New York City to get Taxi 2.0, now with GPS tracking and TV

Cabs are to New York as freeways are to Los Angeles; that is to say, they're an integral part of the landscape and no matter how hard you try, you're going to have to engage with them at some point. As such, most New Yorkers have a love-hate relationship with taxis. But New York's Taxi & Limousine Commission is trying to ease that relationship a little bit -- on Thursday, it gave a preview of the next generation of the city's yellow fleet, where new cabs will have a touch-screen that lets you watch TV (or turn it off), pay by credit card, follow your progress on a map, and best of all, make it easier to retrieve that umbrella that you forgot in the backseat when you got dropped of that one drunken night in the East Village. The commission said that the new system will let you call a hotline and tell them where you were dropped off and what was lost to use as clues to retrieve your forgotten property. We're assuming that then they'll retrace various cabs' driving histories (via GPS) over the period of the last several hours. But just keep in mind that you probably weren't the only person getting out at Port Authority around noon last Wednesday. The TLC says the new cabs should start hitting Manhattan by the end of the year.

[Alanr @ Dec 17th 2006 9:14AM]

They've had this in Ireland for about 6 years. Way to play catch-up.

[Pinhead @ Dec 17th 2006 10:07AM]

Well it's a lot easier to outfit the few hundred cabs in Ireland with this then it is to outfit the tens of thousands just in NYC, let alone the country.

[Alanr @ Dec 17th 2006 10:30AM]

a few hundred cabs? try 9000. you ignorant stereotype.

[ozone @ Dec 17th 2006 11:25AM]

all of them equipped with the stuff said? bullshit.

[JoeT @ Dec 17th 2006 11:27AM]

You're even more ignorant; according to Wikipedia, in 2006 there were over 16,000 in the republic. Of course, according again to Wikipedia, there are 13,000 in New York City alone - something of a more formidable task, don't you think?

Then again, having ridden in taxis in both locations, I actually prefer those in London.

[Jane Quigley @ Dec 17th 2006 11:21AM]

I was in one of these cabs last week. The driver said that the credit card piece wasn't really working - bad reception and they constantly have to retry the transaction and move the cab to get the signal. He also said that many of the cabs were learning how to disconnect the card swipe or just telling people it doesn't work.

[Faisal @ Dec 17th 2006 11:28AM]

NyC RepReSeNt!

I used to live in NYC about a year ago and I can tell you NYC is doing a fine job with their taxi cabs. NYC has over 8.1 million people, over 1,150 schools (not to mention NYC spends over $15 billion a year on schools), has the LARGEST subway system in the world, has one of the most elite cops in the USA, and the 12,000 cabs NYC has...don't ya think for a moment, AlanR, it's kinda tough for NYC to pay all of this? especially with the illegal immigration population booming in NYC and other parts of the USA...man I love NYC and I miss that city...you can see how MUCH I miss it by goin to my myspace below :)...so yea...I believe NYC is doing a great job keeping it's taxi service (and also it's subway service) up and running all the time. The subways and taxi are an ESSENTIAL part of NYC life (the best city in the world imho)

www.myspace.com/fzzl89 :)

[par @ Dec 17th 2006 11:48AM]

They should do that in Athens

[Tekiek @ Dec 17th 2006 11:49AM]

I actually live in NYC (SOHO) and could care less about watching TV in a cab. Especially if I have to pay for it! Cabs are only useful if your going from island to island (or if your to wasted and lazy for the subway). At tops you ride for no more than 10-20 mins, so why bother with the tv?

[Adam @ Dec 17th 2006 11:58AM]

"pay by credit card"??? This isn't already an option??? I live in Chicago and they are required to take credit cards. I have gotten about 5 or 6 free rides this summer from "broken" or missing card readers.

[Brendor @ Dec 17th 2006 12:33PM]

I haver a friend who runs a few taximeter shops (2 manhattan, 1 L.I.C.) and he told me they were starting to test this system 2 years ago. He said one of the components of the credit card system is that it is supposed to check for outstanding warrants on the cardholder, as well as display the route driven on the LCD so as to inform any out-of-towners if the cabbie took them for an extra scenic zig-zag route (to up the fare). They were supposed to be installed by November 2005 (see http://tinyurl.com/yxazrc ), so it doesn't suprise me there are bugs being worked out.

[strokeny @ Mar 1st 2007 11:59AM]

And you're proud of that? These guys work 20 hrs a day, usually have families to support and you're trying to get a freebie??? LEACH, Parasite.

[Andrew @ Sep 20th 2007 10:59PM]

to brendor:

what are they supposed to do once they find out there is a warrant on the person? drive a possibly armed person around refusing to let them out until you happen upon a cop?

[Andrew @ Sep 20th 2007 11:06PM]

Brendor - I didn't mean that to come across as an attack on you, i just think whoever thought up the idea is a crackpot, i mean seriously, what are they supposed to do even IF they catch someone via that system? keep them from paying for their cab fare?

[Rusty @ Dec 17th 2006 12:03PM]

Probably taking so long go get them installed for a variety of reasons....
They have to find enough people that SPEAK ENGLISH to install, train, and show the non ENGLISH speaking cabbies how to run them.
I"m sure the union thugs will want their share of money from them also.
I wonder how many of these will be stolen/ripped off by users and cab drivers?

[Richard @ Dec 17th 2006 12:35PM]

The best part about NYC taxis is that they've passed a bylaw that all yellow cabs can't be more than 3 (or 4 - can't remember which) years old... so this means as medallion owners replace taxis, they'll have to integrate these systems.

Great idea, and the TLC needs to add a line to the Taxi Cab Rider's Bill of Rights that says riders can pay in whatever method they choose, including credit or debit.

Too many cabs in NYC advertise that they'll take credit, but when you try to pay with it, they've taped over the card readers because they don't want to lose the 3% fee. :/ The no-reception excuse/doesn't work is horseshit.

[gregoryp @ Dec 17th 2006 3:46PM]

Don't you think that Taxi 2.0 would imply that the riders provide the content? Until they install cameras that capture your "experience" in the cab and give you the option of uploading it *instantly* to YouTube, it sounds like the same old scenario to me.

[Eric @ Dec 17th 2006 6:54PM]

I find it humorous how people get all worked up over stupid shit as someone saying "blah blah blah in this country", get a life...so what if NYC is 6-years behind? It's here, that's it. Pretentious imbeciles....

[EvanWasHere @ Dec 17th 2006 10:26PM]

I'm a New Yorker...been living in Manhattan the last 10-15 years... In the last month, the TLC has SCREWED all New Yorkers like me. My fare every day to work, from 53rd and 1st to 45th and 5th before December was about $6. Now the fares are $13-$14. How is this possible you ask? Well, the TLC added a new way to bill people for $.40 for every minute you go under a 12 mph... I don't know about other cities of the world..but in midtown NYC, u will never go above that speed. So.. What the TLC promised would only increase fares by a dollar, not is MORE than doubling my fare. On top of that, traffic has gotten WORSE because taxis are no longer in a rush to get their destination...they can just go slowly down a route and get paid no matter what.. yesterday I was in a taxi and the taxi was leisurely driving behind a guy pushing a hot dog stand..... for 5 blocks!!! I was screaming to the cabby to pass him, but he was too busy yakking on his phone.. And if this is not bad enough, in the last 10 taxis I took, half of them went down the wrong route, just so they could take longer getting to my stop... And it's not just me... Everyone I know is complaining about this. And if you ask why I don't just take a subway? The subway (#6) is 4 blocks from my apartment... And 4 blocks from my work... So I would have to walk 8 blocks (not including all the underground tunnels and stairs I'd have to walk) just to take a train. The taxi used to be a place I could get prepared for work..start my business day making calls to clients... Now I need to always be watching, making sure the taxi isn't purposely going the wrong way.. I wish there was somewhere to complain.. to make ourselves heard by politicians who take private car service everywhere (did I mention that its now the SAME price to take a Lincoln Town car to my work as it is now to take a yellow cab?)

[strokeny @ Mar 1st 2007 11:59AM]

Your money didnt go to drivers, its going to Verifone that is installing the systems in the cabs. Noone would mind if the drivers made more money and it would attract better drivers, but it doesnt.

[strokeny @ Mar 1st 2007 11:39AM]

ITs not the drivers that are benifiting, these guys work sometimes 20hrs a day, and the minute they get a raise everyone raises all their expenses so it winds up neutralized. I used to drive a cab in NYC when I was in college and believe me, there is nothing good about it, people are very rude sometimes, I've had money thrown at my face.
The drivers make nothing and all these stupid gadgets are more excuses for the gov't to extract money from hard working people. GPS is no substitute for a good driver and in a city as small as NYC what we need is better driver training and better wages, not technology. Hell, we're losing a war in Iraq because we thought we could bomb the hell out of them! When are we gonna learn that technology is no substitute for people.