September 3, 2007
Strike Promised By Thousands of Taxi Drivers
The New York Taxi Workers Alliance said that it definitely will strike on Wednesday and Thursday to protest the city's plans to put new technology, including GPS systems, in all taxi cabs. NYTWA spokeswoman Bhairavi Desai said, "Leave the car parked at home or at the garage. No yellow cabs for hire."
The city has said that the new technology, which also includes the option to pay by credit, is useful; for instance, the GPS would be able to help passengers track down lost items in cabs. However, Desai, whose organization has about 7,000 members (there are 44,000 taxi drivers in the city), said, "The Taxi and Limousine Commission is trying to ram this new technology down our throats. It's heavily priced, unnecessary and most of all it's been unproven to be operable in the streets of New York City."
NYC Hack blogger Melissa Plaut had an op-ed in the NY Times yesterday, outlining why the technology is something drivers would be better off without: The GPS doesn't provide actual navigation, it's not accessible to the driver (it's in the partition for the passengers), it costs about $3000-4000 to install, and when it breaks down, the meter stops. And when we asked a driver who had one of the systems in his cab if he liked it, he sighed and said, "It's horrible."
Still, there's been some opposing views from other taxi workers' groups. The NY State Federation of Taxi Drivers's Fenando Mateo said, "When there's no reason to fight, why fight? Ninety percent of the cars will be working, and the 10% who don't are going to be the losers." At any rate, the city's Office of Emergency Management is drawing up contingency plans in case of a strike.
Photograph of taxi sign by Triborough on Flickr
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"the city's Office of Emergency Management is drawing up contingency plans"... why? This really only effects those in Manhattan, specifically those who already live in the area with the most robust public transit. It's an emergency when people have to take the train? I can tell who won't notice a strike, the 6 million people who live in the outer boroughs and never even see a yellow cab...
I say let the taxis strike for a month or even more! The less taxis on the road will be a blessing for the city.
Oh please please please strike! It will be a gift of more days of summer, when the city empties out and the streets and sidewalks belong to us..
It would be really awesome if the Transit workers and the Taxi drivers went on strike at the same time.
boo hoo. Who will be hurt by this? rich wall street types and their trophy wives who need to get driven 3 blocks cross town.
the only people most likely affected by this are the entitled, selfish people. the people who try to expense commutation costs.
molon labe.
no taxis = no need for congestion pricing
That op-ed is terribly written. It is just a bunch of hypotheticals with little to no basis.
"The fare increase in 2004 just barely caught our incomes up with inflation, bringing us to just this side of a livable wage." What about the fare increase earlier this year?
"And since most cabs already have the ability to take credit cards, what’s the point of installing a whole new system?" I've never been in a cab where you can pay by credit card. If I have been, it wasn't well advertised.
#7 Sorry, but we would still need congestion pricing.
wow. what a bunch of jackasses. only selfish people in manhattan take cabs?? are you serious?
I did not say that, I said it's mostly the entitled, selfish types who come in to the office at a leisurely hour. who then try to expense the cab fare to work. and of course, the company pays them.
what type of company pays for an employees commutation costs?
oh I know, the CEO's and the disgustingly overpaid people in this city.
Happy Labor day to you sir.
molon labe. the true equalizer.
#6, don't forget us idiots that get stuck at work up to 11pm. My Employer directs us to take cabs at that time.
And yes, I am an entitled, selfish person.
What a Boob...
2 days and 7k out of 44k taxis?
can we try a 6 month strike with 90% compliance, pretty please?
reclaim the streets. strike for a decade, please!
hey boobass, sd.
No where did I say overtime work should not include a ride home.
Happy Labor Day to you sir.
Yes, you are selfish and entitled but not because you work till eleven. because you're an asshole.
Happy Labor Day again, sir.
Less taxis == more room for me to ride my bike to work. Can all the taxis go on strike please? Thanks!
I'm one of those who take cabs, and, I suppose, will have to reimburse myself. I did speak with several cab drivers last week, and wrote about the threatened taxi cab strike here. It was very interesting to hear their side of it. One of the drivers, who told me he owns his cab, feels that the GPS will infringe on his privacy. He wondered if he could be "tracked" when he uses his cab for his own personal transportation. Another said, "No strike. I'll just be staying at home." And another said he was worried if he takes someone to the airport, and the wireless credit card machine is not able to connect, he will lose a significant amount of money. A few cabs, I noticed, placed a notice on the outside of their rear window, affixed by their wiper blade, reminding other drivers of the strike.
I learned two things:
(1) Like most disagreements, there is a real lack of understanding (read: communication) about the issues. It would appear the TLC has not done a good job of informing, and ensuring the drivers' complaints/concerns are heard and addressed, and,
(2) I'm taking too many cabs.
thank you for that post D in man.
I find it funny that the driver does not have access to the GPS screen, only the passenger sees it.
this is another thing nanny bloomberg wants to shove down the workers throats and he thinks it's funny from what I've seen when a reporter asked the question regarding the strike today.
Man, I hate that screen that's going to be in the backseat giving me alleged information I don't need.
When I leave work at midnight, I leave a loud, bustling newsroom. And I like to sit back and look at the lights of the city whiz on by.
Yes, I know I can turn it off. But it's not needed. Do we really need another flashing screen full of useless information smashing stuff we don't need into our minds?
Strike, guys. And you go back on duty and pick me up after work, as my regular drivers do, I'll tip you double.
Enjoy your days off Osama!!
i am curious who is making money selling ads and programming on those tv screens. who is taking the 5% cut of all credit card transactions? who is making money selling the equipment and installing it? i would like to see somebody put a spotlight on them. this is not about privacy rights, finding a lost umbrella or customer convenience. follow the money.
What's just below the surface of this whole strike is really taxes. Cabbies are saying that they are concerned with privacy, and while this is certainly an issue, they are actually concerned with keeping some of there fares off the books. It's a fact that cabbies don't report every fare, so some of the cash they make goes right into their pockets tax free. I can't really blame them, being a cabby is a pretty rough job and you make very little money. If every car has a GPS box it will be dead simple for the IRS to track cabbies earnings.
I work late fairly often,and I like an after work drink as much as the next person, so I find myself taking cabs all the time, but truthfully I usually call a car service because so many cabbies refuse a fare going anywhere into real Brooklyn, so I don't think the strike will impact me much at all.
The Taxi drivers are right, who needs GPS and why should they give up 2 - 4% of there fare to the credit card companies?
I say strike! And keep striking!
@ emilydickinson: Wow. I never considered the taxes angle. Great point!
@ GaryK: The 5% is the fee charged by the credit card processing company. It's pretty standard. BTW, (in case anyone is interested,) when you purchase with a credit card, and have to actually sign your name, the store/vendor/etc. pays more than if you don't have to sign.
Also, I believe there are 4 companies tasked with installing the new equipment (video screens, etc.) I'm sure they're making a nice amount of money off this.
I never take cabs and this strike would normally not affect me, but since I just had surgery last week and can barely walk (hence the subway and stairs/escalators are completely out), this is really going to suck :(
@davidinmanhattan:
It's the other way around (maybe you meant to write this). If you DON'T sign your name, the vendor pays more (since the risk of fraud is higher). Fees, from lowest to highest, go:
Signed form
Swipe, but no signature
No card presented (i.e. online transaction)
They agreed to the GPS systems as part of the 2004 fare hike. They don't get to go back on that promise now.
I almost never take cabs. But this weekend I was helping some friends move out to Woodside, and neither I nor the driver knew how to get there. She ended up very lost, costing me almost $20 more than it should have.
There's a handful of interesting (and not black-and-white) issues at play here, but a GPS system would have come in handy.
pay attention barryap. this article revealed that the GPS systems will NOT have navigation.
@ JMH: I was not aware of that. That really puts this in perspective, and maybe speaks to why this "strike" is (I think?) only being supported by the Taxi Workers Alliance, which is not a union, per se, and does not "represent" even a majority of the cab drivers/owners.
get ready, the mayor has his "Zone" plan up and running again.
him and his friggin zones.
there is no Tax Angle, everything is on the meter.
all the IRS needs to do is audit the meter. so take it easy on the getting over on the system conspiracy.
I thought the previous hike was due to the rise in fuel costs?
@ "guest" (Comment 25.) This becomes a long explaination, and off-topic, so, hope you don't mind, but to respect our host, I threw it into a post you can read on my blog.