Councilman Lincoln Restler wants the city to create more pedestrian street areas by taking lanes away from cars. Anti-car advocates love the idea. Car users don’t. Let me explain how this can be accomplished while possibly pleasing as many people as possible.
First, I love the idea of more pedestrian spaces, wider sidewalks, increased use of street space for bus lanes and even protected lanes for bikes. Beginning with Transportation Commissioner Janette Sadik-Khan, DOT has created widely successful large pedestrian spaces in Times Square and Broadway.
Those car-free areas are booming. They are now far more exciting and attractive than they were when used exclusively for cars. And just ask the business community. The increased pedestrian foot traffic has made those districts ideal for shop owners.
Second, for bus riders, the bus lanes are a godsend. And, third, if the public likes outdoor dining (and who doesn’t), widening the sidewalks would be far better than building structures in the street.
I like Restler’s proposal. But critics rightfully object because taking lanes away will create additional congestion. Whether or not you like the science of traffic engineering, congestion will get worse if you repurpose capacity — unless there is a substantial reduction in vehicles, something doable if the right vehicles are targeted and charged.
I’m not suggesting increasing the MTA’s congestion pricing program, which is successfully reducing traffic and funding our subways. No, target the 100,000 for-hire vehicles, the Ubers and Lyfts which invaded Manhattan while paying a pittance ($275), stealing rides from medallion yellow taxi drivers who paid up to a million dollars for the exclusive, legal right for those Midtown trips, leading to at least nine suicides and hundreds of bankruptcies.
Target the FHVs because they are the biggest cause of Midtown, midweek, midday congestion. There is a reason why you might not realize that fact — FHVs don’t stand out. They look like personal, private cars.
Yellows stand out. Buses stand out. Trucks stand out. The rest appear to be private cars. NO! My studies show that 62% of the vehicles that look like regular cars are not private vehicles; they are Ubers, Lyfts and other FHVs, which shouldn’t be there in the first place.
If you look closely at car license plates, you’ll see more than half say TLC in small letters. Or go to my YouTube channel (Lucius Riccio on Traffic Congestion) to see dozens of videos randomly taken of Midtown traffic. I counted the number of vehicles of each type. Look at the videos taken in 2025 — 62% of “private” cars are FHVs.
Doesn’t the FHV industry provide jobs? Yes, but if the city wanted more driver jobs, they should have sold more medallions and stood by their implied contract for the exclusive right to Midtown trips. And the rides FHVs provide are likely rides taken away from the MTA.
Councilman, if you want to free up street space, charge corporate Uber and Lyft. Why not auction off permits for FHVs to operate in Midtown? Start by auctioning 100,000 permits. Each year reduce the number auctioned to eventually equal the number of medallions. FHVs without a permit would have to operate like a green cab.
Use the money for open spaces, more subways or (wow!) free buses. And while you’re at it, make the FHVs only use cars of a unique color (pink?), like the yellows, so everyone can see them for what they are, congestion makers.
Riccio is a former NYC DOT commissioner and former MTA Board member and currently teaches at NYU’s Stern School of Business.