New safety data on the city’s for-hire vehicles has been made available to the public, the Taxi & Limousine Commission announced Wednesday.
Packaged as the Vision Zero Base Reports, the TLC has added a trove of information from its 771 for-hire bases to the New York City Open Data Portal.
The report includes safety records like fatality- and injury-related crashes and vehicle and base safety violations that occurred during a six-month period in 2015, from July through December.
In the six months of available figures, data shows that there were seven fatal crashes involving the city’s for-hire vehicles. Five involved Uber drivers. Two concerned livery drivers from Call Threes and Jaffa Car & Limo Service. In those seven crashes, once was driver found at fault, leading to a TLC suspension.
The bases also averaged about .04 injury-related crashes per vehicle, according to the data. Bases with the highest injury rates tallied .32, .27 and .26 injuries per vehicle in the sixth month window. (Those figures belong to Jamaica Express #2 Car Service, NYC Wheels Car Service and County Car Service, respectively.)
Three bases operated cars that were, on average, about 13 years old, with the average for-hire car at about 9.2 years old. According to the data, the overwhelming majority of for-hires — 90 percent, or about 700 bases — don’t offer any wheelchair-accessible vehicles.
“These reports showcase the strong safety records of the for-hire vehicle industry in New York City. The overwhelming majority of drivers and bases diligently and responsibly serve the riding public and advance the goals of Vision Zero by making our streets safer,” said TLC Commissioner Meera Joshi in a statement. “Considering the popularity of for-hire vehicle service in New York City, this report represents one important tool to help consumers make informed choices.”
Officials and advocates hope publicizing the data will lead to further reforms. The TLC says it will commit to periodically updating the reports.
“The agencies involved in the Vision Zero effort must provide the public with information about their work to make New York City’s streets safer, and the Taxi and Limousine Commission’s Vision Zero Base Reports are an excellent example of the kind of transparency we need more of,” said Paul Steely White, Executive Director of Transportation Alternatives, in a statement.
