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Deal Struck to Broaden Taxi Service in the City

Under the agreement, some livery cars would have meters.Credit...Annie Tritt for The New York Times

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo struck a deal with the Bloomberg administration on Tuesday that would expand taxi service in New York by allowing livery cabs to be hailed on the street in parts of the city traditionally underserved by yellow cabs.

The agreement, which Mr. Cuomo is poised to sign into law on Wednesday and which ends months of fractious negotiations, would also create 2,000 more wheelchair-accessible yellow cabs. The auction of those medallions is expected to raise at least $1 billion for the city.

A new class of livery cab, with metered fares, credit card readers and roof lights, will begin to appear on the streets next year. The system, proposed by the Bloomberg administration, is expected to vastly expand access to taxis in northern Manhattan and the other four boroughs, a goal that has eluded the city for decades.

The deal is a political victory for Mayor Michael R. Bloomberg, who has sometimes stumbled when trying to pass major legislation in the Capitol. The plan may still face a legal challenge from the fleet owners of the yellow cab industry, a moneyed and influential group that bitterly opposed the bill, saying it would create too much competition for traditional taxis and devalue their medallions.

The city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission expects to issue 18,000 permits for the new livery cabs, a fifth of which will be wheelchair accessible. The city will also provide up to $54 million in subsidies and loans to encourage drivers to buy vehicles that accommodate disabled riders.

Mr. Bloomberg announced the plan in January, and it has taken a byzantine path, stymied by some lawmakers and industry players who raised a range of objections. The bill was passed by the State Legislature in June, but the governor declined to sign it, saying he had concerns about how many taxis would be available to wheelchair users.

Negotiations had been continuing until the governor announced the deal Tuesday afternoon.

“I think no one thought we would ever get this done,” said Mr. Bloomberg, who spoke via speakerphone from City Hall at a hastily arranged Albany news conference. “It’s a huge victory for all New Yorkers who ever sought to hail a cab outside Manhattan and in northern Manhattan.”

Mr. Cuomo praised the deal as an example of Albany’s capacity for compromise, and he did not shy from adding a personal touch: “I can tell you, as a boy from Queens, the cab service in the outer boroughs is truly difficult,” said Mr. Cuomo, who grew up in Hollis.

As part of the deal, the city pledged to create a long-term plan that would greatly increase the number of cabs that are wheelchair accessible. The State Department of Transportation, which is overseen by the governor, will have to agree to that plan before the city can auction all 2,000 new medallions.

Advocates for the disabled, who had vigorously lobbied the governor on the bill, said they were pleased with the arrangement, calling the deal a breakthrough in their fight for equal transportation access.

The Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade, a group of fleet owners that opposed the plan, issued a measured statement late Tuesday. “We hope this new bill has the teeth to protect our industry, and we will cooperate with the governor to achieve this goal,” the group said.

David S. Yassky, the taxi commissioner, said he thought the plan would weather any further challenges.

“I would not be surprised if there is a lawsuit, and I am confident the bill would be upheld,” he said.

A version of this article appears in print on  , Section A, Page 30 of the New York edition with the headline: Deal Struck To Broaden Taxi Service In the City. Order Reprints | Today’s Paper | Subscribe

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