NY State Senate Bill 2025-S9358

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Cities 1 Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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Date of Action	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Mar 04, 2026	referred to cities 1

co-Sponsors

2025-S9358 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A10323
Current Committee:: Senate Cities 1
Law Section:: New York City Administrative Code
Laws Affected:: Amd §§19-502, 19-504, 19-516 & 19-529.7, NYC Ad Cd

2025-S9358 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Allows commuter vans to accept hails from prospective passengers in the street; directs the New York city taxi and limousine commission to submit to the mayor and the speaker of the council and publish on its website a report on an evaluation of the impact, if any, of authorizing commuter vans to accept hails from passengers in the street on the safe and efficient operation of commuter van services.

2025-S9358 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                 
BILL NUMBER: S9358

SPONSOR: COMRIE
 
TITLE OF BILL:

An act to amend the administrative code of the city of New York, in
relation to allowing commuter vans to accept hails from prospective
passengers in the street

 
PURPOSE:

This legislation authorizes duly licensed commuter vans in the City of
New York to accept street hails from prospective passengers, in addition
to providing service through telephone contract or other prearrangement.
The bill further requires the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) to
evaluate and report on the impact of this authorization on safety and
operational efficiency.

 
SUMMARY OF PROVISIONS:

Section 1 amends subdivision p of section 19-502 of the Administrative
Code of the City of New York to clarify the definition of "commuter van"

and conform language to the authorization allowing such vehicles to
accept street hails.

Section 2 amends section 19-504 to maintain the licensing requirement
for commuter vans while removing the prohibition against accepting
street hails.

Section 3 amends subdivision b of section 19-516 to expressly authorize
commuter vans to accept passengers via street hails in addition to tele-
phone contract or prearrangement.

Section 4 amends section 19-529.7 to require the TLC to include in its
reporting an evaluation of the impact of permitting commuter vans to
accept street hails on safety and the efficient operation of commuter
van services.

Section 5 provides for an immediate effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Commuter vans play a critical role in transporting residents in neigh-
borhoods underserved transit deserts by traditional yellow taxi service
and mass transit. For decades, commuter vans have operated in working-
class and transit-limited neighborhoods across Southeast Queens, the
Bronx, and parts of Brooklyn. The continue to provide flexible and
affordable transportation to residents traveling to employment centers,
transit hubs, and commercial corridors.

Unlike taxicabs, commuter vans are limited by statute to operating sole-
ly through prearranged service. This restriction does not reflect how
commuter van service functions in practice or how riders in transit
deserts access transportation. Requiring a "telephone contract or other
prearrangement" imposes an artificial barrier that reduces operational
efficiency, limits consumer convenience, and places commuter van opera-
tors at a competitive disadvantage relative to other licensed for-hire
transportation providers. Authorizing licensed commuter vans to accept
street hails modernizes the regulatory framework while preserving essen-
tial consumer protection.  Only vehicles duly licensed by the TLC, oper-
ating under valid commuter van service authorizations, may provide such
service. All existing safety, insurance, inspection, and enforcement
standards remain in full force and effect.

This legislation also ensures accountability by requiring the TLC to
evaluate the impact of this policy on safety and system efficiency.  By
mandating formal review and reporting, the bill provides data-driven
oversight and allows policymakers to assess operational outcomes. In
communities where public transportation options may require multiple
transfers or extended travel times, commuter vans provide direct routes
and responsive service. Allowing street hails aligns the law with the
practical realities of how riders seek transportation, improves access
to mobility, and supports small, locally owned transportation businesses
that employ New Yorkers. The bill is also a match to 939-2024 in the
city council.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

New bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:

None to the State.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately.

2025-S9358 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                             
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   9358
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                               March 4, 2026
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  COMRIE -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Cities 1
 
 AN ACT to amend the administrative code of the  city  of  New  York,  in
   relation  to  allowing  commuter vans to accept hails from prospective
   passengers in the street
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. Subdivision p of section 19-502 of the administrative code
 of the city of New York, as amended by local law number 37 for the  year
 2019, is amended to read as follows:
   p. "Commuter van" means a commuter van service having a seating capac-
 ity  of  at least nine passengers but not more than twenty passengers or
 such greater capacity as the commission may establish by rule and carry-
 ing passengers for hire in the city duly licensed as a commuter  van  by
 the  commission  and  [not]  permitted  to accept hails from prospective
 passengers in the street. For purposes of the provisions of this chapter
 relating to prohibitions against the operation of an unauthorized commu-
 ter van service or an unlicensed commuter van, the enforcement  of  such
 prohibitions  and  the  imposition  of  penalties for violations of such
 prohibitions and to the seizure and forfeiture  of  commuter  vans,  the
 term  shall also include any common carrier of passengers by motor vehi-
 cle not subject to licensure as a taxicab, for-hire vehicle,  or  wheel-
 chair accessible van and not operating as a public or private bus trans-
 it  service  operated  pursuant  to a contract with the city, any county
 within the state of New York, the state of New York or any  other  state
 or  local  government  that follows the applicable procurement rules and
 regulations of such jurisdiction regardless of the seating  capacity  of
 any such vehicle. The commission shall submit to the council the text of
 any  proposed  rule relating to the maximum capacity of commuter vans at
 the time such proposed rule is published in the City Record.
   § 2. Paragraph 1 of subdivision a of section 19-504 of the administra-
 tive code of the city of New York, as amended by local  law  number  115
 for the year 1993, is amended to read as follows:
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets
                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD14429-01-6

 S. 9358                             2
 
   (1)  A  [taxi-cab] TAXICAB, coach, wheelchair accessible van, commuter
 van or for-hire vehicle shall operate within the city of New  York  only
 if  the  owner  shall first have obtained from the commission a taxicab,
 coach, wheelchair accessible  van,  commuter  van  or  for-hire  vehicle
 license  for  such  vehicle and only while such license is in full force
 and effect.  Vehicle licenses shall be issued for a  term  of  not  less
 than  one nor more than two years and shall expire on the date set forth
 on the license unless sooner suspended or revoked by the commission.  No
 motor  vehicle  other than a duly licensed taxicab shall be permitted to
 accept hails from passengers in the street. No  commuter  van  shall  be
 operated  within the city of New York unless it is operated as part of a
 current, valid authorization to operate  a  commuter  van  service  duly
 issued by the commission pursuant to section 19-504.2 of this chapter.
   § 3. Subdivision b of section 19-516 of the administrative code of the
 city of New York, as amended by local law number 6 for the year 2017, is
 amended to read as follows:
   b. [No commuter van service and no person who owns, operates or drives
 a  commuter  van,  shall  provide,  permit or authorize the provision of
 transportation service to a passenger unless such service to a passenger
 is on the basis of a telephone contract or other prearrangement. Where a
 violation of this subdivision has been committed by a driver of a commu-
 ter van, the commuter van service and the owner of  such  vehicle  shall
 also  be  liable for a violation of this subdivision] A COMMUTER VAN MAY
 ACCEPT HAILS FROM PASSENGERS IN THE  STREET  IN  ADDITION  TO  ACCEPTING
 PASSENGERS ON THE BASIS OF TELEPHONE CONTRACT OR OTHER PREARRANGEMENT.
   §  4. Subdivisions 11 and 12 of section 19-529.7 of the administrative
 code of the city of New York, as added by local law  number  7  for  the
 year 2017, are amended to read as follows:
   11. a discussion of how commuter van service areas are selected; [and]
   12.  whether,  in  the judgment of the commission, there is a need for
 commuter vans in a number exceeding the number specified in  subdivision
 r of section 19-504; AND
   13.  AN EVALUATION OF THE IMPACT, IF ANY, OF AUTHORIZING COMMUTER VANS
 TO ACCEPT HAILS FROM PASSENGERS IN THE STREET ON THE SAFE AND  EFFICIENT
 OPERATION OF COMMUTER VAN SERVICES.
   § 5. This act shall take effect immediately.

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Senate Bill S9358

Sponsored By

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Cities 1 Committee

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co-Sponsors

2025-S9358 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S9358 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S9358 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S9358 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

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Sponsored By

Leroy Comrie

Current Bill Status - In Senate Committee Cities 1 Committee

Actions

co-Sponsors

Andrew J. Lanza

James Sanders Jr.

2025-S9358 (ACTIVE) - Details

2025-S9358 (ACTIVE) - Summary

2025-S9358 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

2025-S9358 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

Comments