Transportation

When you hear about big data, you might think of nefarious data brokers selling your browsing history or governments demanding logs of your phone's GPS coordinates. But the data that overwhelms our modern world is just as often being used for good and can improve our lives in completely banal ways we don't even notice—like making the buses run on time.

At least that's what New York City Council Member Ben Kallos is hoping open data from the Metropolitan Transit Authority (MTA) could do.

Kallos represents Manhattan's Upper East Side and his constituents, like most New Yorkers, complain that MTA buses are frequently late (read a previous Fast Companyprofile of Kallos here). But when Kallos forwarded complaints to the MTA, the agency would respond that the problems don't exist and a particularly vocal subset of his constituents must be exaggerating.

Few things are more annoying than waiting for a bus when the weather isn't good. You're cold, you're wet, and the bus schedule said it would arrive at 9:05. It's 9:21. Where's your bus?

Technological advancements have given New York City straphangers some relief with the Real-Time Bus app, which allows users to see how far away their bus actually is. More recently, a collection of city council members used discretionary funding towardmore countdown clocks for additional bus stops, an especially useful tool for those without smartphones.

But what if your bus is always late? Sure, it's good to know how long you will have to wait (and maybe have time to grab a cup of coffee nearby to warm up) - but is anyone actually doing anything about it?

When Council Member Ben Kallos took office in 2014, he said slow or unreliable bus service was among his constituents' chief complaints. Kallos' district spans much of the Upper East Side and includes bus-heavy 1st and 2nd Avenues. The new council member began forwarding complaints to the MTA, but wasn't finding the relief he or his constituents were looking for.

Winter is here, and I am pleased to report that traffic agents are back on duty at 57th St. and First Avenue, one of the busiest and most dangerous intersections on the east side. Many thanks to Senator Liz Krueger and Councilmember Ben Kallos for this action. It is reassuring to our residents when they see the bright yellow vests worn by the traffic agents , and knowing that we have better safety when we cross 57th Street and First Avenue.

Bike messengers continue to pose problems for our residents. They ride on sidewalks, go through the lights, and ride the wrong way. We are working with Councilmember Kallos to improve these problems. Please call 311 to report any bike related incidents. Our office will be sending letters out to merchants who have food deliveries in the neighborhood, reminding them about the bike rules.

I hope everyone has a safe and healthy winter season. We'll have more news in the spring.

—Gail S. Haft, Chair Government Committee

In New York City, Councilman Benjamin Kallos introduced an "e-hail" bill on Dec. 8 that would allow taxicab passengers to use a mobile app to electronically summon one of the city's 20,000 yellow cabs that traverse the city's streets, as well as additional green taxis that serve northern Manhattan, according to Sarah Anders, a Kallos spokeswoman. The proposal, which still has quite a road to travel before ever being finalized into law, has "generated a lot of interest from New Yorkers," said Anders.

Kallos' proposal came because "he wanted New Yorkers to have the opportunity to pick up yellow and green cabs on their phones conveniently," said Anders. "They know the fares [they'll be charged] in advance, and they trust yellow and green cabs. The future of e-hailing is inevitable, and we think this fits very well into that idea. We're very optimistic."

Note the latest proposal from freshman City Councilmember Ben Kallos. The Upper East Side Democrat wants the Taxi and Limousine Commission to approve a city-branded e-hail app. This would give yellow cabs the technology to take on Uber and others on their own turf.

Yellow cabs wouldn’t be required to use the app, but considering the impact Uber’s app has had on the traditional yellow-cab model, they would be foolish not to.

Kallos’ idea is good as far as it goes and contrasts favorably with how other municipalities have reacted to an industry disrupter like Uber. In India, for example, New Delhi has just banned Uber.

In New York, the city council is considering a bill that would not only create a similar app, but also enable taxis to be called using Uber, Lyft or other third-party apps. 

“Instead of making new technologies illegal or regulating them out of business, we should provide a level playing field with fair competition so that companies, drivers and riders all win,” said New York councillor Ben Kallos, the bill’s sponsor. 

According to news reports, New York and Chicago Cities could soon become rivals of Uber and Lyft, after they launch their own smartphone apps for e-hailing taxis, similar to Uber and Lyft. Chicago regulators permitted a plan to develop apps for e-hailing taxis. According to the New York Times report on Friday, New York City Councilman Ben Kallos proposed a similar app for the Big Apple.

The apps would follow the templates set by Uber and Lyft, car service companies that allow customers to hail cabs via apps instead of standing and shouting on street corners while jostling in the rain with other customers. But the competing car service companies have run unpleasant local laws around the United States, and Uber has been banned from Spain and India.

Uber and Lyft could be getting some new competition from the cities of New York and Chicago.

New York and Chicago could soon be launching their own smartphone apps for e-hailing taxis, similar to Uber and Lyft.

New York City Councilman Ben Kallos proposed a bill to create apps for e-hailing taxis.

"City taxis need an app of their own to compete, and New Yorkers need to be able to get a cab in the rain without having to worry about surge pricing," said Kallos, in a press release. "I want to live in a city where I can e-hail a yellow or green cab and get where I need to be in a New York minute."

If you can’t beat them, join them.

Regulators in Chicago have approved a plan to create one or more applications that would allow users to hail taxis from any operators in the city, using a smartphone. In New York, a City Council member proposed a similar app on Monday that would let residents “e-hail” any of the 20,000 cabs that circulate in the city on a daily basis.

It is a new tack for officials in the two cities, a reaction to the surging use of hail-a-ride apps like Uber and Lyft.

Regulators in New York have not yet voted on the bill on the e-hail app, which was first proposed by Benjamin Kallos, a councilman who represents the Upper East Side and Roosevelt Island.

Chicago opened a new front in the war on ridesharing services like Uber, approving a plan to sponsor an app for riders to hail local cabs. 

Chicago appears to be the only major city to agree to develop its own app, although New York City Council Member Ben Kallos this week proposed a similar app. The Chicago move also represents a political push from the American Federation of State, County, and Municipal Employees (AFSCME), a union which has organised drivers in two cities so far.