Cheating taxi riders out of big bucks is way too E-Z.
Thousands of cabbies are ignoring their required E-ZPass tags, taking the snail’s-pace cash lanes at the city’s toll crossings — a ploy that jacks up riders’ fares by an estimated $750,000 a year.
Meanwhile, taxi officials have dropped the ball on enforcing the E-ZPass requirement — costing the city millions more in lost fines.
For 10 consecutive workdays, The Post observed an average of 56 cabs taking the cash lanes at the Queens-Midtown Tunnel between 9 a.m. and 10 a.m.
“This goes on all the time,” one veteran tunnel officer said. “[At] the cash lanes, especially during rush hour, there could be a seven-minute wait. That meter is ticking.”
For duped riders, the result is a higher fare — a consequence some cabbies openly admitted.
“How can we make money if we [don't]?” said Satish Kumar, after being confronted by an undercover reporter. “I’m a new driver anyway, and I don’t have E-ZPass, yet.”
The Post took 12 undercover rides through the tunnel, and two of the drivers used the cash lanes.
One of the hacks, Registre Francois, insisted that his E-ZPass was “not working.”
“I don’t want to go through the trouble of getting it to work,” he said.
At the MTA’s five major bridges and tunnels, the cash toll is $5.50, but the E-ZPass discount drops the price to $4.57.
Either way, the customer pays the toll, which is figured into the final fare and ultimately increases the tip amount.
And then there’s the indirect cost to riders — the one that cabbies profit from.
Waiting at the longer cash lanes during slow-moving traffic could cost a rider an additional 40 cents for each minute the cab isn’t moving over 12 mph.
Factoring in a seven-minute wait at a rush-hour toll plaza and a 20-percent tip, a trip from Chelsea to Greenpoint using the Queens-Midtown Tunnel would cost a rider an extra $3.40.
Using that figure, The Post calculated the total annual extra cost to riders whose cabs would take the most popular tolled crossings: the Queens-Midtown and Brooklyn-Battery tunnels and the former Triborough Bridge (now called the Robert F. Kennedy Bridge).
It comes to $750,000 a year in overcharges — and that’s just at those three crossings at rush hour during the five-day work week.
Lax enforcement compounds the problem, hurting the city’s pocketbook because potential fines aren’t being collected.
If the Taxi and Limousine Commission hit only the 56 daily offenders spotted by The Post with a $50 fine, the city would rake in an additional $1,040,250 a year in revenue.
Taxi officials said they need to choose between enforcing the E-ZPass rule and others, such as the ban on cellphone use and regulations against refusing fares.
“While our rotation of enforcement priorities does not allow us to be at the bridge and tunnel plazas every day, we get to them as often as we can, and our targeted operations are effective,” said TLC spokesman Allan Fromberg.
Hacks have a host of excuses for not using E-ZPasses.
“The biggest one is ‘I got stuck in the cash lane,’ ” said Lt. Mike Friscia, a veteran TLC enforcement officer. “But that’s rarely the case.”
At a recent TLC cash-lane enforcement sting on the RFK Bridge, a team of officers nailed 50 drivers from 6 a.m. to 9 a.m.
“Sounds like a rip-off,” said one of the scofflaw cabbies’ passengers, Adam Mincham. “I just came off a long flight and was looking to get home.”
The driver, Rafel Polanco, was sent a summons in the mail. He claimed his E-ZPass transponder was broken.
Another scammed rider, a California tourist, figured out the ruse when her driver was pulled over.
“It helps them charge a bigger tip!” she said.
CAUGHT Taxi and Limousine Commission enforcement officer Ralph Abughazeh writes up cabby Peter Athanassiou for using a cash lane on the Triborough Bridge.
tom.namako@nypost.com
i wonder whats up with ny post writers. i see they are doing excellent job taking it on cabbies but what they would say if passenger asks to go through cash lanes as at a rush hour they are faster. specially if they are going to jfk/lga
First of all, any cabbie that knows his bussiness knows that the longer you take to complete the fare the less money you make in the long run since the meter clicks more often when you are moving than when you’re stuck in slow traffic, even more so if taking somebody to a destination the requires the use of a highway (and all toll booths are located in highways) since if you are doing 45/ 50 mph the meter will click 3 times per minute against 1 click per minute in slow/stopped traffic. Also I should point out that JFK fares are fixed at $45 no matter how long they take. And finally, the credit card system that is now used to calculate the tips doesn’t include the tolls as part of the tips: Going to Kennedy the fare will be $45 + $.50 + $4.57 = $50.07 but when you choose to leave a (for example) 20% tip it will add $9 (20% of 45) and not $10 (20% of $%) I wish these boobs at the Post would at least do some investigating (and 5th grade math) before defaming our industry
I love to read these excellent comments from fellow cabdrivers. We all benefit from it and every cabdriver should be involved!
I was told if you went slowly on a long trip in a blizzard on the meter, a waiting or slow time factor is added in so the distance would be more than if you went regular speed; having said that, going on a long trip at 10 mph in a blizzard, yes you get more on the meter, but not enough of a fare to make up for the time spent.
Thus, not talking about being stuck in traffic, going the speed limit should produce a good fare, while if you speed, the faster you go, the time factor added in is less, the less the fare (this is why riders do not say go slower, ever).
If I am not correct, please let me know.
To DC. I cannot stand the thought that CEO Neil Greenbaum and his credit card advertising systems has the pump to insert himself between the driver and the rider and any tip the rider will care to leave. Mr. Greenbaum should not be suggesting any percentage to the rider to choose what Mr. Greenbaum has offered. If you must, a tip screen should be offered with an amount the rider can press in with finger, or the driver should be able to come to a tip spot on his meter and the riders can say what tip they want to leave. This is OBNOXIOUS that Mr. Greenbaum should decided that a 20% tip would not include tolls or anything else. Let the rider decide what the tip is and never mind Mr. Greenbaum. In fact, I’m thinking about asking all CC payers to pay whatever tip they want and please in cash and not by Mr. Greenbaum’s obnoxious suggestion. What a nerve. Can you imagine Mr. Greenbaum showing up at the restaurant table or the waitstaff handing the bill and saying do you want to leave no tip, 5% tip, 10% tip, 15% tip, 20% tip or 25% tip? This is so obnoxious. One private driver cabbie said to me he used to enjoy going to work in the morning, he keeps an immaculate, beutiful and expensive cab, but now with the credit card invasion he says he has to push himself out the door, he doesn’t like driving his cab anymore. Such an obnoxious person insinuating himself between the driver and the rider. Mr. Greenbaum is just the fleecer.
To all NYC cabbies. Make it your business to notice what the NY Post and NY Daily News do in their cars and in their newspapers. Be sure they get 45,000 criticisms a day. And as I said above, once you make up your mind that you don’t need child-minded newspaper reporters stomping on cabbies day in and day out, find all the little legal things you can do to get on their case. After a while, they’ll be spending all their time defending themselves. Look for spelling errors in their newspapers, look for wrong facts in articles. As I said, payback is not fun. And as one good book said, take the mote out of your own eye before you go after the mote in someone else’s eyes.
No matter what these reporters do with facts, if 50 people did something at the tunnel, that is 50/one millionth of a days worth of rides. Hardly enough for a reporter to get paid to write up.
Frankly, I would not want 45,000 cabbies after me, on the road 24/7. You all have google, start looking them up, if they use their real names, or do they use fake names?
Yeah! NY Post is full of it!
all this means is that these cab drivers have ran out of money to pay for the e-z pass. if a driver makes the passenger’s ride more expensive, then they get less tip. this is got to be the stupidist article against new york cabbies i’ve ever seen!! this is the common situation of a cabbie already being down on his luck not having an e-z pass and then what’s more, getting a ticket for it to boot.
stupid writers might want to do better investigating, haven’t they heard of getting more than one side of a story?
plus, although the toll is 5.50 in cash, the charge on the fare is 4.57 no matter what, if and only if they’re overcharging should they be written up, in my opinion, i once wound up in the cash lane by accident, but i didn’t feel it would be fair to charge the passenger the extra change for my mistake.
i believe the slow time charge on the meter is for 5mph or less, so you’re not going to get it. anyway your timeliness is going to dictate what you’ll get paid more so than what it says on that meter, plus many taxi riders already have a set price in mind that they’re willing to pay, which is why you get less tips in traffic, the fare is more, tip is less. and as for the tips, that is standard tips everywhere 10-15-20%
for the small fares it sucks, but for the big fares, that’s fantastic.
They only give me one pail and one mop and let me clean it once a day, after 7,500 uses, or if I am out on sick time because my son is sick, it waits until I get back. Sorry!!
Keep picking on us. The mental, physical, and emotional strains I go through to make this job worth my while are beyond your imagination. Why don’t I go to school and get a real job? That’s cow manure. Taxi driving is a profession that requires incredible amounts of skill, on many levels. It should be compensated that way, but it’s not. So what do you expect? An honest AND talented cabbie is in it either out of pure love and devotion to humanity or because they don’t really have a choice. Otherwise, why remain in a profession that receives absolutely no respect for its efforts.
The reason why those bathrooms at JFK are in the state they are in is because the dirtbag drivers that use them are the filthiest i have ever encountered. I’ve seen people in there practically taking a bath in the damn sinks.
You get what you deserve. You treat your surroundings like a third-world country, you will get third-world services in return.
No Winky, don’t blame Muslims. If JFK bathrooms are cleaned 8 times/day, every 3 hours, they will be KEPT clean. If necesary, a 100 degree day, I might wash my hair in one of those sinks, but leave it spotless when finished. If it upsets you, have them put up a sign: this bathroom is cleaned 8 times a day, KEEP IT CLEAN. Cabbies may have to make a minor cab fix too, and wash their dirty hands. THE CABBIE BATHROOMS MUST BE KEPT SPOTLESS LIKE THE TRAVELER BATHROOMS WHICH ARE IMPECCABLE.
David, a threat to steal luggage and a threat to lock the doors of the cab are a basis for revoke of Hack license. Tourists if they got to NYC are smart enough to know these are also criminal acts, and to call 911. I don’t believe you. Or is this David Yassky, in that case, I believe it is another CABBIE DEMONIZATION.
Talk about helping cabdrivers with their needs? Did anything change on restroom issues? How can any cabdriver use a restroom in the city without any tickets? How many cabdrivers can stop for 5 minutes to use a restroom? Police, fire fighters, sanitation guys can stop for any break any time, anywhere! Oh, and if the cabbie drops off or picks up a passenger, that is traffic obstruction and all those additional tickets for anything, to make the cabbies’ day worse! That shows how they care about cabdrivers! Hotel restaurants should give that “value packed” food for the homeless, and Mr. Bloomberg should be counting them, because a lot more than cabdrivers!
Winky and Luis, use your noggins. JFK traveler toilets immaculate. Why, CLEANERS check after every bathroom use in terminals, they wait outside & go in and (clean) inspect. Just in case traveler left ’something dangerous’ in the bathroom.
Other hand, JFK cabbie toilets filthy. Doesn’t this mean that yellow cabbies TRUSTED because they don’t inspect (clean) after every use (7,500 times a day)? Or do those snot-nosed hoity toities think is okay if the cabbie bathroom area was blitzed to smithereens? Please do not serve bran muffins in the snack bar. Just think, Winky and Luis, what would the traveler toilets look like if they didn’t clean or inspect, only once, after 7,500 uses?