After suppressing the document for two months, City Hall on Friday released Mayor de Blasio’s study of Uber’s impact on traffic congestion. Call it a $2 million botched hit job.
In July, de Blasio called for limiting growth of the smartphone-powered call-a-ride service. Long supported by the city’s yellow cab industry, the mayor wrote in the Daily News that Uber was adding “more than 2,000 new for-hire vehicles” every month, “overwhelming the most congested parts of Manhattan.”
Facing overwhelming opposition because of Uber’s high public popularity, de Blasio backed down. Then, he resorted to hiring consultants, transparently in hope of proving that company is ruining New York.
Then, the report came in — but came out to the public months late, and only when withholding it became untenable.
No surprise: The central conclusion is that Uber “did not drive the recent increase in congestion in the Central Business District.”
Additionally, printed in bold and underlined, the study “does not recommend a cap on for hire vehicles at this time.”
The consultants examined Uber’s data for where and when its cars make pick-ups — much as the Daily News Editorial Board did long ago — finding evidence that any traffic impact was likely slight.
The report also notes, as we again did long ago, that Uber passengers do not pay a 50-cents-a-ride surcharge to support the Metropolitan Transportation Authority. Yellow and green cab passengers kick in that half buck.
All in all, the skimpy 12-page report managed to confirm only facts that were open and obvious — at a cost of more than $160,000 a page.
Blame de Blasio for wasting a huge pile of money while doing the bidding of a friendly special interest.
