Revived NYC Ban On Uber Car Ads Rankles Drivers

NEW YORK — A recently revived New York City rule barring advertisements from the rooftops of Uber and Lyft cars has rankled drivers who argue the measure limits their earnings.

A federal appeals court last month upheld the Taxi and Limousine Commission rule banning ads from the inside and outside of for-hire vehicles. In an Aug. 9 notice, the TLC said it would resume enforcement of the rule and that all ad permits would expire Aug. 31.

Drivers could earn thousands of dollars each year from the advertisements if not for the longstanding rule, which would be a boon for the struggling workers, according to the Independent Drivers Guild, a labor group representing more than 70,000 drivers working for Uber, Lyft, Via and Juno.

"We’re talking tens of thousands of drivers that were going to have the ability to increase their pay," guild Executive Director Brendan Sexton said. "It was going to allow them to not drive as many hours a week where they’d be able to come off the road and be with their families."

But the TLC has seen "no evidence of drivers benefitting from advertising," commission spokesperson Allan Fromberg said. Only 70 of the 120,000 for-hire vehicles on the road got permits for exterior ads, and their owners were told they may only be temporary as a challenge to the rule proceeded through the courts, according to the TLC.

"The TLC had always prohibited advertising in for-hire vehicles, and this was upheld in a federal court decision last month," Fromberg said in a statement. "... Billboards on the roofs of 120,000 for-hire vehicles would negatively impact the city landscape in a dramatic way."

The nearly 20-year-old TLC rule says owners of for-hire vehicles cannot put advertisements on the inside or outside of their cars, including rooftop ads like those seen on yellow taxis. Violations come with a $50 fine.

Yellow cabs with medallions are regulated differently to other for hire vehicles.

Vugo, a company that feeds digital ads to tablets in for-hire cars, challenged the rule in federal court. The firm argued the policy violates the First Amendment and pointed to the "Taxi TV" system that plays ads in yellow and green cabs.

The TLC temporarily issued ad permits after a federal district court sided with Vugo in February. But a three-judge panel in the U.S. Second Circuit Court of Appeals reversed that decision July 16, finding that the rule furthered the TLC's interest in "improving the passenger experience."

While their potential was never fully realized, advertisements could have earned drivers as much as $400 a month, the equivalent of about 10 percent of their yearly take-home pay, according to Sexton.

Uber and Lyft driver Paul Klimas said the advertising firm Firefly pays him $300 a month to carry a digital screen on top of his Toyota Camry. That money covers most of his steep monthly insurance premium, he said — but it's set to disappear now that the TLC is enforcing its rule again.

"Any professional driver in general has to work long hours just to stay afloat, so any added income really helps," said Klimas, who lives in Borough Park, Brooklyn. "It helps in both time and money."

Both Klimas and Sexton said the TLC should consider changing its rule so drivers can make some extra cash.

But the TLC noted that the permits were held by the vehicles' owners, who are in most cases not the drivers themselves. The agency also pointed to its landmark minimum-pay rules, which it says have given drivers $225 million in additional income since they were approved last year.

"Both the City and State have also taken steps recently to rein advertising in the public sphere, such as unauthorized billboards and floating billboards, to protect our city landscape," Fromberg, the TLC spokesperson, said in a statement.