Epstein asks whether TLC inspectors could also enforce pedicab laws
Epstein asks whether TLC inspectors in Times Square could enforce illegal taxi and pedicab violations with the same staff. Goldapper says TLC does not know the pedicab industry and that enforcement alone is not a panacea; education and stakeholder engagement are also needed.
Just one more question for you, if I could.
So increased enforcement, increased authority on enforcement.
Could those same inspectors, if they're sitting in
Times Square, do enforcement for an illegal cab or illegal TLC cab, or an illegal pedicab?
Could they be, and that person could actually do the same thing, or you'd have to hire a separate division of people to do pedicabs?
Well, it's somewhat of a difficult question, given the complexities.
We do not know the pedicab industry.
Something you can learn, obviously.
People can learn.
Absolutely.
One thing to keep in mind is we don't believe...
Enforcement alone is sort of the panacea to the industry.
We've learned that with our own experience in enforcing against unlicensed for hire activity.
It requires significant education for the public, for one, to try to remove the demand for unlicensed activity.
As well as an understanding and stakeholder engagement with the industries to understand what are the barriers for entry, what's precluding individuals from actually getting licensed and doing what they're supposed to be doing,
and getting to those root causes.
So it's more than just enforcement in order to achieve the results.