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Read the press release here.

Crackdown on Illegal Dollar Vans Urged in Jamaica

 Licensed dollar vans pick up passengers at a designated lane on Parsons Boulevard between Archer and Jamaica avenues.
Licensed dollar vans pick up passengers at a designated lane on Parsons Boulevard between Archer and Jamaica avenues.
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DNAinfo/Ewa Kern-Jedrychowska

QUEENS — City Council legislation to rein in the "Wild West commuter van industry" would increase first-time violations to $3,000 and cap the number of "dollar vans," which have plagued downtown Jamaica for years, lawmakers said.

City Councilmembers Daneek Miller and Rory Lancman have introduced the Commuter Van Reform Act, prompted by several incidents in recent months involving unlicensed commuter vans.

Last September, a driver whose license had been suspended fled police officers in Jamaica, leading a woman to try to escape by jumping from the moving vehicle.

In July, an unlicensed dollar van driver plowed into a pedestrian and pinned another person between two cars in Crown Heights before its driver tried to flee the crash scene on foot. 

“The Wild West commuter van industry has gone without oversight for too long,” said Miller.

“This industry has been omitted from conversations despite often being unsafe, unregulated and inaccessible for many New Yorkers."

The so-called “dollar vans,” whether licensed or unlicensed, have been a popular way of getting around in the areas traditionally underserved by public transportation, like Southeast Queens, Flushing and East Flatbush.

For $1.50 to $2, passengers can travel from Jamaica to St. Albans, Rochdale, Cambria Heights or Rockaway.

There are about 300 permitted drivers who operate about 340 authorized vans, according to Miller and Lancman.

But there is also a vast number of illegal drivers.

In January, Community Board 12, which covers Jamaica, St. Albans, Hollis and South Jamaica and has one of the highest number of vans in the city, urged the Department of Transportation to issue a moratorium on commuter van applications.

The board said “van owners and operators continue to violate traffic rules and regulations,” including illegally idling in bus stops while waiting for commuters, according to Miller and Lancman.

Earlier this month, the Taxi & Limousine Commission declared that all legal operators of commuter vans must display licensing decals on their vehicles. 

But the councilmen insist that additional steps have to be taken. 

The reform act, which consists of two bills, would require the TLC  to conduct an annual study on the state of the vans, both legally and illegally operated.

A moratorium on new van licenses would be implemented until the first study is released.

The second bill would raise fines for violations for illegally operating a commuter van to $3,000 for a first offense and $4,000 for second and subsequent offenses within two years.

Currently, illegally operating a van carries a $500 fine for a first offense and $1,000 for a second offense.

The bills have been referred to the council’s Transportation Committee, officials said.