Defines the terms "commuter van vehicle," "livery," and "taxicab"

1 Co-sponsor

• Kevin S. Parker

BILL NUMBER:S5825B

Title of bill

An act to amend the vehicle and traffic law, in relation to the registration of commuter vans

Purpose

The purpose of this legislation is to clarify that commuter van vehicles operating with state and/or federal authority are to be registered and licensed as liveries.

Summary of provisions

Section 1. Schedule C of subdivision 7 of section 401 of the vehicle and traffic law, as amended by section 8 of part G of chapter 59 of the laws of 2009, is amended to include within the definition of a livery vehicle, a motor vehicle with a driver having a seating capacity of at least nine but not more than fourteen passengers used to carry passengers for hire in a commuter van service under an authorization issued by a municipality.

Section 2:This act shall take effect on the thirtieth day after it shall have become law.

Justification

Currently, under the vehicle and traffic law, commuter vans are defined as taxicabs and are issued license plates granted by local authorities. Almost all of these commuter vans have livery plates and recently have been told that they must switch to plates issued by local authorities. Unable to be a viable business by just providing commuter van services within a local jurisdiction, almost all commuter vans also have concurrent State and/or Federal authority, which authorizes these vans to perform charter services outside of the local jurisdiction that issued its license plates. The plates issued by local authorities may limit where the commuter van may operate. For instance, local laws in New York City define a commuter van as a vehicle operating between two geographic locations within New York City. Having these plates issued by local authorities may subject such vans to increased scrutiny and enforcement when traveling outside of the jurisdiction where such plates were issued.Being subjected to increased enforcement has the effect of having passengers using commuter vans questioning the legitimacy of such vans and harming the commuter van business. This bill would amend the definition of livery within vehicle and traffic law to include a motor vehicle with a driver having a seating capacity of at least nine but not more than fourteen passengers used to carry passengers for hire in a commuter van service under an authorization issued by a municipality.

Prior legislative history

New Bill

Fiscal implications

None

Effective date

This act shall take effect on the 30th day.