Taxi Cab GPS, Credit Cards and strike

sevenoneeighty · October 2007

So what is your opinion on the Taxi Cab issues in the news?

I think the GPS is a great idea - no more " I don't know how to get there..." from the cabbies. Also for the safety of the cabbies it sounds like a good idea. Why shouldn't your boss/ dispatch know exactly where you are if you are a cabbie and supposedly working?

But they have to pay for the installation of the credit card machines and although credit card passengers tip better (22% vs 15% for cash), after the fees, the tip comes in around 16% for credit card tippers...

more info here:

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jRZE6styvM33SXKVWBYLojcY4CoA

New York taxi cabs sound the horn for second strike

Oct 3, 2007

NEW YORK (AFP) — New York taxi drivers signalled Wednesday they will go on strike for the second time this year to protest new GPS systems in their cabs and plans to allow credit card payments.

"On October 22 we are going out again on strike for 24 hours," said Bhairavi Desai, leader of the Taxi Workers Alliance, which represents about 8,000 of the city's 44,000 professional drivers.

Drivers would also be holding a demonstration in Manhattan against the new measures, he said.

"We are immediately demanding that this technology be put on hold and we demand that a health and pension fund be set up for taxidrivers who work 60 to 70 hours a week without any kind of health care or even retirement pension," he told a press conference.

"You can drive in this industry for 25, 30 or 40 years and at the end of that career there is no retirement at all, and this is unacceptable."

It will be the second stoppage in just two months as drivers protest the plans put in motion by Mayor Michael Bloomberg under which all drivers must equip their cars with global satellite positioning systems and machines to take credit cards, partially at their own cost.

The satellite system also includes a monitor for passengers to follow their route, check news and weather, view advertisements, and pay their fare by bank card.

According to taxi drivers' groups, the devices cost more than 5,000 dollars to install and will inform the commission where they are, how many trips they have taken and how much they took in fares.

Thousands of New York's taxi drivers put on the brakes with a 48-hour strike in early September just as the US Open tennis tournament moved toward a climax and the city's Fashion Week started up.

The lack of cabs, in the first stoppage since 1998, was plain to the eye in Manhattan, where an estimated 800,000 passengers travel by taxi every day.

But Desai said he believed "New Yorkers understand our concerns" and did not want to be bombarded with advertising in the back of the cabs.

lilbangladesh · October 2007

I think the fuss over GPS is clouding their real issues: lack of health coverage and retirement plans. That to me is a far more serious issue.

That and the fact that it seems that while the city is making it a requirement to have these machines, they seem to expect the cabbies to pay for it OUT OF THEIR OWN POCKET!! Most cabbies are barely making ends meet as it is. They should focus on that part of the issue.

Still, the GPS issue is already a bit of a lost cause since a judge already ruled against them.

daver · October 2007

The GPS thing is insane! It shouldn't even be discussed. We could argue round and round whether it is right or not, but the facts come down to that they agreed to it in 2004 as part of the 26% fare hike. And they've gotten ANOTHER fare hike since then. The Taxi and Limousine Commission has been real cool with them, and has let them delay and delay installing the devices. It has been three years! Either put the damn things in already or give back the fare hike and the extra money they have been getting the last three years. I don't understand how they can negotiate a deal to put the GPS in in return for the fare hike, take the fare hike for three years, and then try to say, well, we don't want the GPS after all. It is total bullshit.

As far as health care, living wages, etc. it is perfectly fine to discuss that. But the GPS thing has been a done deal signed off by the union for three years, we immediately lived up to our part of the bargain, and even gave them ANOTHER increase this year without them holding up their end. It is time for them to make good. Or roll back the last two fare increases and start negotiations over.

jackson · October 2007

Subject: Re: Taxi Cab GPS, Credit Cards and strike

SevenOneEighty wrote: So what is your opinion on the Taxi Cab issues in the news?

I think the GPS is a great idea - no more " I don't know how to get there..." from the cabbies. Also for the safety of the cabbies it sounds like a good idea. Why shouldn't your boss/ dispatch know exactly where you are if you are a cabbie and supposedly working?

But they have to pay for the installation of the credit card machines and although credit card passengers tip better (22% vs 15% for cash), after the fees, the tip comes in around 16% for credit card tippers...

more info here:

http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5jRZE6styvM33SXKVWBYLojcY4CoA
New York taxi cabs sound the horn for second strike

Oct 3, 2007

NEW YORK (AFP) — New York taxi drivers signalled Wednesday they will go on strike for the second time this year to protest new GPS systems in their cabs and plans to allow credit card payments.

"On October 22 we are going out again on strike for 24 hours," said Bhairavi Desai, leader of the Taxi Workers Alliance, which represents about 8,000 of the city's 44,000 professional drivers.

Drivers would also be holding a demonstration in Manhattan against the new measures, he said.

"We are immediately demanding that this technology be put on hold and we demand that a health and pension fund be set up for taxidrivers who work 60 to 70 hours a week without any kind of health care or even retirement pension," he told a press conference.

"You can drive in this industry for 25, 30 or 40 years and at the end of that career there is no retirement at all, and this is unacceptable."

It will be the second stoppage in just two months as drivers protest the plans put in motion by Mayor Michael Bloomberg under which all drivers must equip their cars with global satellite positioning systems and machines to take credit cards, partially at their own cost.

The satellite system also includes a monitor for passengers to follow their route, check news and weather, view advertisements, and pay their fare by bank card.

According to taxi drivers' groups, the devices cost more than 5,000 dollars to install and will inform the commission where they are, how many trips they have taken and how much they took in fares.

Thousands of New York's taxi drivers put on the brakes with a 48-hour strike in early September just as the US Open tennis tournament moved toward a climax and the city's Fashion Week started up.

The lack of cabs, in the first stoppage since 1998, was plain to the eye in Manhattan, where an estimated 800,000 passengers travel by taxi every day.

But Desai said he believed "New Yorkers understand our concerns" and did not want to be bombarded with advertising in the back of the cabs.

The GPS thing doesn't even give the cabbies directions. It just shows where you are on a map - not much help if you ask me.

boygabriel · October 2007

lilbangladesh wrote: ...That and the fact that it seems that while the city is making it a requirement to have these machines, they seem to expect the cabbies to pay for it OUT OF THEIR OWN POCKET!! Most cabbies are barely making ends meet as it is...

Well, wait. Wouldn't the medallion (cab) owners pay for the machines, not the cabbies themselves that use the cars? It's my understanding most medallion owners make a good living. I'm not sure this point is valid.

jeffrey · October 2007

If you use your debit card, can you get cash back?

ev965 · October 2007

I rode one and had to shut it down because it was blaring ads. Maybe if the cabbies have to pay for the GPS, they should also get advertising income? --E.

lilbangladesh · October 2007

That wasn't GPS. That was a very annoying pilot program.

Made me carsick. :-&

And if the taxi drivers had agreed to GPS, then no wonder a judge ruled against them. Personally, I don't find GPS all that useful (except maybe if you get lost in the woods). Every time I got in a car with someone who had GPS, they always got lost until they shut the damn voice off.

I thought you had to own a medallion to drive a cab?

sevenoneeighty · October 2007

The GPS thing doesn't even give the cabbies directions. It just shows where you are on a map - not much help if you ask me.

Really?

I always thought you could enter directions in a GPS and it would give you a route and directions. Are they putting something else in the cabs?
I don't think cash back is an option in these machines either.

lilbangladesh · October 2007

GPS does give directions, but it's usually confusing as hell.

It's hard being talked at when you're trying to navigate.

sevenoneeighty · October 2007

lilbangladesh wrote: GPS does give directions, but it's usually confusing as hell.

It's hard being talked at when you're trying to navigate.

Right. but doesn't the GPS give you a MAP as a guide...and you could turn the volume down like you do on a radio...why is that confusing? Seems pretty cool and you could simply look down when you are at a traffic light...

The cabbies need to get over the GPS thing. If they agreed to it and got the hike then they need to deal with it.

lilbangladesh · October 2007

Yeah, and the map is confusing as well. Not to mention distracting.

Taxi Cab GPS, Credit Cards and strike

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