For Immediate Release:  FRIDAY, March 12, 2010
For More Information, please call:  Bhairavi Desai

NYTWA Statement on TLC's Overcharge Indictment of Entire Taxi Workforce

Investigate the Investigation!

"The TLC released findings today alleging overcharges on average of $4.45 per fare by a whopping over 35,500 drivers over 26 months.  While there are over 49,000 hack license holders, only about 30,000 are full-time, steady drivers who operate 13,237 medallion taxicabs.  So at 35,000 alleged violators, we are talking the whole universe of drivers.  The TLC's findings are based on technology - there are no actual witnesses to the allegations.  The fact that the technology condemns the whole universe of active drivers alone tells us that this was not about individuals; there was a systemic failure here.  There is only one common element across the board in all of these alleged incidents:  the taxi meter and technology. The drivers varied.  The trips varied.  The payments varied.  Only the meters and technology were the same.

Last night, March 11th, a message appeared in all cabs served by one of the three GPS vendors, stating that the credit card readers would be out for up to four hours last night so drivers could only take cash.  How many riders were angry and doubtful of the driver, blaming him or her when they were told the reader wasn't working?  Drivers have been scapegoated for the failures of this technology over and again.

There should be a more thorough investigation before judgment is cast on an entire workforce. Taxi drivers are some of the hardest working and honest New Yorkers, laboring back-breaking 12-hour shifts without safety or health care.  There are countless stories of drivers returning diamonds and tens of thousands of dollars in cash.  Yet, according to the technology, the same workforce would cheat the general public over $4?  These allegations raise more questions about the technology, the meters, and the investigation - than it does about drivers."

Bhairavi Desai, Executive Director
New York Taxi Workers Alliance

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