Taxi union, Uber and medallion lender push to redirect MTA surcharge to driver health fund

The union that represents New York City cab drivers has joined Uber and a major medallion lender in asking state and city leaders to create a public health fund for professional drivers — and to pay for it by redirecting a long-standing MTA surcharge.

In a letter sent Friday, Oct. 9, to Gov. Kathy Hochul and Mayor Zohran Mamdani, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, Uber and Marblegate Capital Corporation called for a yellow-cab drivers' health and wellness fund after at least four yellow taxi drivers died on the job over the summer, Gothamist reported.

What they want

The groups asked the state to reallocate the 50-cent surcharge collected on yellow-cab trips. That fee has gone to the MTA since 2009 and brings in roughly $24 million a year, according to Gothamist and a joint statement from the coalition. Changing the destination of the surcharge would require state legislation.

They also asked lawmakers to expand the existing Black Car Fund and Livery Fund so Uber, Lyft and traditional livery drivers receive comparable on-the-job benefits. A press statement circulated with the letter lists short-term disability, paid sick and family leave, supplemental workers' compensation, life and AD&D insurance, vision/dental/hearing coverage, and a first-ever retirement plan for taxi and for-hire drivers.

An unusual alliance

NYTWA has long criticized Uber for undercutting the yellow-cab industry. Marblegate owns more than 2,000 taxi medallions, Gothamist reported — once worth more than $1 million apiece and now trading near $100,000. "To have the two largest corporations come out and support, endorse our proposal — that's incredible progress for us," NYTWA executive director Bhairavi Desai told Gothamist.

The coalition said the four drivers who died this summer were facing health problems and could not afford to take time off. Named in the joint materials: Richard Coulibaly (heart issues), Khalifa Siwa (found with an insulin pen), Babacar Dem (kidney dialysis) and Jagjit Singh.

Hochul spokesperson Sean Butler told Gothamist the governor's office is reviewing the proposal and that Hochul "values the work that taxi and for hire vehicle drivers perform every day." The mayor's office did not respond to Gothamist's request for comment.