Posted on 07/25/2007 5:41:31 PM PDT by DeaconBenjamin
NEW YORK — A trade body representing more than 8,000 New York taxi drivers is threatening to call a strike over the city's plans to introduce satellite positioning systems in every yellow cab.
Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, told AFP Wednesday that drivers considered the proposals put forward by the city's Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) infringed on their rights.
"Taxi drivers sometimes use the cars in their private time. Why should they tell the TLC where they are going on a Sunday with their family? This is an invasion of privacy," she said.
"We are ready to go on strike at no notice in September if the TLC doesn't cancel its plans to install a GPS in each vehicle," she added. The alliance represents some 8,400 of New York's 26,000 taxi drivers.
Under current proposals, the city's distinctive yellow cabs will from October 1 have to be equipped with the new GPS system, which also includes a monitor for passengers to follow their route and check news and weather.
The system also allows bank card payments.
According to taxi drivers' groups, the devices cost more than 5,000 dollars to install and will inform the Taxi and Limousine Commission where they are, how many trips they have taken and how much they took in fares.
Shield the antenna and go where you want to.
Going by my rides in NYC taxis, they don’t want anyone to know they are driving on the sidewalks.
Dont the Mobile data terminals in the cabs have GPS?
The two are not mutually exclusive.
A few years ago Massachusetts wanted to install GPS in the snow plows that were hired by the state to plow the turnpike. Whoa! The drivers threatened to strike and the state backed down. Don't know what happened since. Anybody?
They`ll probably strike for a day and that`s it, and the ones who will strike will be the ones who own their own cabs because they have to lay out the money for this contraption. The ones who lease (like me) will work. Why? Because it`s MONEY TIME! No cabs on the road? Screw that, I am working every second they are on strike lol!
I don`t give a damn what they put in the cabs. Yes it`ll probably raise my lease rate by 10 or 20 bucks, but I`ll probably make it up by the people who use credit cards. I can`t even count the amount of times I lost a fare because I couldn`t take a credit card.
And by the way, the only reason they are putting these things in is because Ron Sherman, the guy who practically owns the entire taxi industry, stands to make a fortune out of it. HE is the guy selling these GPS systems and taxi drivers can ONLY buy from him. Besides owning a zillion medallions (which now cost about $400k each) he`s also the head of this thing called the Taxi policy institute and the Metropolitan taxicab board of trade. What these groups do, you tell me, but it doesn`t take a genius to know they exist as like I said he rules the entire industry. I met him a few times, and actually for a guy who has so much power he`s really a nice guy. His family use to make the Sherman tanks and to me he`s just living the capitalism dream. If it wasn`t for him a lot of people wouldn`t have jobs so I tend not to bash him.
If it weren't for him a lot more people would have jobs and fares would be lower.
L
Haven’t driven a cab in 20 years, back then we had meters and that was it.
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