May 10, 2007

Credit cards coming to all NYC cabs this year

Touch-screens and credit card payments are coming to all NYC cabs, the city's Taxi & Limousine Commission confirmed today.

Starting October 1, as individual taxis come up for inspection, they will be required to install the new technology, which will allow passengers to map their route and get information about restaurants and bars, according to the Associated Press.

Taxi drivers are none too happy about the requirement. Some say the GPS equipment will allow officials to monitor their movement, and the $7,400 in equipment and fees is hardly pleasant either.

(In Philadelphia, where credit card machines are standard in cabs, angry taxi drivers are often claiming they're broken, according to the Philadephia Weekly. The reason is because the drivers themselves must pay the per-transaction surcharges and maintenance fees for each machine.)

Earlier: NYC cabbies from Bangladesh, Pakistan ... and U.S.
Tech-savvy taxis hit the streets
Stuck-in-traffic taxi rates rise Nov. 30; and $45 to JFK

May 10, 2007 03:25 PM in Arrivology, Techology, Transportology

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