Welcome to Axis ProRata, a podcast that gets you smarter, faster, on the collision of tech,

business, and politics. I'm Dan Pramak. On today's show, Jack Dorsey tries to douse the Twitter fire

and the death of a media mega merger, which could have changed the face of local news.

But first, stopping the surge of Uber and of other ride hail companies, at least in New York

City.

Gotham City Council yesterday voted overwhelmingly to cap the total number of ride hail cars,

at least temporarily, in an effort to reduce congestion on city streets.

There were also some other related measures passed, including one that kind of sort of sets a minimum wage for ride hail drivers.

And all of this is the result of a political battle that's really been playing out since Uber first appeared in New York in 2011,

pitting taxi drivers on one side and the ride hail companies on the other.

For the cabbies, it's basically about the falling value of their medallions and tons of new competition.

So for context, there are only around 14,000 yellow cabs in the entire city.

Uber alone has 60,000 active cars, and other ride hail companies have another 20,000.

And for the ride hail companies, their primary argument and the one they kind of lost in city council,

is that they provide convenient transportation

to city residents and if public transit were better they wouldn't be so popular if new york city

really wants to open up its streets they'd argue the city council would introduce congestion pricing

why all this matters for those of us outside of new york is that what happens there could happen

elsewhere changing how all of us move around in cities

in terms of car availability and what we're paying for them.

Yeah, New York is unusual because it licenses ride hail vehicles,

something that most other cities don't,

...