Uber's NYC Bases Are All Open For Business Again

According to Newsweek's report, all six of Uber's bases, including the five suspended ones - Weiter LLC, Hinter LLC, Schmecken LLC, Danach-NY LLC and Unter LLC - were open for business again by Wednesday morning.

In documents obtained by Newsweek, the previously closed bases were all labeled "Office-Status: Current in Business," with Thursday's date.

Five of the six bases that Uber runs in New York City were suspended earlier this week after Uber refused to disclose ride records. The TLC requested Uber divulge "the date of trip, time of trip, pick up location, and license numbers" over a finite period. 

The decision was handed down Tuesday by OATH, a New York City agency called the Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings.

It's not clear if Uber ultimately handed over the data the TLC requested. TLC spokesperson Allan Fromberg told Newsweek, "I've been informed that they filed an appeal of the OATH decision, which allows for them to operate with a temporary license until the appeal is decided."

The TLC's authority to request ride information comes from a rule that says "a Licensee must truthfully answer all questions and comply with all communications, directives, and summonses from the Commission or its representatives."

The TLC held a public meeting in October that focused in part on trip data for companies like Lyft and Uber. Uber's New York City general manager Josh Mohrer was critical of the TLC's need to collect rider data from Uber. According to Betabeat, he said, "The spirit of the guidelines was before there was trip data. I think that wanting data for data's sake is not necessarily appropriate but wanting data for the sake of knowing where drivers are and when is appropriate."

Rider data could be quite beneficial to New York City. The Washington Post's Emily Badger points out that anonymized versions of Uber's rider data could "help cities verify that Uber drivers aren't discriminating against certain neighborhoods or disabled passengers, that Uber is actually weeding out drivers who do, that the company is truly serving the public in exchange for the public's confidence in it."

The Washington Post says trip data could also help transportation planners analyze people's travel routes, and city planners might be able to better plan infrastructure and handle traffic flow in cities.