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Facing Budget Deadline, Uber Makes Pitch For Upstate NY

ride-hailing app
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Uber and Lyft are making their final push to expand into upstate New York ahead of a key legislative deadline.

The two app-based ride-hailing services are hoping legislators include in the budget their proposal to expand into cities like Buffalo, Syracuse, Rochester and Albany. Uber and Lyft are now limited to the New York City area.

As part of the effort, Uber is launching a television advertisement this week and emailing upstate New Yorkers urging them to lobby their lawmakers.

Democratic Gov. Andrew Cuomo and the Republican-led state Senate support legislation to allow the expansion.

An alternative proposal in the Democratic Assembly would subject ride-hailing companies to local regulation.

Lawmakers plan to vote on a state budget before Saturday, the first day of the new fiscal year.

Copyright 2017 The Associated Press.

Dave Lucas is WAMC’s Capital Region Bureau Chief. Born and raised in Albany, he’s been involved in nearly every aspect of local radio since 1981. Before joining WAMC, Dave was a reporter and anchor at WGY in Schenectady. Prior to that he hosted talk shows on WYJB and WROW, including the 1999 series of overnight radio broadcasts tracking the JonBenet Ramsey murder case with a cast of callers and characters from all over the world via the internet. In 2012, Dave received a Communicator Award of Distinction for his WAMC news story "Fail: The NYS Flood Panel," which explores whether the damage from Hurricane Irene and Tropical Storm Lee could have been prevented or at least curbed. Dave began his radio career as a “morning personality” at WABY in Albany.
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