Cruz berates ex-city chief on Uber regs

Texas Republican Sen. Ted Cruz took sharp aim Wednesday at New York’s former transportation chief over e-hail regulations, stepping off the hot seat he occupied after vacationing during a natural disaster to rail about the “hostile regulatory” environment in big cities.

During former city Transportation Commissioner Polly Trottenberg’s confirmation hearing to be President Biden’s deputy Transportation secretary, Cruz berated her over regs on Uber and Lyft, hailing both companies for their “tremendous innovation” and calling the strictures “draconian.”

Cruz quoted a 2019 Daily News article detailing a plan by Mayor de Blasio to limit the amount of time e-hail drivers can spend in the busiest parts of Manhattan without a passenger. The regulation was thrown out by a Manhattan judge.

“These services almost immediately encountered hostile regulatory environs from big cities [when they launched],” said Cruz. “Why did you support draconian regulations on Uber and Lyft, and how is that consistent with promoting innovation and transportation?”

Trottenberg countered the regulations came in response to the growing number of vehicles the companies had on city streets, which ballooned to 80,000 by 2019.