AutoMarketplace NYC

About AutoMarketplace NYC

Conversations and commentary on the NYC Taxi & FHV market. automarketplace.substack.com (https://automarketplace.substack.com?utm_medium=podcast)

Publisher

Conversations and commentary on the NYC Taxi & FHV market.

Category

business · news

Language

en

Explicit

No

First episode

13 Jul 2023

Latest episode

8 Oct 2026

Latest episodes

45 episodes in the feed.

1. 

   8 Oct 2026

   How New York City Could License Robotaxis: Our Presentation to Australia's Taxi Industry

   On my way to Australia in late August, I made a 36-hour stopover in Dubai, during which I rode a driverless Baidu Apollo Go robotaxi; that story is here (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/dispatch-from-dubai-riding-baidus). From Dubai, I flew another 13 hours to Brisbane, the country’s third-largest city, to present at the Australian Taxi Industry Association’s (ATIA) national conference on the Gold Coast, about an hour to the south. The invitation carried a specific brief: explain how New York City might convert taxi medallions, and perhaps for-hire vehicle (FHV) licenses, better known as TLC plates, into autonomous vehicle (AV) licenses. Put plainly, if Waymo, Tesla, Uber or anyone else wants to run a paid robotaxi service in NYC, they will need to get hold of a TLC vehicle license. This is how the early rules and regulations around NYC AVs are currently constructed. The city’s Department of Transportation (DOT) issues (https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/autonomous-vehicles.shtml) AV testing permits, but only after a company has been granted (https://dmv.ny.gov/business/autonomous-vehicle-technology-demonstration-testing-permit) an Autonomous Vehicle Technology Demonstration Testing Permit by the state’s Department of Motor Vehicles (DMV). Paid AV trips in New York City, however, are regulated by the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC). After all, one would reasonably expect “robotaxis” to be regulated by the taxi and for-hire transportation regulator. Entities and test vehicle operators utilizing AVs in for-hire transportation services must comply with the New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission’s (https://www.nyc.gov/site/tlc/vehicles/get-a-vehicle-license.page) (TLC) rules and regulations, including obtaining a TLC license. Source (https://www.nyc.gov/html/dot/html/motorist/autonomous-vehicles.shtml): Autonomous Vehicles in New York City, New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT) I have supported the current structure and have been making the case (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/pay-me-for-my-taxi-medallion-pay?utm_source=publication-search), privately and publicly, for a more specific and explicit set of regulations for driverless taxis and Ubers in NYC. I am also invested (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/no-interest-without-conflict) in the outcome, as an owner of TLC plates and an investor in Marblegate, the largest holder of taxi medallions and medallion loans. AVs in New York are a licensing problem, not a technology problem. The question is not when robotaxis arrive in the five boroughs. It is who controls the licenses when they do, and how that might also serve as a mechanism to smooth over a large labor transition impacting over a hundred thousand New Yorkers and their families. The video above is a re-recorded, slightly longer version of the presentation I gave to a full room of Australian taxi industry players at the Mantra on View in Surfers Paradise. In it, I walk through why New York created the medallion, how AVs are regulated today from Albany down to the TLC, the pending bills that would tie AV licenses to taxi medallions, and why labor will decide how this plays out. Article continues after advertisement The Room The audience was mostly taxi company owners and operators from across Australia. What surprised them most wasn’t anything about robotaxis. It was learning that New York caps the number of vehicles Uber and Lyft can put on the road. More than one person told me they wished Australia had done the same. Several state regulators were also in the room, including the acting Point to Point Transport Commissioner of New South Wales (NSW), Kate Timbs; the Director of Personalised Transport Policy at Queensland’s Department of Transport and Main Roads, Kit McDonald; and a Senior Manager from Safe Transport Victoria, Emily McLean. How Australia Regulates Taxis Sydney is in NSW. Melbourne is in Victoria. Brisbane is in Queensland. In Australia, taxis and apps like Uber are regulated at the state, or regional government, level. The three largest states, NSW, Victoria and Queensland, account for about 77% of the country's population, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics (https://www.abs.gov.au/statistics/people/population/national-state-and-territory-population/latest-release), but there are also large cities like Adelaide and Perth, in South Australia and Western Australia respectively, along with a string of sizeable towns, a capital territory similar to Washington, D.C., and the island of Tasmania. See the map below. The terminology used for taxis and apps like Uber also differs: * Point-to-Point Transport in NSW and South Australia * Commercial Passenger Vehicles in Victoria and the Northern Territory * Personalised Transport in Queensland * On-demand Transport in Western Australia, Tasmania and the Australian Capital Territory (ACT), where the nation’s capital, Canberra, is located For example, Sydney does not have a Sydney Taxi Commission. The city’s for-hire transportation industry is regulated at the state level by the Point to Point Transport Commissioner, an office within the NSW (state) transport portfolio. Like New York’s TLC chair, the Commissioner is appointed, not elected, and ultimately answers to an elected official: the state’s Minister for Transport, who serves in the government of the elected Premier of New South Wales. AVs add a new layer. Driverless vehicles can’t yet operate commercially in Australia; for now, they run only in trials. Under a framework approved by Australia’s transport ministers in 2022 (https://www.ntc.gov.au/node/362), their in-service safety will be regulated nationally, through a new Commonwealth law, the Automated Vehicle Safety Law (AVSL) (https://www.infrastructure.gov.au/infrastructure-transport-vehicles/transport-strategy-policy/national-road-transport-technology-strategy-and-action-plan/automated-vehicles), which has yet to be enacted, and a single national regulator. In November 2025, transport ministers agreed to allow conditional deployment of automated vehicles from 2027 (https://www.ntc.gov.au/transport-reform/automated-vehicle-program) in selected locations, depending on each state and territory updating its own laws. The national law won’t decide who can sell a robotaxi ride, though. Under the framework, the states keep control of vehicle registration, road access, road rules enforcement and their commercial passenger vehicle laws, and a company running a robotaxi fleet would carry duties under each state’s passenger transport rules. States aren’t meant to second-guess where a vehicle approved nationally can safely drive, but the business of carrying paying passengers stays with them. In other words, the Australian federal government (Canberra) will decide whether a robotaxi is safe to drive, and the states will decide whether it can carry a paying passenger, much as the federal government, Albany and the TLC divide those questions in New York. What Happened to Australia’s Taxi Licenses, and Why They Could Still Matter for AVs Australia’s history with taxi licenses is why New York’s approach resonated in the room. Before Uber, Australia’s taxi systems looked a lot like New York’s: a capped number of licenses, owned, traded and leased as assets. After Uber, the paths split. New York protected its medallion system and associated owner-drivers, and later capped the apps. In Australia, values started falling even before rideshare was legal. In October 2015, the Australian Financial Review reported that Uber had taken a “big bite” out of taxi license valuations (https://www.afr.com/companies/transport/uber-takes-big-bite-out-of-taxi-licence-plate-valuations-20151002-gjzxv8). Most states eventually paid owners to retire their licenses. Victoria, home to Melbourne, abolished its licenses in 2018, paying AUD$100,000 (about USD$75,000) for an owner’s first license (https://parliament.vic.gov.au/get-involved/inquiries/inquiry-into-the-commercial-passenger-vehicle-industry-act-2017-reforms) and AUD$50,000 (about USD$37,000) for each of up to three more. NSW agreed in 2022 to pay AUD$150,000 (about USD$100,000) per Sydney license (https://www.smallbusiness.nsw.gov.au/news-podcasts/news/assistance-package-taxi-owners-approved), capped at six licenses per owner, and then cancelled them. Both schemes were funded by levies on taxi and rideshare trips. Queensland is the most prominent exception. When it legalized rideshare in 2016, the state paid owners a one-off AUD$20,000 (about USD$15,000) per license (https://www.sbs.com.au/news/article/qld-premier-defends-100m-uber-spend/n6a1j14op), for up to two licenses, but kept the licenses in place, and owners later pursued an AUD$1 billion legal action against the state (https://www.brisbanetimes.com.au/politics/queensland/taxi-licence-owners-rev-up-to-launch-1-billion-legal-action-20181122-p50hlo.html). The state’s transfer register (https://www.data.qld.gov.au/dataset/limousine-and-taxi-licence-values-queensland) shows how far values fell. A standard Brisbane license peaked at AUD$560,000 (about USD$505,000) in 2014. Gold Coast licenses, in a smaller tourist market, traded even higher, peaking at nearly AUD$690,000 (about USD$520,000) in 2006. In 2026, both have traded for a fraction of that: a Brisbane license changed hands for AUD$22,500 (about USD$16,000) in June, and Gold Coast licenses have sold for under AUD$30,000 (about USD$21,000). As Australia prepares for driverless vehicles, that raises a question each state will have to answer: whether a system governments already understand, a capped and licensed fleet, should return as the way robotaxis enter the market. In Queensland, where licenses still exist, they could serve as that onboarding mechanism, much as New York might use its medallions and TLC plates. Australian dollar (AUD) figures are converted to US dollars (USD) at the average exchange rate for the year cited. Latest from AutoMarketwire (sponsored by MyTLCCar (https://www.mytlccar.com/)) * Local unions rally against proposed ‘robotaxi’ bill in DC (FOX 5 Washington DC (https://www.fox5dc.com/news/local-unions-rally-against-proposed-dc-robotaxi-bill)) * Waymo recruits New York political veterans for driverless-car push (Crain’s New York Business (https://www.crainsnewyork.com/politics-policy/cny-waymo-push-for-nyc-20261005/)) * Elon Musk says Tesla robotaxis face a major hurdle driving at night (Firstpost (https://www.firstpost.com/tech/elon-musk-says-tesla-robotaxis-face-a-major-hurdle-driving-at-night-14050423.html)) * Woman’s routine Uber ride takes alarming turn after driver misses exit (New York Post (https://nypost.com/2026/10/04/us-news/womans-routine-uber-ride-takes-alarming-turn-after-her-driver-misses-the-exit/)) * DCWP, TLC, and CCHR Issue Enforcement Policy Statement on Artificial Intelligence (NYC.gov (https://www.nyc.gov/site/dca/news/067-26/dcwp-tlc-cchr-issue-enforcement-policy-on-artificial-intelligence)) Latest from AutoMarketplace * Taxi Trips Down 6.6%, Uber & Lyft Up 6.4% (July-August 2026) (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/taxi-trips-down-66-uber-and-lyft) * Commissioner’s Corner: Access is Everything (October 2026) (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/commissioners-corner-access-is-everything) * $28,000 for an NYC TLC Plate? Could It Become a Robotaxi Permit? (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/28000-for-an-nyc-tlc-plate-could) * TLC Commissioners Voted 4 To 1 For Driver Fine & Taxi Medallion Relief. It Failed Anyway (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/tlc-commissioners-voted-4-to-1-for) Food for thought… Timestamps 0:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y) Introduction1:56 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=116s) Capitalism vs. the "taxi cartel"4:53 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=293s) Why New York created the medallion6:41 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=401s) The medallion as a city asset9:15 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=555s) Travis Kalanick and "city utility licensing"10:59 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=659s) Exec summary: a licensing problem, not a technology problem12:01 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=721s) Why NYC matters12:48 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=768s) Why NYC is unique: one regulator and the 2018 FHV cap15:55 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=955s) How AVs are regulated today16:10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=970s) Defining the zone: NYC as a geofence18:20 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=1100s) Who regulates AVs: federal, state and city21:30 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=1290s) The state's safety driver requirement23:22 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=1402s) Waymo's expired NYC permit24:17 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=1457s&pp=0gcJCWMAwfN6Pr3D) Why Albany dropped the robotaxi proposal26:34 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=1594s) Robotaxis: when, not if27:06 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=1626s) The current rule: paid AV trips need a TLC license28:29 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=1709s) Medallions and TLC plates29:31 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=1771s&pp=0gcJCWMAwfN6Pr3D) Proposed state legislation30:17 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=1817s) Why the word "taxicab" matters32:35 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=1955s) City Council Intro 9434:12 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=2052s) AVs are labor policy36:46 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=2206s) Mayor Mamdani and taxi drivers38:14 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=2294s) Congestion is a hard constraint39:39 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=2379s) Mass transit is the AV rival42:07 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=2527s) Safety, insurance and accessibility43:50 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=2630s) New York will adopt AVs on its own terms46:04 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=2764s) Andrew Milgram on medallions as capital assets46:47 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=2807s) Why this matters for AustraliaCorrectionsAt 22:50 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=DvAVSldlu_Y&t=1370s), I refer to the "New York State Department of Transportation." The city's AV testing permit is issued by the New York City Department of Transportation (NYC DOT), which the mayor controls. AutoMarketplace is New York City’s leading marketplace and intelligence platform for the taxi and for-hire vehicle (FHV) economy. Through our newsletter and podcast, we cover TLC insurance, taxi medallions, TLC plates, and trip activity across a market we estimate exceeds $16 billion, supported by our proprietary AIX, APX, and AYX indexes. We also track New York’s transition to autonomous vehicle (AV) networks. Disclosure (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/no-interest-without-conflict): We are also an operator and investor in this market. AutoMarketplace.com (https://automarketplace.com/) | YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBLspAbS3IQu-w9QaEaVyQg) | Media Kit (https://automarketplace.com/media-kit) Get full access to AutoMarketplace at automarketplace.substack.com/subscribe (https://automarketplace.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

2. 

   22 Sept 2026

   $28,000 for an NYC TLC Plate? Could It Become a Robotaxi Permit?

   Disclosure: Entities that share ownership with AutoMarketplace own and manage TLC plates and are invested in Marblegate Capital Corporation (OTCQX: MGTE), a publicly listed taxi medallion investor, lender and fleet operator. Lenny Leff’s MyTLCCar is an AutoMarketplace advertising partner. Nothing here is financial, investment or legal advice. See No Interest Without Conflict (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/no-interest-without-conflict). A TLC plate is a strange thing to exist. It is a for-hire vehicle (FHV) license issued by New York City’s Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC). The city caps (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/2026-nyc-tlc-plate-report-no-new) how many exist, except for wheelchair accessible vehicles (WAVs). It cannot be sold if you hold it in your own name, but it can be rented out to another driver or entity, typically for about $200 a week. It costs $625 to renew every two years. And the vehicle it is attached to must (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/can-tlc-take-away-your-plates-if) complete a legal for-hire trip in the five boroughs at least once every 60 days, or the plate is permanently retired. Yet a plate held in a corporation changes hands for around $28,000 today, and more if it is the only plate in the company. Fleet owners I know, and some drivers, would rather nobody wrote about that. I write about it because drivers and regulators need to understand what the plate has quietly become: the only realistic financial bridge (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/fh-avs-are-coming-to-new-york-drivers) most city drivers have to an autonomous vehicle (AV) future. The argument is not anti-technology, which is what makes it so hard for AV companies to attack. It is an invitation: come launch robotaxis in New York, and pay the people you are replacing for the right to do it. Consider the arithmetic. Roughly 105,000 plates are active, and by our count (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/nyc-tlc-plate-deep-dive-who-owns) about 73% are claimed by individuals, mostly the drivers who work them. There are 13,587 (https://www.nyc.gov/site/tlc/about/tlc-new-taxi-medallion-historic-250th-anniversary-united-states.page) authorized taxi medallions, about 10,500 of them active (https://automarketplace.com/markets), and we estimate only a few thousand are owned by drivers. If AV companies are eventually required to acquire rights attached to existing licenses to operate in the five boroughs, as City Council and State Senate bills already propose (https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7861537&GUID=B342439D-217A-40C3-95D5-7F244E767B03) for medallions, then the vehicle license is the asset that pays drivers when the driving stops. Plates make up 90% of actively licensed vehicles, so for most drivers the plate is the only ticket to that outcome, even if it carries a lesser right such as an outer-borough AV license. For plates held in a driver’s own name, which cannot be sold today, that would also require a new mechanism letting them be transferred, but only to a robotaxi service provider. Abolish the plate, or let it go to zero, and tens of thousands of drivers get nothing. That is why “one driver, one plate (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/tlc-plate-cap-part-2-base-exemptions)” is more dangerous than it sounds. It would flood the streets with cars, the same oversupply that crushed driver earnings and led to the 2018 cap, and destroy the medallion market along the way. The city also guarantees a large share of restructured medallion debt, so taxpayers would absorb part of that collapse. And renting would not disappear: drivers with thin credit or no path to TLC insurance would turn to lenders the TLC cannot regulate. Worse, handing every driver a plate makes every plate worthless. Value moves from the vehicle license to the driver’s license, and a robotaxi has no driver. Drivers would win the fight and lose the asset, just as it was about to pay them. Even before robotaxis, the plate does day-to-day work. It lets drivers buy their own cars instead of being forced to rent one. It lets drivers who could never get TLC insurance in their own name work under a corporate policy. And that $200 a week, under $30 a day, buys access to Uber, Lyft and every base in the city. None of this is an argument against regulation. It is an argument for it. We have said since 2022 (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/tlc-plate-cap-part-2-base-exemptions) that rental rates should be tracked and, where needed, capped along the lines of the medallion lease rules, that the TLC should publish who actually controls (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/nyc-tlc-plate-deep-dive-who-owns) each FHV corporation, and that plates parked in the TLC’s storage program (https://www.nyc.gov/site/tlc/vehicles/for-hire-vehicle-license-storage.page), which pauses the 60-day clock, should face a firm deadline to return to service or be retired. Fleets like ours, and Lenny Leff, our guest on today’s podcast, would live with all of it. The city already collects about $65 million in plate renewal fees alone over each two-year cycle. It has every reason to want this market stable and transparent, not driven underground or eliminated. Aren’t TLC Plates a Threat to Taxi Medallion Owners? Medallion owners are the smaller group, but their story is the one New York knows. Last week, after the memorial (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/three-cabs-no-driver) for Jagjit Singh, I met a filmmaker documenting the medallion debt crisis. She wanted a happy ending: the last owner-drivers, shut out of the city’s Medallion Relief Program (MRP+) because their lender refused (https://nysfocus.com/2024/09/03/taxi-drivers-debt-lenders-mpr-plus) to participate, finally getting relief. I told her a better ending exists. Make the taxi medallion the gateway to running AVs in New York City. If Waymo, Tesla, Amazon’s Zoox, or Uber want robotaxis in the five boroughs, they first acquire the rights attached to existing medallions. The driver who bought a medallion to fund a retirement gets paid (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/pay-me-for-my-taxi-medallion-pay) on the way out, and the city keeps a regulatory structure it already understands to collect fees and manage congestion. She had no idea that City Council Intro 94 (https://legistar.council.nyc.gov/LegislationDetail.aspx?ID=7861537&GUID=B342439D-217A-40C3-95D5-7F244E767B03) and State Senate bills such as S2688 (https://www.nysenate.gov/legislation/bills/2025/S2688) already propose exactly that. A moment of survival becomes a shot at revival. That raises two fair questions. Aren’t TLC plates a competitive threat to medallions? And since we are invested in both, as we disclose (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/no-interest-without-conflict), what game are we playing? The answer to both is the same. Betting on plates and betting on medallions is, in most ways, one bet. It is a bet that New York will not let more than 110,000 working drivers and their families lose their income without an answer. We think the answer will let in a technology likely to save lives, for pedestrians, cyclists and the riding public, and pay the people it replaces. Those people, and the small businesses behind them, paid for the market robotaxis want to enter. They paid through medallion auctions, license and renewal fees, sales tax on rides, and congestion surcharges (https://www.osc.ny.gov/files/reports/pdf/report-4-2026.pdf) that fund the MTA. Added up over decades, that runs well into the billions of dollars. A robotaxi company that arrives now inherits all of it for free unless the rules say otherwise. Medallions are the cleanest and most politically acceptable place to start. They are freely transferable, their history is understood, and after the debt crisis the city has a moral and financial stake in them. Medallion owners have earned first dibs. But roughly 13,500 medallions cover less than 12% of the city’s licensed vehicles, and an even smaller share of its drivers. A solution that stops at medallions leaves out the vast majority of drivers, who work under TLC plates. The real threat to both is a brand-new NYC AV license. It would bypass medallions and plates alike and hurt the drivers holding either one. It would also, in the end, have to look like both: capped supply, TLC oversight, insurance rules and renewal fees. New York would spend years rebuilding the system it already has and leave out the people who paid for it. Big Tech’s playbook in city after city has been to pit one group of incumbents against another until neither is left standing: yellow cab against black car, then owner against renter, then medallion against plate. Roughly 105,000 plates, most held by working drivers, plus thousands of medallion owners, is a bloc of New Yorkers no amount of money can easily lobby around. Split, they are two niches fighting each other. Together, they are the market. So the two licenses need to be described accurately, not pitted against each other. Here is how they actually differ. Article continues after advertisement What a TLC Plate Is, and Isn’t A TLC plate lets a vehicle legally accept Uber, Lyft and car service trips in New York City. A medallion does all of that, except car service, and adds two things a plate will never have. The first is the curb: yellow cabs hold the exclusive right to street hails. The second is a lighter tax load. A yellow cab trip carries no 8.875% sales tax and no 2.25% Black Car Fund (BCF) fee, and as we found (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/taxi-arbitrage-uberx-dispatches-to), that holds even when Uber sends an UberX request to a yellow cab. By our math, an identical $100 UberX trip costs the rider about 11% more when a TLC-plated car shows up instead. Taxis are also exempt from the utilization-based pay rules that govern app trips in plated cars. Add the fact that a medallion is freely transferable, and it is easy to see why one trades for over $100,000 while a plate goes for about $28,000. To be plain, including for any regulator reading: nobody owns a TLC plate. It is a city permit. What trades is the stock of a corporation that holds plates, and by our count (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/nyc-tlc-plate-deep-dive-who-owns) fewer than 15,000 plates sit in corporations small enough for a driver, or a group of drivers, to realistically buy. That is why we call a plate (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/nyc-tlc-plates-medallions-20) a modern-day radio, not Medallion 2.0. Before apps, busy black car bases like Carmel, Vital, UTOG, Elite, and Dial 7 had a fixed number of dispatch radios that traded for tens of thousands of dollars. A plate is a dispatch right for Uber and Lyft, which now carry roughly 80% of the city’s trips. If Carmel and Dial 7 had 80% of the market, their radios would trade for a fortune too. Notice where the value of that dispatch right lands though. Uber and Lyft earn their commission on every trip either way. Because the cap limits how many vehicles they can dispatch to, the scarcity value goes to plate holders, most of them drivers, along with the fleets and the city: the parties carrying the regulatory burden, the capital cost and the insurance liability. That is where it belongs. Discussion with Lenny Leff Lenny Leff built a fleet of about 900 TLC-plated cars before COVID, then pivoted to buying, selling, renting and managing plates through MyTLCCar (https://mytlccar.com/). One of his first post-pandemic plate deals closed at $16,000 for the plate alone. Demand is the other half of the price. Lenny put it bluntly on the podcast: “you can have no website and a terrible name. If they need to drive a car, they’ll find you.” He joked he could call his company ‘Do Not Rent From Me’ and drivers would still show up. Leverage like that, without oversight, is why the rental rules we outlined above matter. Our blended plate index (APX (https://automarketplace.com/markets)) is now $28,325: about $27,250 a plate in multi-plate corporations and about $38,000 for a single-plate corporation. At $200 a week, a plate earns $10,400 a year, a gross cash yield of about 38% at the multi-plate price and 27% for a single-plate corporation. Gross is the key word. The city released (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/new-city-law-reins-in-tlc-after-ev) 9,500+ EV plates starting in 2023 and could release more. Uber and Lyft can deactivate a driver who still holds a valid TLC license, leaving the plate idle and the rent unpaid. Unpaid E-ZPass tolls, tickets and insurance (roughly $400 to $900 a month, depending on a driver’s record) land on the plate holder whether the driver pays or not. Manage it badly and a double-digit yield turns negative. The Robotaxi Question Nobody can sell a driverless trip in New York today. The state still requires a safety driver, and Waymo’s city testing permit expired March 31, 2026. But NYC DOT’s own AV permit page (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/waymo-targets-nyc-needs-taxi-medallions) has said that for-hire AVs must obtain a TLC license. Lenny’s buyers fear AVs will wipe them out. He argues the opposite: if the cap holds and a robotaxi needs a license, holding a plate is “like winning the lottery.” The city could still create a new AV permit class instead. But as we argued above, that would recreate the system New York already has, with the drivers removed, and the city would have to explain to roughly 105,000 license holders why the licenses they have renewed for years count for nothing the moment the driver leaves the car. Lenny’s (and our) view is speculation, but it is speculation lawmakers have already put in writing for medallions. Whether plates get a seat at that table is the fight ahead. A strange thing to exist, and possibly the most important license most New York City drivers will ever hold, outside of a taxi medallion. The Full Conversation Lenny and I cover all of this in the conversation above: what running a 900-car fleet was really like ("900 headaches"), why he sold off his cars and moved into plates, how the plate market formed after the 2018 cap, how a plate differs from a medallion in value and in use, what plates sell and rent for, the E-ZPass, ticket and insurance problems that decide whether an owner earns or loses, and what robotaxis could mean for every plate holder. The table of contents is below. The episode is also on YouTube (https://youtu.be/T4Z9yLypofA?si=f2n6D1lUOLzj0K67) and Spotify (https://open.spotify.com/show/38veNGuxcd7nwUjQlB2m6s). To reach Lenny and MyTLCCar, an AutoMarketplace advertising partner, about buying, selling, renting or managing TLC plates: Email: lenny@mytlccar.com (mailto:lenny@mytlccar.com)Text: (516) 425-3355Office: (212) 371-2639 Table of Contents 0:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA) Intro: Lenny Leff and building a 900-car TLC fleet2:14 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=134s) From asset-based lending to TLC rentals3:25 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=205s&pp=0gcJCWMAwfN6Pr3D) COVID and the pivot to renting TLC plates4:41 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=281s) What is a TLC plate? The “Uber medallion” comparison5:38 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=338s) Who holds the plates: individuals vs. corporations7:57 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=477s) The 2018 cap and the radio dispatch rights analogy9:26 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=566s) From 900 cars to buying, selling and brokering plate corps12:04 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=724s) First plate sale ($16,000) and why drivers rent a plate, not a car13:49 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=829s) Plate rental rates: $200 a week, under $30 a day16:21 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=981s) 2026 prices and who is buying now (lenders, hedge funds)18:01 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=1081s) Why single-plate corporations command a premium19:15 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=1155s) The yield math: roughly 40% gross21:45 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=1305s) AutoMarketplace plate index: $25K to $45K22:20 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=1340s) Lenny’s services: brokerage, management, consulting24:16 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=1456s) Operating risks: drivers, receivables and “earning the 40%”26:08 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=1568s) Regulatory risk: the 2023 EV plate release and lease caps29:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=1740s) Medallion vs. TLC plate valuations and double shifting32:47 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=1967s) Financing plate purchases for drivers33:41 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=2021s) Buying a plate corporation: due diligence and sales tax35:34 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=2134s) The E-ZPass violation problem, parking tickets and DMV holds40:01 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=2401s) Insurance: corporate liability and $400 to $900 a month43:31 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=2611s&pp=0gcJCWMAwfN6Pr3D) Plate rent vs. insurance, and renting from an individual vs. a fleet47:16 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=2836s) Autonomous vehicles: could a TLC plate become an AV license?50:14 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=3014s) Medallions first or a new AV license class? “Like winning the lottery”53:15 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T4Z9yLypofA&t=3195s) How to reach Lenny and what MyTLCCar offers Latest from AutoMarketwire (sponsored by MyTLCCar (https://www.mytlccar.com/)) * DoorDash Agrees to $131.5 Million Settlement for Shortchanging Workers (The New York Times (https://www.nytimes.com/2026/09/22/nyregion/doordash-settlement-delivery-drivers.html)) * The Unseen Race to Power Autonomous Vehicle Fleets (Technology Magazine (https://technologymagazine.com/news/the-unseen-race-to-power-autonomous-vehicle-fleets)) * What should Minneapolis do about Waymo? (MinnPost (https://www.minnpost.com/cityscape/2026/09/what-should-minneapolis-do-about-waymo/)) * Waymo-Backed Group Wrangles Big Names to Sell Albany on Self-Driving Cars (Streetsblog Empire State (https://empire.streetsblog.org/waymo-backed-group-wrangles-big-names-to-sell-albany-on-self-driving-cars)) * I Have A Tesla That Would Make A Better Cybercab Than The Cybercab (The Autopian (https://www.theautopian.com/i-have-a-tesla-that-would-make-a-better-cybercab-than-the-cybercab/)) Latest from AutoMarketplace * TLC Commissioners Voted 4 To 1 For Driver Fine & Taxi Medallion Relief. It Failed Anyway (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/tlc-commissioners-voted-4-to-1-for) * Three Cabs, No Driver (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/three-cabs-no-driver) * “I Was This Close”: Inside The TLC’s Packed Hearing On Driver Fines & Medallion Transfers (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/i-was-this-close-inside-the-tlcs) * Commissioner’s Corner: Remembering The Contributions of TLC Drivers After 9/11 (September 2026) (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/commissioners-corner-remembering) Food for thought… AutoMarketplace is New York City’s leading marketplace and intelligence platform for the taxi and for-hire vehicle (FHV) economy. Through our newsletter and podcast, we cover TLC insurance, taxi medallions, TLC plates, and trip activity across a market we estimate exceeds $16 billion, supported by our proprietary AIX, APX, and AYX indexes. We also track New York’s transition to autonomous vehicle (AV) networks. Disclosure (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/no-interest-without-conflict): We are also an operator and investor in this market. AutoMarketplace.com (https://automarketplace.com/) | YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBLspAbS3IQu-w9QaEaVyQg) | Media Kit (https://automarketplace.com/media-kit) Get full access to AutoMarketplace at automarketplace.substack.com/subscribe (https://automarketplace.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

3. 

   21 Jul 2026

   David Do on Uber Lockouts, Driver Pay, TLC Plates, Taxi Medallions & AVs

   In our latest podcast, AutoMarketplace Founder and Publisher Dawood Mian sits down with former New York City Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) Chair David Do for one of the most comprehensive interviews ever conducted on his tenure leading the nation’s largest for-hire transportation regulator. Over the course of fifty minutes, Do reflects on the decisions that defined his time at the TLC: the driver minimum pay standard and Uber and Lyft lockouts (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/did-nyc-tlc-permanently-end-risk), Green Rides (https://www.nyc.gov/site/tlc/about/green-rides.page), the release of electric vehicle (EV) for-hire vehicle licenses (TLC plates (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/hertz-revel-nyc-rentals-end-nytwa)), enforcement (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/former-nyc-tlc-chair-david-do-walks), and the landmark Medallion Relief Program (MRP+) that provided nearly half a billion dollars in debt relief (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/nyc-tlc-releases-annual-taxi-medallion)to struggling owner-drivers. Rather than revisiting headlines, the conversation examines the reasoning behind those decisions and the tradeoffs involved in regulating a market that serves nearly a million trips a day: the evolution of TLC plates and the decisions around when, and whether, to release new FHV licenses; the relationship between TLC plates and taxi medallions, two asset classes shaped by the same regulator but on very different trajectories; the debate surrounding the city’s EV and wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV) mandate (Green Rides); and the challenge of balancing driver earnings against platform economics. The conversation is not purely diplomatic. Do names Minnesota-based lender OSK as the holdout still refusing to join MRP+ and extend debt relief (https://nysfocus.com/2024/09/03/taxi-drivers-debt-lenders-mpr-plus) to medallion owners, and he takes direct aim at platform take rates, questioning why Uber and Lyft keep up to half of some fares when it is the driver supplying the vehicle, the insurance, the gas, and the time. His own summary of the job doubles as the thesis of the episode: “I’m particularly proud of the fact that I was not able to make everybody happy...If I made everybody happy, that might have meant that I was not doing my job.” — David Do, Former Chair, NYC Taxi & Limousine Commission Article continues after advertisement In This Episode WATCH ON YOUTUBE (https://youtu.be/hYSCK6d5TXk?si=AJEizCkM7RDWLHDI) · LISTEN ON SPOTIFY (https://open.spotify.com/show/38veNGuxcd7nwUjQlB2m6s) 00:00 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk) Intro: welcoming former NYC TLC Chair David Do01:13 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=73s) Leading DC's Department of For-Hire Vehicles vs. the NYC TLC02:42 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=162s) "More than a taxi agency": labor, safety, accessibility & tech regulator04:15 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=255s) Working with the Mayor's Office, DOT, Port Authority & the legislature06:05 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=365s) Example of balancing act: drivers vs. rental companies vs. insurers08:10 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=490s) Do: "If I made everybody happy... I was not doing my job"08:49 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=529s) The Uber & Lyft driver lockouts: what happened09:45 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=585s) The driver minimum pay standard & NYC's unique utilization metric12:06 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=726s) How the apps gamed the rule, and the fix that ended lockouts16:16 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=976s) Getting sued by Uber & Lyft; "Maximize shareholder profit"17:20 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=1040s) The gap: insurance costs aren't in the pay standard18:05 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=1085s) Green Rides: the EV & wheelchair accessible vehicle (WAV) mandate19:54 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=1194s) 13,000 green vehicles, 2M+ EV trips a month, ahead of schedule22:05 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=1325s) The accessibility community's pushback on the EV exemption24:46 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=1486s) EV charging infrastructure: Queens Center lines, LaGuardia & JFK fast chargers30:08 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=1808s) "You're releasing a free taxi medallion": plates vs. medallions31:51 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=1911s) Yellow taxi recovery: farebox from under $0.5B to nearly $1B32:27 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=1947s) MRP+: $470M+ in debt relief for 2,000+ small medallion owners32:55 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=1975s) Calling out Minnesota-based lender OSK, the MRP+ holdout36:16 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=2176s) JFK illegal hustling: 10,000 police hours on an age-old problem40:13 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=2413s) Empower, market concentration & barriers to entry41:54 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=2514s) "Why is Uber taking 50% of the fare?" Take rates & platform economics44:57 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=2697s) Autonomous vehicles: "don't be caught flat-footed like 2015"48:22 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=2902s) Final question: advice to a 25-year-old starting a TLC driving career50:47 (https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hYSCK6d5TXk&t=3047s) Closing thoughts Latest from AutoMarketwire (https://automarketplace.com/market-wire) * Waymo And Uber Support Bad, Incumbent-Protecting Laws In DC And N (https://ca.finance.yahoo.com/news/waymo-uber-support-bad-incumbent-193227762.html)J (Forbes via Yahoo Finance) * NYTWA members joined @ NYCMayor today to shred @ nyctaxi penalties, fees, and fines (https://x.com/NYTWA/status/2079316621793882537?s=20) (NYTWA / X) * DC Robotaxi Bill Omits Wheelchair Access While Waymo and Uber Clash Over Rules (https://www.techtimes.com/articles/321017/20260720/dc-robotaxi-bill-omits-wheelchair-access-while-waymo-uber-clash-over-rules.htm) (Tech Times) * Are Waymo robotaxis actually safer than NYC Uber and taxi drivers? (https://gothamist.com/news/are-waymo-robotaxis-actually-safer-than-nyc-uber-and-taxi-drivers) (Gothamist) Latest from AutoMarketplace: * Can Lyft Fuel a NYC Yellow Cab Trip Recovery? (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/can-lyft-fuel-a-nyc-yellow-cab-trip) * Shame on Uber! Shame on Lyft! NYTWA and Krishnan Demand Deactivation Protections (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/shame-on-uber-shame-on-lyft-nytwa) * First TLC Commission Meeting Of Mamdani Era Set For Wednesday (https://automarketplace.substack.com/p/first-tlc-commission-meeting-of-mamdani) AutoMarketplace is the largest newsletter and podcast covering NYC’s $16 billion for-hire transportation market — tracking commercial insurance, TLC plates, taxi medallions, and trips. Proprietary indexes: AIX, APX, AYX. AutoMarketplace.com (https://automarketplace.com/) | YouTube (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCBLspAbS3IQu-w9QaEaVyQg) | Advertise (https://automarketplace.substack.com/about) Get full access to AutoMarketplace at automarketplace.substack.com/subscribe (https://automarketplace.substack.com/subscribe?utm_medium=podcast&utm_campaign=CTA_4)

Contact AutoMarketplace NYC

Guest appearances

Books guests

Based on episode analysis; this does not confirm that the show is currently accepting guests.