Uber thinks L-train riders will be so desperate for transportation during the MTA’s planned shutdown of their subway line in 2019 that they’ll be willing to carpool with total strangers.
The app-hail car service is trying to win approval for a program that would match average-Joe drivers with riders headed in their direction, with the company paying the motorists.
Uber wants to implement the program without requiring private drivers to go through the Taxi and Limousine Commission’s training and drug tests.
Company officials said they were unsure how drivers would be paid. It was unclear whether passengers would be charged a fee.
Commuters were suspicious.
“I don’t know if my driver will be a sex offender or a criminal who murdered someone,” said Dorlisa St. Jean, 22, of Jackson Heights, Queens. “Will I end up risking my life for a ride?’
Josh Mohrer, Uber NYC’s general manager, floated the idea in a piece posted on the company’s Web site Thursday morning.
He said the move could clear a quarter of the vehicles off the Williamsburg Bridge, making room for a bus-only lane to move even more people. About 11,000 vehicles cross the bridge from Brooklyn to Manhattan each weekday morning.
“Right now, nearly all of the cars cross the bridge with empty seats,” Mohrer wrote. “If we can get a majority of these commuters to share a ride — instead of taking their own car — we can reduce traffic across the Williamsburg Bridge and give the BRT [bus rapid transit] the dedicated lane it needs to run.”
The MTA plans to shut down the L train between Brooklyn and Manhattan for a year and a half starting in 2019 to repair the Canarsie tunnel, which was severely damaged during Hurricane Sandy.
City officials said they won’t be needing Uber’s help.
“We are working with the MTA and all of our regulated industries to mitigate against any transportation gaps created by the L shutdown,” said TLC Commissioner Meera Joshi.
Taxi-industry advocates blasted Uber’s idea and called it a threat to the city’s Vision Zero efforts to reduce roadway fatalities.
“Uber’s absurd proposal is a street-safety disaster waiting to happen,” said David Beier, president of the Committee for Taxi Safety. “If the TLC even considers this dangerous proposal, it will be turning its back on public safety and everything Vision Zero stands for.”
Additional reporting by Elizabeth Rosner