[Update Below] That "Taxi of Tomorrow" that Mayor Bloomberg so happily showed off last month may not be hitting the streets as fast as Nissan and the TLC might hope. In the latest blow to the handicap inaccessible vehicle, thorn in Bloomberg's side Comptroller John Liu has written to the mayor making a strong argument that the city needs to rethink the contract or prepare to have it sent back by his office.
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Results tagged “tlc”
Comptroller To Bloomberg: Make Cabs Wheelchair Accessible!
The New "Boro Taxi" Livery Cab Color Is...Puke Green?
Unlike the manic, Brangelina-esque unveiling of the Taxi of Tomorrow earlier this month, today's debut of, uh, Our Lady of Livery, was decidedly more low-key. “Apple Green is very fitting for the new Boro Taxis,” TLC Commissioner David Yassky says in a release. “It’s pleasing to the eye, easy to see from a distance and blends well with the urban landscape." Presumably that "urban landscape" includes the puke-splattered sidewalks of Bedford Ave on a Sunday morning. Need a morning eye-opener but gave up caffeine? Hail a Boro Taxi!
Legal Street Hail Livery Cabs Get Green Light From TLC
Though taxi medallion owners are going to fight it in court until the last second, Bloomberg's dream of a legal street hail livery cabs is now much, much closer to reality. In a 7-2 vote the Taxi and Limousine Commission approved the plan. Not that the vote was an easy one.
Livery Cab Group Wants Drivers To Carry Guns
On the heels of State Sen. Eric Adams's and TWU Local 100's push for MTA workers to be able to stun disorderly passengers at will, a major livery cab company is now seeking approval for their drivers to carry guns while on duty.
Ex-Governor Paterson Happily Debuts Taxi TV For The Blind
Former NY Governor David Paterson summed up today's announcement of new "audible touch screen taxi technology" by Councilman James Vacca and the taxi TV company Creative Mobile Technologies (CMT) this morning on the steps of City Hall quite nicely: "This is the first time I'll be able to use a credit card by myself in a taxi cab—and I was the Governor of New York!" Slowly and steadily, New York's fleet of cabs are being made accessible. Though handicap access is still tricky, this news should at least make the lives of 362,000 blind or visually-impaired New Yorkers just a little bit easier.
Handicap-Handicapped Taxi Of Tomorrow Meets The Press
Last night, Nissan and the city held a press conference to show off a model of the new Nissan NV200, A.K.A. The Taxi of Tomorrow. Wine was served, fancy snacks were passed, Nissan execs were schmoozing, Mayor Bloomberg talked and crowds of photographers rushed the single minivan as if it were Britney Spears shaving her head again. Still, despite being mentioned more than once, one group was physically absent from the affair: the handicapped. Though the space where the event was held has wheelchair access, the entrance used was up a steep flight of steps.
"Report A Taxi" App Says Biggest Gripe Is Refusal Of Service
An app that allows you to report grievances against your cab driver shows that customers' number one complaint is refusal of service. A smartphone app called Report A Taxi (in which users plug in a driver's medallion number and then choose from a list of common complaints to, you know, report a taxi to the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission) was used by 814 passengers over a span of four months.
City's Oldest Cabbie At 92 May Also Be Its Slowest
Yes, the city's oldest cabbie—92-year-old Johnnie "Spider" Footman—must have an "encyclopedic" knowledge of the city given he's been picking up fares since 1945. But will he get us the hell off the BQE in time to make our flight? "He goes about 12 miles per hour," the co-owner of Footman's depot tells the Post. "I drive more slowly now," Footman says. "I don't pass anybody, hardly."
What Is Your Cab Driver Actually Saying?
Ever wanted eavesdrop on the semi-private conversations had by your cabbie in a language that you don't understand? The New York Post had a reporter who speaks Punjabi and Urdu (the two dominant languages spoken by the 38% of cabbies who hail from Pakistan, India and Bangladesh) listen in. It turns out they gossip, are wary of their superiors, and bitch about taxes. Cabbies—they're just like us!
More Handicap-Accessible Cabs Hit The Streets
There is still an appallingly limited number of handicap-accessible taxi cabs driving around New York City but at least it is getting a teeny, tiny bit better? To that end, the TLC has again approved Viewpoint Mobility's vehicle conversions which make cab models, in this case the Toyota Sienna, rear-accessible to wheelchairs. Some of them conversions have already hit the streets!
Photos: Taxi Jumps Curb In Midtown, Injures Two Pedestrians
A yellow cab jumped a curb at Third Avenue and 43rd Street this afternoon, striking two pedestrians and crashing into the facade of a Duane Reade. An FDNY spokesman tells us that the incident occurred around 1:13 p.m., and that two pedestrians were rushed to Bellevue with serious but not life-threatening injuries, while the driver of the cab was treated at the scene. The NYPD's press office said no criminality is suspected at this time, but that the incident is still under investigation.
Taxis Are Seriously Dangerous, So Buckle Up
It never occurred to us to buckle up in a cab because they never, ever get into accidents and nothing kills the buzz of having a personal chauffeur like a seatbelt. But the Daily News reminds us today that people often suffer serious injuries when their faces slam into the hard plastic partitions during an accident or when the cabbie has to make a sudden stop. "This is a New York City tragedy and public health issue that has not changed in almost two decades," Dr. Lewis Goldfrank, a chairman of emergency medicine at Bellevue & NYU Langone said. Another ER doctor agrees. "Ask any ER doc in Manhattan, and they will tell you they see it very frequently. People have a false sense of security in the backseat of a cab."
Green, The Color Of Envy, Eyed For City's New Livery Cabs
Someday in the not to distant future, you will be able to legally hail livery cabs in upper Manhattan and the outer boroughs (as opposed to now when you can still do so, just illegally). But when that great day comes it will bring with it a number of other changes. One of the biggest? The TLC rules are insisting that all hailable livery cabs be the same color. And Transportation Nation has it on good authority that that color will be green.
Good News Taxi Riders! No Fare Hikes Planned For This Year
The City Council's Transportation Committee meeting may have had grim news for straphangers yesterday, but it did have some good news for taxi riders. Though the MTA will most likely have fare hikes coming in 2013 and 2015, the TLC most likely won't be increasing the cost of a cab ride. Not in the next year at least.
Apple In The Big Apple: Taxi iPad Pilot Program Gets Greenlight
New York City's taxis are changing left and right! Not only are the lights atop cabs getting simplified but, as we predicted, the TLC has approved a pilot program to replace some of those annoying Taxi TVs with iPads equipped with credit card readers from Square (a San Francisco based company from one of the guys behind Twitter). But will they have Angry Birds pre-installed?
"Confusing" Taxi Lights Are Being Kicked To The Curb
Well, the lights atop taxis were fun while they lasted. But, as threatened, they are soon to be a thing of the past. Starting in the fall taxi medallion owners will start taking down the old lights and installing less "confusing" lights with the binary option of being on or off duty.
JFK Cabbie Hustler Gets Bested By Teenaged Tourist
Panamanian tourists were spared the indignity of a livery cab scam when the family's 17-year-old son grabbed the wheel of a Lincoln Town Car and crashed it into a guardrail.
Forget Taxi TVs, Taxi iPads Are (Probably) Coming Soon
The days of the Taxi TV, like the days of the "buckle up" celebrity announcements before it (Eartha Kitt, RIP), may be numbered. The Taxi and Limousine Commission is getting ready to vote on a pilot program to replace 50 taxi boob tubes with iPads equipped with credit card software from Square, a San Francisco company that just happens to share a co-founder with Twitter. Which is to say, don't be shocked when this program gets a green light on March 1. And don't be upset!
Receipt Advertising Coming Soon To A Cab Near You
Taxi drivers bothered by racy ads on top of their rides are about to have another thing to worry about. The Taxi and Limousine Commission today votes on whether or not advertisements should be allowed on taxi receipts [PDF]. We have a very strong feeling it'll pass.
Video: Staten Island Lady Pays $50,000 To Clone Dog
We don't even know where to start with this one: a crazily-eyebrowed Staten Island woman who treated her dog "better than most people treat their children" just paid $50,000 to have South Korean scientists clone him three years after his death. Oh, and she filmed it for a reality show, too.
Fare-Gouging Taxi Tip Default Settings Die This Week!
Good news for drunk taxi passengers (or just riders with bad math skills) is less good for taxi drivers. After this week the auto-suggested tips for rides under $15 in taxi cabs with VeriFone Taxi TVs will stop being $2, $3 and $4 options and instead resort to the standard 20, 25 and 30 percent defaults already available in the Creative Mobile Technologies Taxi TVs. Hurrah!
Do You Wear Your Seat Belt In Taxi Cabs?
According to the Taxi and Limousine Commission, if you aren't buckling up when you're a passenger, you aren't alone—around 65% of passengers don't bother with seat belts when they catch a cab (alternatively, 90% use seat belts in private cars). Maybe this is because we treat cabs like any other public transportation in this city—subways, buses, they don't even have seat belts. To combat this, the TLC announced yesterday that it will be running ads on taxi monitors to get riders to change their habit. Previously there have been announcements, but this one will be in your face—that is, if you don't automatically turn Taxi TV off when you get in (which... you do). You can watch their new video right here (the Cyclone even has a cameo!).
Federal Judge: NYC's Taxis Totally Discriminate Against Disabled Riders
Just days after Mayor Bloomberg and Governor Cuomo worked out their differences and agreed on a plan to allow livery cabs to take street-hails in the outer-boroughs, a federal judge has hit the brakes. U.S. District Court Judge George Daniels said that the current fleet of taxis do discriminate against people with disabilities and the city may only issue new medallions or "street-hail" permits to wheelchair-accessible taxi cabs and livery cabs.
More Accessible Cabs And Legal Livery Street Hails Coming!
Taxis for everyone! Last night, Governor Cuomo announced that an agreement had been reached in the previously stalled plan to bring legal street-hail livery cabs to the outer boroughs and upper Manhattan. And while he was at it, Cuomo has strong armed the taxi industry into including more handicapped vehicles (even if the city says it doesn't have an "obligation" to serve them). The new class of livery cabs (with meters, credit card readers and roof lights) and the thousands of new taxi medallions the city wants to sell will hit the streets next year.
Cuomo Offering Ultimatum On Soon-To-Expire Taxi Bill
Governor Cuomo has two more days to sign Mayor Bloomberg's taxi bill that would put 1,500 more yellow cabs in the city, allow livery cabs to pick up street fares almost everywhere in the city and (in thoery) generate more than $1 billion in revenue. But Cuomo has pushed back against the legislation, countering that it doesn't do enough to provide cabs for the disabled. According to the Daily News, Cuomo spent the weekend devising a plan that he finds acceptable, or the legislature can try their luck in January. "This could be 'Gov. Steamroller again steamrolling on behalf of the yellow cab medallion owners who oppose the bill," one statehouse source said.
Video: Fare Play, Forcing Cabbies To Answer Trivia For Tips
Discovery's long-running Cash Cab game show offers money to taxi fares who answer trivia questions correctly—so it is almost surprising it took so long for somebody to try the opposite. Enter Fare Play, a new webseries in which some cah-razy kids catch a cab and then torture their driver by making him answer trivia questions for tip money. And we thought you tipped drivers for their driving!
21-Year-Old Passenger Accuses Cab Driver Of Rape
A 21-year-old woman returning home to Harlem early Monday morning after drinking in Midtown says she got more than a ride from her cabbie. She says he pulled over near West 138th Street and Riverside Drive, climbed into the backseat with her and raped her. According to the Post's sources, when the woman begged him to stop he "simply snarled 'Come on, baby.'"
Hoping For Handicap Cabs, Cuomo Could Hold Up Livery Street Hail Bill
If Mayor Bloomberg really wants his plan to make it legal for livery cabs to pick up street hails to make it out of Albany, the TLC may finally have to do something about its horrendous treatment of the handicapped. Back in June the Mayor's plan got the go-ahead and just needed Andrew Cuomo's stamp. But now it seems the Gov is witholding approval unless the additional 1,500 highly-lucrative taxi medallions that would come with the bill are all required to be handicap-accessible.
Report Taxi Driver Misbehavior With New iPhone App
As a bunch of college kids recently proved (once again!), sometimes it can be absurdly hard to get a cab to take you from Manhattan to one of the outer boroughs. So what to do when you've been rejected for a ride? Call 311 before you forget the cab's medallion! But if you hate talking on the phone or waiting on hold, well, there's an app for that. And it's kinda slick.
Survey Says NYC Taxi Riders Are Mostly Loaded, Local, Lazy
Back in October those annoying TaxiTVs installed in every cab in the city started asking riders to answer a few quick survey questions and, shockingly, people answered them. According to the TLC, since the surveys started showing up, 113,000 of them have been taken—and taxi riders turn out to have a lot of dough!
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