Supporters of the yearlong cap, which has an exemption for vehicles that are wheelchair-accessible, say it’s needed to give the city time to study the impact of the Uber-led gig economy on the city. They also argue that it would give taxi drivers who have seen their incomes plummet in recent years a brief respite. But the ride-sharing companies and their supporters say the cap would hurt residents who live outside the busiest parts of Manhattan and have come to rely on their services by limiting the supply of new cars, even as demand grows. They’re also concerned that the taxi commission could turn the temporary limit into a permanent cap, citing as evidence a 2015 proposal by Mayor Bill de Blasio to slow the growth of Uber.

In reality, this cap would do little on its own to reduce congestion or improve the lives of drivers. There are already so many for-hire vehicles in the city that merely reducing the number of new cars that come onto the roads temporarily would not change much. If anything, it could encourage some drivers to spend even more time in Manhattan where they are more likely to get fares and less time in mass transit-starved parts of the city. In addition, people who want to start driving for Uber and Lyft would find other ways to do so, like renting licensed cars from other drivers or fleet owners — a practice that is already common with yellow taxis. Uber cars that currently spend seven or eight hours on the road could be used twice as long if new licenses become hard to get.

Instead of capping new licenses, officials should devise policies that limit the number of cars on the busiest streets during the busiest parts of the day. This would have the benefit of not depriving people living outside the densest parts of the city access to car services. Ideally, Albany would adopt comprehensive congestion pricing in Manhattan, which would generate billions of dollars to improve subway and bus service.

The proposal to establish a minimum wage for for-hire drivers carries more promise. Properly designed, it could help people who work for Uber, Lyft and other apps earn a living wage after paying for expenses like leasing costs, insurance and fuel. A study commissioned by the Taxi and Limousine Commission found that setting the minimum pay at $17.22 an hour would increase driver earnings by 14 percent, or $6,345 a year.

A minimum wage could also force app-based companies to be more proactive about matching drivers with passengers. Today, app-based drivers spend about 40 percent of their time waiting for customers, according to Bruce Schaller, a transportation consultant and former city traffic deputy commissioner . That suits Uber and other companies because they don’t have to pay for those idle hours, and having lots of cars available means customers can always get a car pretty quickly.