you the last i told you the last

[14:42] time so when we need some driving that

[14:45] much even though we have close to uh we

[14:47] passed seven 700 drivers now we need

[14:50] more drivers because there is more jobs

[14:52] to be covered out there so as i said at

[14:56] the beginning my name is Mario Sena

[14:58] president of agape transportation here

[15:00] in new york city we're here to serve you

[15:02] any questions that you may have

[15:04] we want to help you we want the best for

[15:07] the industry if you eat the in the base

[15:09] that you're working now you're not

[15:11] satisfied

[15:12] that you you open to to inquire about

[15:15] our services and how much you can make

[15:18] with us if you're happy with your base

[15:20] stay there no problem so those drivers

[15:23] are not making enough money and whatever

[15:26] they're working now you we're open for

[15:28] you so we need drivers we have plenty of

[15:30] jobs and

[15:32] that's it

[15:33] uh we appreciate your attention and uh

[15:36] as i said any suggestion any any

[15:38] questions you may have

[15:40] you you can

[15:42] right there inquire or you can you can

[15:44] call us at uh our main line

[15:46] 718

[15:48] 538-2222

[15:52] 585 oh just checking if you are aware

[15:54] that 718 585

[15:57] 2222

[15:59] 585 2222 with the 71a

[16:02] area code we are our main headquarters

[16:06] 361 is gone hill road here in the

[16:09] beautiful downtown

[16:11] bronx new york

[16:13] the the borough of the yankees

[16:16] in new york city so

[16:18] thank you very much i appreciate your

[16:20] attention my name is maria sena any

[16:22] questions we're here to serve you thank

[16:24] you very much