WORLDWIDE TAXI FOCUS from USA
NYC CABBIES END HUNGER STRIKE AFTER REACHING DEAL ON DEBT RELIEF
Fifteen days after starting a hunger strike, thousands of indebted New York City taxi drivers got the relief they’ve spent years pleading for. NBC News reports that their union, the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, came to an agreement with Mayor Bill de Blasio that will slash hundreds of thousands of dollars from medallion owners’ loans. The city’s taxi medallions were once meant to be a way for drivers to buy, operate and profit from their own cabs. But the proliferation of ride sharing services, like Uber and Lyft, have severely cut into taxi industry profits in recent years. Then predatory lending and industry leaders’ driving up the medallion prices led to inflated loan amounts and crushing debt for owners. The drivers in the programme, 40 per cent of whom are South Asian, owe upward of $500,000 on average. “I’m going to be enslaved for the rest of my life,” driver Mohamadou Aliyu, who owed $630,000, told NBC Asian American last month. “Not only that I will never be able to pay it off, my kids will never be able to pay it off.” But the decision last month means that will change. After months of being the final holdout in a sea of political support, de Blasio came around and agreed to the relief plan proposed by the alliance. Loans will now be reduced to a maximum of $170,000 with a city-backed guarantee, a contrast from the city’s original plan, which drivers said would have hardly made a dent. “No more debt beyond our lifetime,” the alliance said on Twitter. “No more risk of losing homes.” Dozens of drivers participating in the hunger strike and camping outside City Hall had some high-profile visitors and supporters of their protest including Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer and New York’s entire congressional delegation. State Assembly member Zohran Mamdani even camped out with the protestors and took part in the strike. The mayor, who held firm on his original debt releif proposal as recently as mid-October, released a statement congratulating the drivers on their win.
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“Taxi workers have worked tirelessly to make New York City the most vibrant city in the world, and we refuse to leave them behind,” de Blasio said in a statement. “I’m proud to have reached an equitable, sustainable solution that builds on the success we’ve achieved in reducing debt burdens for the hard-working drivers who keep our city moving.” Union officials thanked the mayor on Twitter, excited about the fresh start this means for so many drivers whose lives were destroyed or even cut short in the wake of financial struggles. “Thank you so much @NYCMayor for your leadership,” the tweet said. “You fixed a wrong that was inherited and it will save lives.
Drivers have a fighting chance now and know that you made it possible.” from France
PARISIAN FIRM IS CREATING SUPPLY AND DEMAND TO BUILD HYDROGEN ECONOMY
Hydrogen mobility pioneer Hype is building what it says will be the world’s biggest hydrogen station in Paris that will refuel passenger cars, buses, trucks and even boats – and CEO and founder Mathieu Gardies told H2 View there are plans afoot to expand Hype outside of Paris into other European cities. Currently under construction in Porte de Saint-Cloud, the station will have an electrolyser on site and will be able to distribute one tonne of hydrogen per day. “It will be completed before the end of 2021 and as you already mentioned, it’s not just for taxis and it’s not only for us. It’s open to everybody,” Gardies explained. “We see taxis as a first relevant market to deploy effectively at scale and therefore be able to accompany and accelerate the emergence of other relevant hydrogen mobility – buses, trucks etc. Our approach has been to start with the taxi market first and activate quickly, and deploy stations to serve the fleet. Now we have a significant volume that are utilising the stations, we can use this to encourage and accelerate the arrival of other relevant mobility.” What he’s talking about is Hype’s plans to deploy 700 hydro- gen-powered taxis by the first quarter of 2022 and target of building 20 additional stations by 2024, both in Paris. H2 View understands the time taken to recharge the battery-electric vehicles and the range was difficult for the taxi drivers to manage, so the project switched to hydrogen. Launched during COP21 in 2015, which was held in Paris, Hype’s taxi fleet consisted of five vehicles. It was the first fleet of hydrogen-powered taxis in the world. “We’re close to 200 taxis now and we’re increasing every week to meet our target of 700. We call this phase one – the
DECEMBER 2021
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