NYC Taxi Agency Says Cabs Will Get GPS Technology

New York City taxi officials say that a new GPS system and other technology upgrades opposed by cab drivers will be installed and used as planned in coming months, despite a threatened strike by some cabbies.

Cabbies have said they may go on strike in September and plan to set a strike date in mid-August, based primarily on worries that the GPS technology invades their privacy. They also oppose paying costs of the installations and a 5 percent credit-card transaction fee that results from installing credit-card payment technology.

However, a city taxi spokesman said yesterday that the technology is already installed in about 1,000 of 13,000 cabs and all of the cab-license owners have picked one of four contractors to do the installations between Oct. 1 and Jan. 31.

"Today, the vast majority of the industry remains excited about the systems, which are currently in almost 1,000 of the city's cabs with more quickly joining them every day," said Allan Fromberg, a spokesman for the city's Taxi & Limousine Commission, wrote in an e-mail to Computerworld.

Fromberg noted that GPS is "only the smallest component" of the new systems, which also provide credit-card payments, interactive electronic maps for passengers, two-way messaging systems, entertainment and music and electronic trip sheets, so drivers don't need to use pen and paper. The upgrades were approved in 2004 when a 26 percent fare increase was imposed, Fromberg said.

But the New York Taxi Workers Alliance's Executive Director Bhairavi Desai said the city "bullied" the license owners into meeting an Aug. 1 deadline to pick a technology contractor to provide the installations. If they did not meet the deadline, they faced a fine, she said.

The fact that a license owner picked a contractor "doesn't mean they agree with the systems at all," Desai said. In fact, she said she believes that many will not go along with the installations and that a strike is as likely as ever.

Desai would not comment on when a strike might occur, and Fromberg would not comment on the city's possible response to a strike.

The alliance does not have collective bargaining power and must resort to a strike to be heard, Desai said. Because the drivers are independent contractors, they value their independence and do not want to have GPS systems installed that can track their whereabouts, even when they park their cabs off-duty near their residences.

But the TLC will not be privy to the information on drivers' whereabouts, Fromberg noted, and the information will not be forwarded to the IRS, as some cabbie worry.

Yet Desai said a driver's location can still be used by the license owner, and there is little legal protection if it somehow turns up in the hands of TLC.

"When isn't privacy a fundamental liberty?" Desai asked. "Independence on the job is the last benefit the drivers have. They have no health insurance, no guaranteed income. They take the jobs primarily because their boss isn't sitting in the back seat."

About 85 percent of the drivers in the system are what is known as weekly drivers, meaning there are many who will drive the cars home and park them, and could have their location outside of work time notated by somebody, Desai said.

The systems cost US$1,300 and up for installations, and replacing broken components can also be expensive, she said. A 5 percent credit card transaction fee must be paid by the drivers, who could lose $1,000 apiece in annual earnings if they start each day's shift on a long run from Kennedy Airport or another similar location, she said. "That's essentially an income cut," she added.

But the commission said the innovations will lessen burdens on drivers, and in other cities have resulted in increased tips. In addition, fares went up in 2004 in part to help subsidize the technology improvements, according to a statement from commission officials.

About 75 percent of the taxi licenses are owned by corporations that hire drivers to work for them, while about 25 percent are owned by owner-operators, who might do all the driving or have a small crew of drivers, Desai said.