Uber headed for jam

Blas set to lay a new roadblock

Restart those engines! The de Blasio administration is revving up City Council proposals to slow down Uber after the company rearended his efforts last month to stop issuing new licenses for ehail cars.

Administration officials are studying how to curb the price of a fare Uber can charge during peak hours, prevent livery drivers from dropping nonUber customers for Uber rides, and help taxis develop their own app to make hailing a cab easier, say sources familiar with City Hall.

City Hall officials tacitly support one proposal introduced months ago by Councilman David Greenfield (DBrooklyn) that would restrict surge pricing to 100 percent of the base fare, according to sources, but they are examining how high to set the cap and how to enforce the measure.

De Blasio spokesman Wiley Norvell would only say “we’re reviewing the legislation.”

Uber spokeswoman Alix Anfang said the company opposes any move that would cut down on profits drivers receive during times when they are most needed.

“Uber provides thousands of NYC driverpartners with better economic opportunities and the flexibility to be their own boss,” she said. “Uber is against any bill that threatens the progress driver-partners — predominantly from the outer boroughs — are able to enjoy.”

Mayor de Blasio spent weeks trying to steer two council bills that would cap licenses for new Uber vehicles while the city studies the effect of new forhire vehicles on traffic patterns.

But the cap proposal stalled dramatically when Council Speaker Melissa MarkViverito announced her members had misgivings one day before a scheduled vote.

Instead de Blasio dropped the cap and Uber agreed to release data that would help the city with its study.

Political observers faulted the mayor for embracing the wrong bill in his antiUber campaign.

“The surgepricing bill, unlike the car cap, was proconsumer, Uber users heavily support it, and there was strong council support,” said one protaxi consultant. “De Blasio dropped the ball on this and should have figured out how to enforce the bill and then signed the bill into law a while ago. It was a big fumble on the administration’s part.”

Council Transportation Committee Chairman Ydanis Rodriguez was confident a surgepricing bill would pass once lawmakers and the mayor start talking.

“We will come out with a number that we both agree on,” he said. “For me it’s the number Greenfield can put on the table and get the support of stakeholders to get an agreement on surge pricing that will be established for everyone to follow.”

De Blasio dropped the ball on tthis . . . It was a big fumble on the administration’s part.

— Protaxi consultant