All of the city's taxis will soon have to carry global positioning systems (GPS) and touch-screen monitors to let passengers pay by credit card.

A spokesman for the New York Taxi Workers Alliance today claimed that the GPS technology was "heavily priced, unnecessary and unproven".

But the New York state Federation of Taxi Drivers said the strike itself was unnecessary, and predicted that only 10% of drivers would take part.

The New York mayor, Michael Bloomberg, appealed to cab drivers to ignore the strike and said he would not tolerate drivers disrupting the city.

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