Cabbies Say High-Tech Taxis a Bad Idea


location based services

NEW YORK—A push by the Taxi and Limousine Commission (TLC) to install a Global Positioning System (GPS) in all of New York City's yellow cabs has the drivers calling foul. They say that the systems would be an added financial burden to the drivers who are just barely making ends meet as is, and that being tracked 24 hours a day by GPS is an invasion of the drivers' privacy.

At a press conference in Tribeca on March 20, taxi union head Bhairavi Desai suggested that the plan amounted to an Orwellian attempt to keep tabs on the drivers.

"Putting a GPS in a taxi is as if you work in an office and your boss puts a chip in your back to know where you are and what you are doing at all times—even when you are off-duty. Even when you are not working they will still know exactly what you are doing and where you go," she explained.

The taxi drivers are not employees of the TLC, but work as private contractors with different arrangements. Some own their cars, while some lease them from a garage. All drivers use their cars for personal transportation as well as for business. Ms. Desai is quick to point out that the GPS would not track the drivers in "real time," because the TLC recognizes that to do so would definitely cross the line.

"As far as we know, they are not doing this in real time, because they know that if they did, we would go straight to court and start talking about the fact that it is a violation of privacy," she said.

TLC officials have said that the GPS idea is a logical extension of already existing policies, and underline the supposed benefits to the riders. According to the proposed plan, riders would be able to watch their progress through the city on a screen map mounted in the back of the taxi—what amounts to a blip moving along a grid map of the city streets.

More importantly supporters of the GPS initiative say, riders who leave personal belongings—like a cell phone—in the taxi will have an easier time of retrieving them. Theoretically, a call to 311 could allow the taxi in question to be tracked to within 30 feet of its GPS signal.

But again, it would not be in real time, which calls into question the actual convenience such a system would offer.

Unrealistic
Veteran cabbie Berisford Simmons adds that it is unrealistic to expect the drivers to check the rear of the vehicle between fares to see if any belongings were left. He says that if a rider were to leave a cell phone, it most likely would end up in the hands of the next fare.

Simmons, who has been driving his taxi for over 35 years, takes issue with the added cost to the drivers that the GPS system would entail—money that he says the already cash-strapped drivers can not afford.

Each GPS would cost $5,400 to purchase and install, and $175 a month to maintain. The installation and purchase would most likely be covered by the garage owners, but the cost would inevitably be passed on to the drivers by way of increased lease payments.

According to Simmons, even the $175 a month that the drivers would have to pay is financially crippling.

"It's more money coming out of our pockets and we're already not making much money out on the streets," said Simmons, adding that, "A cabbie who leases for twenty four hours a day has to drive seven days a week to bring home maybe $350 per week. For drivers who work shifts for the garages, they bring home maybe $50 or $60 for a 12 hour shift. To someone making so little money at such great effort, $175 per month is quite a lot of money."

Mamnunul Haq, a member of the New York City Taxi Drivers' Alliance who has been driving since 1993, owns his car, but leases the medallion. He points to another potential pitfall for drivers.

"The GPS system is tied together with the meter, including electronic trip records. If the GPS system stops working, so will the meter, and the cabbies will lose money. The GPS system has been shown to be unreliable and liable to need frequent repair," he said. And then there is another issue raised by Desai and others—the public will hate it. Or so they believe. They point to the unpopularity with riders of both the "Talking Taxi" and the "T.V. Taxi" of previous years to support their view. The new plan would include a screen displaying advertisements and government announcements. In the past, riders have rejected such devices as annoying and intrusive. Of the "T.V. Taxi" Desai said, "Passengers hated it. The pilot program failed and they had to cancel it. So why is the TLC effectively bringing back a failed program at a cost of over seven thousand dollars a year?" One answer to this question could be an over eagerness on the part of the TLC—and implicitly Mayor Michael Bloomberg, since he appoints the head of the TLC—to support technological "solutions," whether or not they are beneficial or actually necessary.

According to TLC's own statistics, over 90 percent of riders are New York City residents, people who in Desai's words, "hardly need a computer to tell them that they are at 23rd Street and 6th Avenue."

Allegations of Greed
On the uglier side of things, the taxi unions are alleging collusion between the TLC, the garage owners, and the vendors of the new GPS system. They claim that if the plan is implemented, the vendors would stand to make as much as $60 million from the deal.

The problem, they say, is that in some cases, the vendors and garage owners are one and the same.

Desai called attention to Ron Sherman, who is the main person selling the technology to the taxi industry. He is also a garage owner and president of the Garage Owners' Association. Mr. Sherman is already unpopular with the drivers for his recent campaign to convince the city to raise taxi cab leases.

"This is a major conflict of interest and speaks to the collusion between the TLC and the garage owners in the industry," said Desai. She is heading a call for an independent criminal investigation of the matter.

All charges of illegality aside, for Mr. Simmons it is a simple matter of practicality and fairness. He said that the GPS system offers no benefit to the drivers—it doesn't even provide them with information to help them navigate or locate destinations—while burdening them with added expense.

He said, "It's about time that the Mayor would really sit down with the taxi drivers and listen to what our complaints really are, because we are not making any money—we are very upset and ready to do what is necessary."