Vans Vs. Buses: Swarm of Unlicensed Operators Battles MTA for Street Space and Commuters
As legitimate dollar van operators get priced out by high insurance rates, off-the-books competitors are taking their place. This article originally appeared in The City. By Jose Martinez QUEENS - Even as licensed “dollar vans” all but vanish from city streets, unregulated commuter carriers remain obstacles to MTA buses in parts of Brooklyn and Queens. The number of Taxi and Limousine Commission–affiliated commuter vans in service has shrunk by 93% since 2015, TLC data shows, with just 39 such vehicles still licensed to operate as of this week — down from 215 a decade ago. But MTA officials and union representatives for the agency’s bus operators say the official dollar van downturn has given way to a boom in unlicensed commuter vans that clog bus stops and bus lanes, further slowing buses that poke along at an average citywide speed of 8.1 mph. “You have to stop short of the bus stop or in the middle of the street, because the dollar vans are ever...