New York City's Taxi and Limousine Commission announced new regulations designed to rein in dangerous and erratic taxi behavior this week. The new rules include steep increases in fines for many infractions, probationary periods for new drivers, stricter guidelines for suspension or revocation of taxi licenses and higher insurance requirements. Passengers, safety advocates and even some cab drivers cited in news reports supported the changes. Some observers urged cabbies to use the new rules to refuse to accommodate dangerous passenger behavior, like hailing cabs in the middle of the street, which factors significantly in erratic taxi movements or stops. They also urged police to enforce rules against such passengers.

The city also announced it would expand its red light camera program, after the Mayor and City Council approved a local law increasing the maximum number of the cameras to 50. NYC DOT statistics show that light-running had dropped 30% in intersections where the cameras are already deployed.

State law limits the number of cameras to 50, and a city law had further limited them to 25. Both state and city leaders should continue working to ease such restrictions and expand the automated traffic law enforcement program several-fold.