Results tagged “tlc”

You might remember back in May when the Taxi & Limousine Commission threatened the public with three new pilot programs that would reduce congestion by packing more fares into fewer cars. Well, unlike most pilot programs, it appears this one is actually happening, and as soon as next month. TLC announced Thursday that they will be setting up three locations where two or more riders and/or strangers can hop into a single cab for a discounted fare—and possibly a missed connection.

It's a game of he said/he said with this story of a gay couple being kicked to the curb by a cabbie. Paul Bruno and his partner were allegedly embracing in Medhat Mohamed's cab Monday night in the East Village, when they say the driver tossed them, declaring: "Hugging is not allowed in here!"

This Sunday, a 50-cent surcharge will be added to taxi fares, as part of the state's MTA bailout which was approved earlier this year. This surcharge is in addition to the existing surcharges, such as the rush-hour surcharge (Monday-Friday) of $1 between 4 p.m. and 8 p.m. and the night surcharge between 8 p.m. and 6 a.m.

After yesterday's announcement that the TLC will be cracking down on cellphone using cabbies, people on both sides of the plastic partition are not happy. Many drivers insist they use their cellphones responsibly and should not be punished. "My wife is home with cancer," one driver tells the New York Times, "If my cellphone rings, I’m going to pick it up." The new rules would forbid drivers from using any device capable of non-emergency phone calls, even if they were to pull over. One driver tells the Daily News "I understand that we can't talk on the phone while we're driving, but to say we can't pull over to take an emergency call...It's like a form of slavery."

While some New Yorkers have been cutting back on taxi fares during the recession, a new study shows the value of taxi medallion is stronger than ever. The value of an average medallion continues to climb in tougher times, with a medallion now being worth $760,000 a nearly 180% increase from where it was at less than a decade ago—outperforming every asset other than gold.

Things not to leave behind in a taxi: $500,000, 184-year-old violins on loan. The NY Post reports on one musical prodigy, Hahn-Bin, who did just that yesterday after a trip from Lincoln Center to Chinatown. He called 311, who "put him in touch with NYPD Detective Ming Lee and Taxi and Limousine Commission officials Azam Kifaieh and Sam Shady. Hahn-Bin then waited—for 15 tense hours—as the NYPD and TLC scoured GPS records to figure out which cab driver dropped him off" (though CityRoom reports it only took one hour to actually track down the instrument). The driver was contacted while off-duty at his home in New Jersey, and told them he had indeed found the instrument, which Hahn-Bin has since been reunited with. TLC Commissioner Matthew Daus declared musicians to be the most forgetful fares, saying, "There are enough instruments left in taxis to start a small orchestra." Official protocol for cabbies who find an item in their cab is to take it to the nearest police precinct "without delay."

You'll be forgiven for not realizing that it's actually illegal for NYC cab drivers to use cell phones—even hands-free—because they all do it. This morning the Times takes a look at chatty cabbies as part of an ongoing series of articles called "Driven to Distraction." Surprisingly, a reporter assigned to ride in cabs as research found that only about one third of his 20 taxi rides featured a driver using his or her cell phone. Almost all of them terminated the call when asked—except for one hack who pulled over and grumbled about a stalled engine.

For insight into how the forthcoming taxi-share changes might actually play out, look no further than Yorkville, where Manhattan's only officially-sanctioned taxi stand whisks perfect strangers to Wall Street every morning, for $6 a pop. Some women have voiced concerns about predatory cab Casanovas using the shared backseat to get fresh, but they might be reassured by the customs that have evolved out of two decades of Yorkville cab share culture. As rider Glenn Caldwell tells the Times, "Everybody seems to know the rules." Namely: No talking. Not to each other, not on a cell phone, not to yourself. Of course, the militant silence could also be attributed to uptight Upper East Side WASP reticence, so we'll have to see how this goes once gabby shoppers start piling into cabs by Herald Square. But TLC commissioner Matthew Daus promises that shared taxis participating in the pilot program will have "a code of conduct" posted inside, discouraging New Yorkers who might, in a moment of weakness, be inclined to let their guards down and actually meet someone new. (After all, that's what the Internet is for.)

New Yorkers aren't exactly known for a "sharing is caring" attitude, but cab riders across town may soon be forced to make room in the back seat for total strangers, if several new proposals are approved by the Taxi and Limousine Commission. Today the TLC will meet to discuss and possibly vote on three pilot programs they say would help reduce congestion, make more cabs available, and pull in extra money for hacks. Under consideration:

Add Mayor Bloomberg to the group of folks who doubt that the 50-cent taxi surcharge—part of the State Legislature's plan to bailout the MTA—will actually work. The surcharge, expected to raise $85 million/year, has drawn some critics who question whether the taxi owners will actually be able to collect the money and whether it will be enforced—of course the Legislature didn't consider the logistics of it all! The Mayor said yesterday, "I don't know how you're going to do that because you're going to depend on these people to pay. That's not likely." The Post points out this is not so different from his attitude in April, "They could charge $1 every time you take a shower. Who knows?. I don't know how they collect it." Taxi drivers says the surcharge will prompt passengers to tip less (some passengers confirm that much) while one passenger said, "They're raising all the prices and we don't know where it's going, who's taking it, and if it's actually improving anything." The TLC says it is speaking with the State Department of Finance this week to discuss the surcharge.

In a continuing effort to get the Taxi and Limousine Commission to turn green a little faster, the Bloomberg administration announced a new set of incentives for fleet owners with hybrid or other low-emission vehicles, the NY Times reports. Starting May 1st, taxi fleet owners can charge drivers $3 more per 12-hour shift for hybrid or clean diesel cabs. They will also be able to "penalize fleet owners by lowering the amount they can charge to lease cabs that use more fuel and pollute more, like the Ford Crown Victoria, the most common type of taxi." The new rule will decrease that charge by $4 per shift. While it would ultimately clean and green the streets of NYC, there are some opponents. A spokesman for the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade called the plan "unconscionable," saying fleet owners bought their vehicles under the former lease cap. Currently of the 13,237 cabs in New York City, there are 2,019 hybrids and 12 clean diesel vehicles.

After yesterday's story about "Hack from Hell" Ramez Akladious made headlines, the Taxi and Limousine Commission announced an investigation "into the circumstances of this individual having access to a taxicab while under active license suspensions with the goal of holding the responsible fleets and/or leasing agents fully accountable." Throughout 2008, Akladious still drove cabs despite his suspended license, DWI arrest, and history of violent assaults, including one incident wherein he allegedly slashed a passenger with a box cutter during a dispute over his chosen route. Today the Post has a vivid photo of that man's stitched arm for you; the victim, Kevin Perez of Brooklyn, tells the tabloid, "I saw his face in the paper. I got the chills. It stresses me out to see his face. I didn't take a cab for two to three months after the attack." Sources say Akladious probably hopped from one cab company to another to "try to stay under the radar." Perhaps cab driver Rahmatullah Taher, who was punched in the head by Alkadious during a traffic jam argument last May, put it best: "Worst cabby ever."

Ever since cabs introduced credit card machines it's been nothing but trouble. The latest horror story has an absurd spin, however. Allegedly a 20-year-old girl was visiting the Big Apple when a cabbie stole her iPod. The story goes like this, as told by the girl's mother:

After the driver took her to JFK airport to catch her flight home, she tried to pay using her credit card. She had been using her credit card to pay for all her taxi cab rides. This time the card was not approved. She knew that she had enough money on the card to pay for the ride, so she called up the bank to find out what was wrong. They agreed that she had enough to pay for it but the driver’s machine used for the credit cards was not working. All the numbers were not going over either due to an equipment malfunction or a bad signal near the airport.

Continue reading "Cabbie Takes iPod for Fare"

A violist with the NJ Symphony Orchestra was very lucky when the Taxi and Limousine Commission was able to find the $40,000 viola she left in a cab. Ann Roggen didn't take a receipt, but the TLC used GPS to figure out which cab had driven her from Fairway back to her Upper West Side apartment on Thursday. The TLC contacted driver Deniz Getting, but the night-shift driver was sleeping when the TLC sent messages on Friday. Fortunately, when he did get the messages, the viola was still the backseat! The Post reports that TLC Commissioner Matthew Daus himself returned the viola to Roggen, and Getting drove her to her concert in Newark. As for Roggen, who cherishes her instrument's the "unique sound," she promises to "always make sure to take a receipt."

Cursing on the job is a hazard for not just TV newscasters. One cabbie was fined for his swears at another cabbie!

With the city's initiative to help green the taxi fleet six months old, the NY Times spoke to the drivers of hybrid cabs to the get the skinny on how well it's been working out.

Downtown Manhattan residents have heard enough from honking cabs, and one Community Board is asking the Taxi & Limousine Commission to do something about the racket. Community Board 3, which represents the area of Manhattan containing the East Village, Lower East Side, and Chinatown, voted this week to formally request that the T&LC require devices to be installed in cabs that will visually identify them as horn abusers.

The father who wanted to give up his 6-month-old baby out of desperation has told the police he wants to surrender. Carlos Rodas, 27, was overwhelmed when his 14-year-old girlfriend and the mother of the baby left him to care for their daughter, so he, his sister, and her boyfriend, a livery cab driver, worked out a plan for the driver to leave the baby at a Queens fire house.

A 6-7 month old baby girl, strapped in a car seat, was left in the backseat of a livery cab this morning. Tel-A-Car driver Klever Sailema picked up a man and the baby around 9:45AM this morning at 106th Street and Northern Boulevard in Queens. When the cab got to 83rd and Northern, the man said he needed to make a call and left the car. Only he crossed "the street to a pay phone and fled."

Mayor Bloomberg has announced a plan that will require better fuel efficiency for city's TLC-run black cars; the change is part of the broader PlaNYC initiative and follows in the tread marks of the new hybrid yellow cabs.

One of the biggest complains had been taxi drivers refusing to accept credit cards from driver. Even though driers with credit card payment systems are required to accept credit card payment, many are unhappy they have to pay a 5% handling fee per credit card transaction (that cost is not passed onto the rider).

An East Village woman says she was punched in the face by an unhinged cabbie when she insisted on using the taxi’s credit card machine to pay her fare. Tamara Perez had arrived outside her apartment when she realized she was out of cash, so she told the driver she’d be paying with plastic using the self-automated card reader installed in the back.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission has announced that it and the NYPD will be embarking on an undercover program to crackdown on bad cabbie behavior. Cabbies are supposed to let passengers pay with credit cards, not to mention not be rude and chatting on a cell phone during the ride, but the TLC says they hear otherwise.

Last week we learned that all New York taxis will soon be held to higher fuel efficiency standards; starting next October new cabs must get at least 25 miles per gallon. But the cab changes don’t stop there – in addition to upcoming GPS and touch-screen video technology, the Taxi and Limousine Commission is considering selling an unlimited card for cab riders, which may feature “fare integration” with buses and subways. Over half the city’s 13,000+ cabs are equipped with credit card readers; the TLC expects all of them to take your plastic by spring ’08 – and Metrocards are being proposed as a next step.

The New York Times recently dispatched no fewer than five reporters to the streets of the city in order to uncover the latest piece of breaking news: cab drivers can be rude and will attempt to take financial advantage of you if given the opportunity. The investigation uncovered a citywide fleet of yellow taxis in which just over half are compliant in installing credit card readers, and many that did have them falsely told passengers that using a credit card would result in additional charges.

Many cabbies, it seems, will use the card swipers only sullenly, and only after a resistance that can be as ingenious as it is misleading. Excuses range from, “There is a minimum cab fare for credit card use” to “The device doesn’t have to be activated until the new year” to “It’s too short a ride.” (Not true, not true, and not true, say city officials.)

The Taxi and Limousine Commission has made it official: Cabs purchased after October 1, 2008 must get at least 25 miles per gallon. Then, after fall of 2009, newly purchased cabs must get at least 30 miles per gallon. As the AP puts it, this means "taxi fleet owners, who must replace their cabs every three to five years, will probably be forced to buy fuel-efficient hybrids, which run partly on electricity." The Taxicab Board...

The Taxi Workers Alliance announced plans for a second taxi strike on October 22. Last month, members of the TWA taxi union participated in a two-day strike to protest new technology, including GPS and credit card payment systems, in cabs. Many drivers feel the technology is unproven and useless (for one, if it breaks down, then the entire meter breaks down), while the Taxi and Limousine Commission says that the new technology benefits everyone (for example, if you lose something in a cab, you could call 311 and mention where the cab dropped you off, instead of needing the medallion number, to track the cab).

Here we are - day two of the taxi strike by a group of taxi drivers upset with the changes that the Taxi and Limousine Commission has enacted. The New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which organized the strike, claimed that 90% of -owned cabs were on the streets (versus 93% last Wednesday), but that doesn't include owner-operated cabs (fleets comprise only 30-40% of cabs). A taxi industry group reported that 72% of the city's 3,200 cabs were on the road.

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.