March 7, 2007
Taxi Drivers May Strike Over GPS Plans
The city's desire to keep closer tabs on taxi drivers may prompt the drivers to strike. The city wants to install a GPS-tracking video monitor in cabs, which the city claims will help passengers retrieve lost items (even if they don't have receipts or medallion numbers) because the Taxi and Limousine Commission will be able to find the taxi that dropped them off at a certain location.
While that sounds good to taxi riders, drivers think the GPS systems will be used to nail them for traffic violations. Plus many drivers complain that they'll end up paying for systems that cost between $2,800 and $5,400.
The last time taxi drivers went on strike was on May 13, 1998, to protest new rules and higher fine under Mayor Giuliani. Taxi drivers in Philadelphia went on strike over GPS systems for one day, but have to deal with them anyway. The Taxi Workers Alliance's Bhairavi Desai tells Metro, "[A strike] is a serious possibility. We haven’t decided yet exactly how many days and when. We’ll know when there’s no other door to knock on. I heard a lot of drivers say this time it’s got to be longer than a day.”
And taxi drivers have been worried about GPS since 2005. Which also says something about how long it takes for the city to implement plans.
Photograph of taxi doors by Triborough on Flickr
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Does anyone remember the last strike? Does it really make a difference if taxi drivers walk off the job? It's pretty much a luxury service with the subway and everything and it would certainly make crossing streets safer and leave a lot more room for other drivers. Will it really throw the city into chaos?
MT, it won't throw the city into chaos, but don't be fooled into thinking the city will be better. During the taxi strike in 1998, Regis, on his morning show, decided to see how much emptier the streets were without taxis and looked (live) at some overhead shots of morning rush hour traffic compared to shots on days when there were taxis. What we learned was that the streets weren't any emptier, but rather that more people ended up driving into the city on those days.
"While that sounds good to taxi riders, drivers think the GPS systems will be used to nail them for traffic violations."
Oh No! We wouldn't want that!
This isn't just over the GPS thing either. They're also arguing that cabs shouldn't be outfitted with credit card swipers, because the cabbies will be forced to pay the processing fees when passengers use cards over cash... NYC is the last major city where cabs don't take credit cards, and it's insane that our cabs don't take them.
As a woman who's gotten into cabs at 3am with drivers who turned out to be rather dodgy drivers who made me rather nervous either with their extremely aggressive driving (while telling me to "be quiet"), or with their overt "flirting" (of the kind only a taxi driver can think is socially acceptable, but not so his captive audience), I would LOVE them to be GPS'ed, and have them know that they're on the radar at all times. Yes, I would. Oh, yes. There are times I've wished I'd took the subway instead.
As of recent, for every cab driver (more than 20 in the last month) that has locked his doors before i enter to ask me where i'm going and then beligerently drive off, they can all go to hell!
they never stop complaining. it's never enough tip, never enough conversation, never enough quiet, never enough this and that... screw them all! i have not had a decent cab ride since the fare went up. i tip well, if warrented and i'm always polite... so, no sympathy. if tehy strike it's showing new yorkers that the tips aren't that bad and tehy're able to sustain life without working (for tips).
Living uptown, I never get to use a Yellow Cab. On those days when the subway is not good enough, I sit in a comfortable Lincoln Town Car with lots of room and no ugly plastic partition. All for less than a yellow cab. It's only when I'm downtown that I succumb to the Yellow cab monopoly and take those horrible things.
Fuck them.
oh, boo hoo, ya poor crybaby yellow cabbies!!! just look at what they did to the pedicabs, and they are complaining about gps systems?!!! sheesh!!
they can go strike for as freaking long as they want - months, years!!!. i for one will be sooooo happy to have cab free streets to cycle on!! whooo hoo!!!
strike on crybabies, strike on!!!
edEx: it's illegal for on-duty cabbies to refuse to take you somewhere. You should note their medallion numbers and report them to the TLC.
Yeah, I can't say I feel sorry for these guys. If they do go on strike, they will hurt only themselves in the end.
Lately, I have done everything I can to avoid taking a cab anywhere. I was never one to freak out about the way they drive, but recently (due to my new pregnancy) for some reason, I am scared to death to be in one. The speed and carelessness is downright frightening. Perhaps it will pass once I am no longer hormonally challenged, but for now, they scream deathtrap to me. I stay away right now.
The fares went up in hopes of them driving slower. They don't. I mean, some may but it doesn't seem to have changed much at all. I wish people would just fucking relax every now and again, chill out, stay calm. What's the damn rush, anyway?
These guys need to stop whining and do their jobs better.
Screw the cabbies. The only reason they don't want GPS is because then they'd be held accountable for their actions (i.e. the TLC would know where they are, probably). And it's about time.
How many NYC cabbies completely IGNORE the taxi rider's bill of rights? Almost all of them. That thing is a joke, practically, and it shouldn't be.
It really really irks me when cabbies don't have EZ-Pass ("Driver MUST use EZ-pass and pass along the discount to the customer"), or flat out refuse a ride to the UWS from the east village at bar close on a Saturday ("Travel to any destination in the five boroughs of the City of New York"). The last time the latter happened I said to the guy "Taxi Rider's Bill of Rights, man!!!", to which he replied "FUCK YOU! FUCK YOU!!, and sped off".
And don't even get me started on the incredible driving style (Brake, Gas, Brake, Gas, Brake, Gas) of some cabbies. I want to puke in their laps.
So I say fuck 'em and their over-inflated sense of entitlement.
It's about time credit cards were allowed in cabs. Everywhere else had that ability a decade ago.
Eh, that close quote should've been back a few words, but you know what I'm saying.
Jeff, I couldn't agree more.
But, I have a question, are you saying that they can't charge us to go through the midtown tunnel? That if they have an EZ pass we don't have to pay the extra four bucks? If so, I have been ripped off twice before that way. We even asked to take the 59th street bridge, and the dude totally ignored that request and then CHARGED us for it.
So annoying. I get so worked up anymore. Plus, they always smell like an unkempt filthy sweaty ass.
would this GPS by chance actually be able to give them directions from JFK to Williamsburg without a freak-out?? Regardless, I think it's a swell idea. Let 'em strike otherwise.
"While that sounds good to taxi riders, drivers think the GPS systems will be used to nail them for traffic violations."
Oh No! We wouldn't want that!
Good one, Joe-Boy!
Errrrrr
"Plus, they always smell like an unkempt filthy sweaty ass."
the cars, NOT the drivers. had to clear that up.
@mihow
No, they can charge you for tolls, it's just they have to charge you the discounted EZ-Pass price, and not the full cash price. I've been trying to nail down the difference, and have always suspected that the cabbies juice the numbers a little bit depending on whether or not they think you know better, but I'm pretty sure the cash price for the Triborough is $4.50, and the EZ-Pass price is $3.50 or $4.00, not sure which. It's not even the difference in money that pisses me off (I'll just take the difference out of their tip) it's the principle of the thing. There are rules, and they should follow them.
it *would* be interesting to see how many cabs are never driving to the outer boroughs, especially when they are on the night shift...
why is everyone up in arms? why *shouldn't* GPS be used to nail them for traffic violations? they have traffic violations, after all. only cabbies with something to hide should be concerned or bothered.
i do think maybe if a cabbie owns their own vehicle, forcing GPS on them might be a bit unfair. maybe just the garages should have this.
Stay on the UWS. Your life is apparently very difficult.
You people have no idea what you are talking about. My father is a cab driver and I really sympathize with the situation. The Taxi and Limousine Commission thinks it is fine to FORCE drivers to pay $5000 for installation, with no financial assistance, and then subsequent monthly payments of close to $200 to update the GPS, with absolutlely no financial assistance. How would you like to drop all that cash for a service that is relatively unnecessary, when your yearly income is around $25,000?
You people freak out when the NYPD wants to install cameras on public streets. Why shouldn't a driver be bothered by being monitored in his own car?
Meanwhile taxi service has been an institution in New York for 100 years now and drivers still do not have health insurance. The city is never going to do anything about that and if you talk to any local politicians about it, especially those on the transportation committee, they dodge the question. It's easy for you to not tip a driver well because his or her cab smells, or because he or she went too fast through an intersection (though if that didn't happen you'd probably also be complaining that your ride took longer than it should have), but who does the cab driver complain to when a passenger jumps out of the car before paying a fare (it happens more than you'd think)? When a passenger loses a belonging, tracks the cab driver down and asks for it to be returned, wasting several hours of the driver's day when he or she could be making money, and receives little to no compensation for the effort? When the driver receives a bad tip for no good reason? On top of that the traffic police are always looking to get cab drivers for anything. I don't know how many tickets my father has gotten, that he's gone to court to fight for only to have dismissed because the cop was obviously wrong.
Cab drivers in this city are given more disrespect than anything else, and make much, much less money than any of you would think. Before you complain about how awful the ride was to your cushy office job or your fancy apartment, try actually talking to a cab driver at length about how much shit he or she goes through and maybe you'll change your tune.
"While that sounds good to taxi riders, drivers think the GPS systems will be used to nail them for traffic violations."
Are these cab drivers for real???
Gabriela - Whether you like to admit or not, the vast majority of cabbies that I've dealt with:
- do not follow traffic laws
- decide where and when they want to go to a certain destination
- have tried to rip me off for trips out of Manhattan
- are rude and indifferent to my directions
I could go on but I think you get the idea. If the job is so horrible your Father should quit or should have gone to college.
JP, I wondered why you've had such bad luck in cabs, and then I read your last sentence. You are a jerk.
Gabriela, I can't speak for everyone on here but I happen to be an awesome tipper. I always have been. I worked as a waitress all throughout college and so I know what it's like to be stiffed. Here's what I have found, however, unless you're an asshole, unless the food takes forever or is undercooked (and therefore unsafe to eat), unless you make a customer wait forever for attention while you gab with friends or other employees, most people (not all but MOST) tip very well. I waited table for 10 years, tended bar as well, and that's what I found. I never drove a cab, but I'm willing to bet that if the cab driver is at least decent - maybe he or she says hello to the customer instead of talking to his or her friend on the phone the entire time, or maybe if he or she drove safely (contrary to your above statement about speed and "getting there on time" I would much rather have a decent, safe ride than deal with a speed demon with a chip on his or her shoulder. Slow down. Don’t put my life in danger. When I waited table, I didn't' go around serving people raw chicken just to get it there quicker.) - he or she would get a fine tip. It's the shitty attitude we as customers are greeted with that lasts. Be nice. That's all there is to it. And for every 10 cabs I take, maybe 1 person is kind to me.
I am sure there are several exceptions to this overall generalization. Your father might very well be one of those exceptions. But until the vast majority of these folks change their ways and realize that they are actually doing something extremely dangerous, all the while taking our lives in their hands, I can't say I'm opposed to this GPS idea.
Also, if they aren't getting health insurance, perhaps THAT'S something they should strike over?
Brooklynjames: Yup - that's right!! Wondered why I've had so much bad luck in cabs?!?! Because the majority of cabbies are awful which is why I walk or take PT. You are a douche.
mihow: Thanks for making a sound, lucid arguement which I was unable to do. After all, I'm a jerk.
Re: Comment 20-
I can see the point of the financial burden placed on the cabbies (maybe the medallion owner should be obligated to foot the bill for installing the GPS systems in their fleet?), but comparing the installation of the GPS to red light cameras as some sort of privacy violation is a terrible analogy. Unlike private citizens, taxicab drivers are acting as common carriers when transporting passengers, and also benefit from a government-regulated monopoly of sorts - therefore, it's reasonable to expect that they can (and should) be treated differently than your normal Sunday driver.
this is amazing. i've heard cabbies are evening crying racism over the fact that they think they're being tracked bc of they're middle or southeast asian decent.
Let's get at the truth here -- the GPS system doesn't track the whole ride, it only tracks the start point and the end point. that's it. it's just an electronic version of the trip sheets they all keep on their clipboards. now why are the cabbies screaming and yelling and threatening strikes? and no, they don't have to pay at all for any of these machines, just ask the TLC tomorrow at their monthly meeting.
TAXES. yep, they don't pay any bc everything is done in cash. that's why they don't want the credit card machines or the gps tracker. pure and simple. it's just easier to cry racism than it is "tax evasion". fewer syllables i suppose.
you can go ahead and cry about how you want to be responsible citizens and be treated with dignity ad nauseum but sadly, paying your taxes like the rest of them (i make less than a cabbie after uncle sam takes my 35% anunal deduction) is a good way to start. maybe the cabbies and the orthodox in stuy town can come together for all cash cabs with no doors. wouldn't that be sweet??
The EZ Pass bill for the Triborough is $4.00.
I remember the last taxi strike very well -- it was one of the most beautiful days in Manhattan history. The streets were quiet and calm, and traffic was minimal. I wish they'd go on strike 2 or 3 days a week forever. It was fabulous.
I got an idea, maybe we should go on strike from them! After all, they aren't really necessary. Walking works, as does a bike. So does the MTA (well, sometimes). Also, there are car services and those cars are usually super nice inside. Plus, they don't drive like maniacs. Well, none that I have found.
I declare a strike. Stop using cabs!
No point in filing a complaint. After the transit strike, I managed to get 7 cabs to drive me quite a distence in queens (remember anywhere in queens was a flat rate), I first asked are they honoring strike taxi fare, all drove away or refused when I told them the destination later in the convo. The hearings I needed to attend where scheduled 4 months later. And all the hearings rescheduled 2 times (got letters in the mail, all claimed the drivers were "out of the country"), those that weren't rescheduled or disappeared, I got "that case number is invalid" or TLC told me on the phone "you will get a letter when the hearing will be" over and over (which is never). So it was Oct 2006, 11 months later until my first opportunity to get even. I didnt even bother to go at that point.
TLC was made to support and cover up for the yellow drivers. The system is there to protect the drivers, and is against you.
#10 Gwin:
I know I can call or complain online, but honestly it's not worth the trouble, the TLC makes it so ridiculously difficult to make complaints etc, i have given up on that method...
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also, I can vouge that JP Lynch in a jerk... f*ckin jerks. ;^)
The problem with footing only the medallion owner with the bill is that not all medallion owners have this 'fleet' you speak of. Some are actual self-employed drivers and that cost is a huge burden.
As for the "tax evasion", I don't know where that is coming from because I know for a fact my father pays taxes--I have the tax return in my hand right now and I've been using it to fill out my financial aid application!
As far as TLC paying for installation, this is something new that up until now I had not heard of. I am only going on things I know.
Striking for healthcare does seem like a better idea. I don't know what groups such as the New York Taxi Workers Alliance are doing about that, and if they aren't doing anything about it I don't know why that is.
I don't know how someone can say the industry is a monopoly when there are plenty of other cab companies in the city that are unregulated and jack up the prices of the trips. These are the same kinds of companies you see outside of NYC too.
And I don't doubt everybody's claims about bad service but I am surprised by them. I take a cab a couple of times a week and have been for years, and in this time I can recall only one instance of a driver overcharging me (by $1 more than the normal fare, mind you) and one instance of a different driver not knowing where he was going, for which he stopped the meter when I got him back on track and made me pay what the normal ride would have cost. Almost every driver I have had has done his or her job well, respected me, and followed the directions I specified. I don't consider myself biased-- I too was pissed off about even just that $1, or the fact that I didn't get to where I wanted to go on time when my driver got lost, but generally I've have good luck. Maybe it's good karma for being the daughter of a cabbie.
Finally to JP Lynch: my father is going to retire in two years so it is a bit too late for him to switch careers. And he actually did go to a postsecondary engineering school on scholarship in his native country, despite growing up in an impoverished village in a former communist country. He immigrated here about twenty years before the communist system collapsed, middle-aged, not speaking a word of English and with very a negligible. I don't know how he got into the business, but it was a job that could actually get hired for given the circumstances, and earn him enough money to eat and have clothes and some place to live. He never intended on being rich, just to make a decent living and be treated decently. I don't want to make this a sob story about my dad, but certain circumstances mean that not everybody gets to live a life of privilege and someone who is presumably educated should understand this. Do you tell every low-income worker he or she should have gone to college? I guess you could say that now I am going to college to make up for the mistakes you think people like my father made. Classism-- how VERY educated of you.
Oops, I meant very negligible amount of money***.
Gabriela: "Do you tell every low-income worker he or she should have gone to college?"
Not unless they complain or whine about their current situation, which it seems to me you are doing for your Father. If I travelled to another country without knowing the language and expected to get a job I would have enough intelligence, with or without college, to know that it may be very difficult for me. I don't live a life of privilege and I know what hard work; it's what I had to do to put myself through college.
You can't really be taken to seriously on this point, anyway. You are OBVIOUSLY bias in your opinion. No cheating on taxes, huh? Yeah - I'm sure your Father reports ALL his tips, just as I'm sure he's the most courteous and safest driver in NYC.
Your friend, the Classist Jerk
Hey everyone!! Cabbies Suck. They are bunch of whiners. The worst ones are the ones who puts OFF DUTY and ask people around where they are going?? to avoid brooklyn or queens or undesirable places. They should be GPS'ed and tracked 24/7. Taxi drivers including everyone else (all sorts of businesses including the garages,TLC)should be taxed to the maximum, after all they are working like slaves & Uncle sam along with his republican buddy asses want exactly that. Long live the leeches.
OK!!! It's about time you got the real opinion from a yellow cab driver.
As for GPS, I don't see the big deal in having GPS. Do you think that they're going to have someone sitting at a desk trying to track 13,000 bleeps on a screen? NO! So the whole "They're going to track me down and give me tickets" is utter nonsense. The only reason why they want to put GPS in the cars is for Tax purposes. For all the cabbies that don't pay taxes, well, it's time to pay up. The only thing that is messed up about it is dishing out the money for the GPS. The screens and the systems cost money and it's a couple of grand we are going to have to dish up.
Now, for all of those people out there complaining about how we drive and that we don't like to take them out of boroughs, well maybe it's your fault. The next time you need to get into a cab and go somewhere, just hop into the back, say HELLO, and say where you are going. If they don't want to take you then you refuse to get out. I personally take anyone anywhere they want to go at anytime. You guys have to remember that the majority of these cab drivers come from different countries and in their countries they have no manners, no type of culture and are peasants.
For those who'd rather take PT at 4am on a Saturday to the middle of Harlem you can go right ahead. Don't forget that when you take a cab you get to your destination about 2 hours ahead of time and although you weren't happy with the ride, look at the bright side, YOU ARE ALIVE, and you haven't been harrassed or jacked up. And if you take black cabs, more power to you. Just for the records...YOU DO PAY MORE...and god forbid you get into an accident well, good luck, cuz your going to have to pay your own medical bills. FYI, cabs are equipped with insurance up to $100,000 per passenger.
You guys complain about cabbies do this and cabbies do that, how about all the things you guys do? You leave your garbage in the back seats like if you're in your daddy's car. You puke in the back and let us deal with it. You come in and don't even say hi....completely rude. The majority of the time you don't even talk to us. Do you know how it feels to be stuck in a car 12 hours a day and not have a decent conversation with anyone?
Bottom line, unless you have ever driven a taxi in your life, and have had to deal with New York Pedestrians, New York Drivers, New York Passengers and New York Attitude then DON'T SAY ANYTHING!!! YOU HAVE NO IDEA WHAT WE HAVE TO PUT UP WITH!!
To the cabbie who made the comment above on how many of the cabbies come from countries that have no manners and culture, I would advise you to rethink that comment. Many of the cabbies from abroad do have different system of behavior. What is normal in the US may not be normal for them. EX. My friend John can curse his parents at any moment and he get’s grounded but if I did that, my mom would smack the brown out of me. Second I do agree with the whole NY attitude issue. I lived in NYC and when I moved Dallas it was a different world. Most importantly the behaviors of the people were much nicer. New Yorkers made Texans look like saints. And that's quiet sad especially knowing the history of the old south compared to the north. Finally the whole GPS issue, it's basically invasion of privacy. How would you like it if your boss stood behind you while you worked? We all do things at work that we are not suppose to but we do it any way and it's definitely same for the cabbies. As you said majority of the passengers are city dwellers so the passengers know their way around the city and the cabbies don’t have to take some expensive route. In addition the cops are always targeting cabbies, knowing that many cabbies will not be able to greatly defend themselves. I actually went in with my father and helped get many of his tickets get dismissed because the cope made an error. Error, racial or just keeping in tract with their monthly ticket budget, the cope tried to give out fake tickets. So if this GPS system can keep track of every move that I make why should my privacy be invaded and second the city doesn’t pay me nor the cab company. So why should I pay this from my own pocket, while some nerdy college grad gets to see every thing that I am doing. Also to Gabriela who made the comment regarding getting the cabbies to go to college. Well my answer to her would be, if my father was not a cab driver then I would not have had a chance to go to a college like Penn State. Since he made the mistake of not going to college, he is making sure that I do. Gabriela, I know hundreds of college grads that have jobs which don’t even pay 1/3 of what cabbies make. Trust me if they didn't make any money then they would not be driving cabs and sending their offspring to universities that cost nearly 40,000 a year. Heck I know even more college grads that don’t even make 40,000 a year. So think about what you say, before you say it.
OK. I guess a lot of people do not know what GPS really does. There are hundreds of thousands of GPS systems in New York. It would be impossible for a Police Officer or a TLC Officer to keep track of just one person. If they wanted to keep track of a single person all they have to do is follow them. Like I said the only reason they are putting this is for tax purposes. THAT IS IT!! It has nothing to do with privacy because if it did, no one in there right mind would by a GPS system in their car or even own a cel phone at that. The only reason why we are complaining is because if the system goes down, so does our work. In other words, if the system fails the meter doesn't work and there is the end of our shift, and guess who has to pay for it, yep...US!! Not to mention how much the systems cost.
I'm in college also. I'm actually going for my bachelors, and driving a cab is probably the best job for a college student because not only do i take care of myself and my family but I can pick my own schedule. I can focus on school which is extremely important and I can drive my cab when I'm not in school or studying. Everyone knows how dirty the cab business is, so the smart man gets in and gets out ASAP!! I don't know how anyone drives a cab for more than 5 years and "ROZAL" I give your father big props for that.
Anyways, i'm out, I gotta go drive tonight. Hey, it's Saturday...big money night!!
JP lynch, you wasted your money in college. Man, instead of writing too seriously, you wrote "to seriously". Mr. Lynch, please go back to college for just one more semester, but this time take some grammar courses.
Posted by a cab driver.
My name is Yuki Endo and I think taxi strike will might be good for tourists, especially Japanese.
Japanese tourists mostly takes taxis because they cannot understand subways or other pickup service, so I hope they don't strike.
Yuki Endo- I meant to say taxi strike is not good for tourist. Sorry about that mistake.
Many Truckers have had GPS mounted on their vehicles for a while, now, because their trucks belong to their companies. While I see the benefits in having these systems on the vehicles, having some bureaucracy dictate it seems ridiculous. Plus, if they want it on the vehicles, they should finance the installation. Not just foist it on to many of the self-employed drivers who may not have a couple of grand to spare after having to fork over thousands of dollars for the medallion fee.