Great news for clowns — terrible news for cabbies.
Cars will be required to have three or more passengers to drive over the Williamsburg Bridge in rush hours during the upcoming L train shutdown, MTA and city officials announced Wednesday.
The restrictions — designed to free up more space for buses during the 15-month closure — will extend to yellow taxis and Ubers, and were immediately slammed as “ridiculous” by industry advocates.
“There’s no guarantee that a driver is going to get group rides,and you can’t penalize a driver for that,” New York Taxi Workers Alliance Executive Director Bhairavi Desai told The Post following the announcement.
But Uber — which already runs a popular pool service — welcomed the news that will give it a leg-up on the competition.
“We support the MTA’s efforts to ensure that Brooklyn residents have an affordable, reliable way to get around during the L train construction. UberPOOL is our fastest growing product in New York City and we encourage Brooklynites to use this option when commuting,” spokeswoman Alix Anfang said.
The long-awaited plan for reducing headaches caused by the subway shutdown also includes nixing cars from a stretch of 14th Street in Manhattan — from Third Avenue to Ninth Avenue eastbound, and Third Avenue to Eighth Avenue westbound — to make way for an exclusive “busway.”
Meanwhile, there will be three new bus routes between Brooklyn and Manhattan that will drop riders near subway stops at Delancey Street, Spring Street, and Broadway-Lafayette.
The agency anticipates that around 15 percent of would-be L riders will switch to buses, MTA Managing Director Ronnie Hakim said.
The city also plans to add a new ferry route between North Williamsburg and around E. 20th Street, and a new two-way crosstown bike lane along 13th Street.
And the MTA will increase service on the G and JMZ lines, lengthen G and C trains — and add free transfers between the Broadway and Lorimer-Hewes stops, and the Junius Street and Livonia Avenue stations.
The repairs — to mend damage to the L-train tunnel caused by Hurricane Sandy — are expected to start in April 2019.