September 4, 2007
City Gets Ready for Possible Taxi Strike
Mayor Bloomberg announced that the city was prepared for the possible two-day taxi strike that some taxi driver groups have threatened for tomorrow morning, starting at 5AM. About 7,000 of the city's 44,000 taxi drivers (there are about 13,000 cabs in total) have reportedly promised to strike over new technology that the Taxi and Limousine Commission wants to install in all cabs. Some drivers' issues with the technology, which includes GPS tracking systems and credit card payment systems, are that (a) the GPS has no navigational capabilities and (b) when the technology breaks down, the taxi fare meter breaks down, too, costing them money. The city,though, views these measures as necessary customer service initiatives.
The TLC and Office of Emergency Management, has created a system of "amended fare structures that permits and encourages group rides and flat rate fares to and from LaGuardia (LGA) and Kennedy (JFK) airports." So, if you're going to the airport tomorrow and there is a strike, this is what taxis will cost:
Trips to/from Manhattan and JFK will be a $30 flat fare per person, while trips to/from Manhattan and LGA would be $20 per person. Zone charges would dictate fares for trips to/from airports and boroughs other than Manhattan. The City also reserves the right to allow livery hails if the TLC determines that it is necessary after evaluating the situation. Subsequent public announcements about plans will be made by the TLC.We bet that some drivers would prefer this pay system than the current ones, as they'll be able to get more per passenger.In all cases:
* If riders to/from LGA and JFK airport select the group ride option, they will be required to adhere to the flat fare or zone based system.
* All riders to/from LGA and JFK have the option to choose non-group rides. In that scenario, normal metered rates will apply.
* Tolls are included in all zone-based and flat fare rides.
* Charges apply to adult riders only. Children under 12 ride free with adultsCHARGE (PER PERSON) DESCRIPTION
$30 (Per Person) Trips To/From Manhattan and JFK
$20 (Per Person) Trips To/From Manhattan and LGA
ZONE CHARGES Trips To/From JFK or LGA from boroughs other than ManhattanIf riders choose the group ride option for travel to/from JFK or LGA and boroughs other than Manhattan, they will be required to adhere to a zone-based fare structure. The zone-based fare structure citywide charges $10 per person within a given zone, and an additional $5 per person for each zone subsequently entered or passed through. Below are the zones:
ZONE AREA
Zone A Manhattan: South of 23rd Street
Zone B Manhattan: 23rd Street – 60th Street
Zone C Manhattan: 60th Street – 96th Street
Zone D Manhattan: North of 96th Street
Zone E Brooklyn
Zone F The Bronx
Zone G Queens
Zone H Staten Island
The MTA will be adding more service to the M60 and Q33 bus routes. And the NYPD will add more officers to guard taxi strike breakers. The Sun reports that two New York State Federation of Taxi Drivers (a group that opposes a strike) were allegedly assaulted by members of the pro-strike New York Taxi Workers Alliance. When the Sun called the NYTWA, the man who "answered the phone... denied that [the NYSFTD] is a valid organization before hanging up the phone." Yikes, warring taxi unions!
Photograph of a taxi cab over the Brooklyn Bridge by paulocarrillo on Flickr
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good, more room on the streets for bikes!!!!
Why doesn't the contingency plan add more BUSES and SUBWAYS? Why is the city using this as an opportunity to acclimate people to taxis, rather than to transit??
The Mayor should also clearly urge people NOT to consider driving themselves to the airport.
Why can't we get the $20/$30 airport rates all the time? What a steal!
Exactly! These fares are going to create a whole new class of taxi riders! Terrible idea.
I work for WebEx and just like with the subway strike in December of 2005; WebEx is offering free webconferencing service to all New Yorkers during the taxi strike. This will allow people to avoid any commuter problems caused by this strike and instead work from home. Please visit www.webex.com/go/avoid_traffic to telecommute during this strike.
taxis suck!
this is kind of funny since it encourages taxi drivers to strike bust for double fares.
that said, bloomberg should be encouraging everyone to use the LIRR like i will be doing. taxis want to strike? good, strike a damn decade for all i care. all i know is that bicycling is gonna be sweeeeet without the sea of yellow, and my legs don't get 14 mpg.
People who rely on taxis for their commute are rich assholes and deserve to be inconvenienced for a few days.
Who commutes via Taxis?
oh yeah, bloomberg and his CEO's who can do no wrong in his eyes.
um, mr. mayor we have a mass transit system here, they're subways and buses.
you remember subways, don't you?
You take them every morning just like us, you even have a MetroCard like us.
I'm with everyone else on this one. Who cares? It will be inconvenient, sure, but it won't cripple the city the way the MTA strike did. It'll be interesting to see Manhattan with no taxis.
who would this really affect? c'mon, really, who?
really, who in this entire city? what percentage of the entire city of NY would this strike affect.
the entire population, how many people?
enough to make a contingency plan?
again, how many people would this affect?
the tourists? there's buses and the air train to the airport. and the supershuttle. broadway shows? there's LIRR and MetroNorth.
Wall Streeters?? they have car service accounts, multiple car service accounts. and, they could care less. they have their heliports.
What. Ever.
I don't do cabs.
This strike will be a joke.
The majority of taxi drivers are independent contractors or belong to the other, better politically connected union.
It will not affect the outer boroughs, as cabs only go to Queens if its LGA or JFK. The Bronx? Livery, er, gypsy cabs rule. Brooklyn? In de land of de dolla van? Forgetaboddit.
And there will be great weather. One can never find a cab in bad weather.
Idiots.
#9-10. If you think the rich take cabs, you're hopelessly out of touch. They have car services.
I'll split the hairs, #15.
The rich have drivers.
Mid-to-upper-middle class people commute by yellow cab.
Or low-to-mid-upper class people.
Or Upper-to-low/mid-underclass uppermidclass people.
why are people still waiting for cabs? there's the subway going to where you want to go if you're in Manhattan. and, you get free bus transfers.
unbelievable.
I'm all for people striking for there rights, but this is going to come back and bite the striking cabbies in the ass for a few reasons. First, the NY Taxi Workers Alliance is a pretty fringe group of cabbies. It isn't a union like the MTA, so the strikers aren't every cabby on the road. There are tons of gypsy cabs and car services to pick up the slack of the strikers. Most of the NYTWA don't own their medallions, so they don't have all that much clout and don't make much money. I feel bad for the guys striking, because basically they will lose out on a few days pay that they probably can't afford to lose. Having GPS in the cabs will make it harder for cabbies to keep more of their income off the books, and that is the real underlying issue here. It's about having every penny of your income taxed. Sooner or later, nearly every service industry has made the jump to accepting credit cards, and I can't see why taxi drivers are resisting, other than reasons of secrecy. The tracking argument is bunk. Every cab I've been in in the last five years, the driver has had a cell phone in his ear. Every cell phone has GPS features, so if someone really wanted to track you, they could just lock in your phone single. If this was an across the board strike by every cab driver I would support it, but since it's a small fringe who don't represent most of the hardworking drivers, I don't think anything good will come of it for anyone.
Last night I rode in one of the fancy upgraded electronic package cabs. The driver said he would be striking today and when I asked why he explained that the GPS doesn't bother him, but the television in the back seat for the passengers can not be turned off, forcing him to listen to lousy tv commercials all day. If I was forced to listen to listen to a television set that I can neither see or turn off, I might be apt to strike (not miss work, but strike that infernal talking box with a hammer.) Also, the boot-up time is unacceptable (the new gear runs on a Winblows box) after starting the cab it takes another 5-10 minutes for the new electronics to come online, that's time you could be working (I know it's only 5-10 minutes but that is every single time you turn off the motor, that adds up over the week.) That said, the new electronics were awesome; a fancy googlelike map that tracks your journey with a little blue dotted-line, stock-tickers for the fat-cats, and music videos for the kids. Bring on the strike, the weather is great and I am going to spend the day on my bike.
This proves my point that that cabbies don't really need the money as bad as they claim.
Also, many of them are dishonest.
case in point: last night I grabbed a cab from Manhattan to BK (I was visibly inebriated, but not drunk off my ass. The cabbie turned off the meter a few minutes before my stop. When he did stop I asked for the price... "$16.00" he said.
I asked for the receipt which he handed to me, it read $10.00.
I gave him a ten dollar bill and exited. Fcuk him!
Lying about a fare is the surest way to not get tipped.
So, is there a strike or not? I saw some people jump into a cab that was already busy, but I've also seen lots of free cabs today. Does anyone know what's going on?
I think people are confused about this strike--Manhattan will not be "without cabs" there will just be 7,000 less of them in the city. The remaining 37,000 will be out picking up fares.
But folks it inconveniences TOURISTS...this is Bloomie and his elite bully team's plan to 'save' NYC, by turning us into a one large support staff for an annual flood of tourists.
Customers will destroy those TVs in no time. They will be targets for everything from boogers to scratchiti. Cabbies should not be required to carry advertising.
they need a new spokesperson. That lady's voice is so whiny and grating I can't listen to her, so I don't even know what their beef is.
If these guys strike, I'm so taking a drive around the city. Ahhh, open streets, vroom vroom!
how does The GPS facilitate off the books?
there's the meter that's always on, just audit the meter. it should always be on and you should always be aware of it and get your receipt.
I keep hearing the GPS will make it hard for off the books fare, I'm Missouri,
SHOW ME.
Taxis are ideal for visitors to NY (and any other location being visited). Sometimes the complexities and inconveniences of public transit like a bus or the subway are too much to deal with when limited on time. The GPS will do more than described above, (I'm not sure why it was not mentioned) First, it will provide the TLC a way to track where and when drivers are using the cab, regardless of the type of driving being done. If a driver owns his/her cab and uses the car as their main means of transportation, this mileage/time will be recorded as working hours. This can be extremely unfair to drivers and needs to be more thoroughly examined. As a rider, an up-to-date view of where you are in the city is helpful, but as far as using such a system to take advantage of the driver's freedom is not very cool.
P.s. I am not a taxi driver, nor do I live in NY, just a visitor.