Livery cars are usually black, but the legal ones will be painted a new, distinctive color so riders know they’re legit. The cars will be outfitted with GPS, credit-card readers and meters — just like yellow cabs.
You might be thrilled by the idea, but yellow-taxicab drivers are seeing red over Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal to allow livery cars to pick up people off the streets in the outer boroughs.
“Whether you’re standing on 42nd Street in Manhattan or 42nd Street in Sunnyside, Queens, you ought to be able to hail a cab,” said Bloomberg during his State of City address yesterday.
Picking up passengers off the streets is something many livery drivers already do, illegally — which means the city would be playing into the hands of lawbreakers, critics say.
“The city is basically giving in to the illegal model,” said Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade spokesman Michael Woloz. And don’t expect the livery cars to stay in Brooklyn or Queens, he added.
“They may pick up a fare in Queens, go into Manhattan and stay in Manhattan,” said Woloz. “They are going to abandon the boroughs.”
Woloz also wants to know why yellow-cab drivers should bother to fork out a small fortune to buy a medallion from the city, which allows them to pick up street hails and costs up to $650,000, if livery car drivers don’t have to.
“It’s a slap in the face to anyone who invested in the medallion,” he said.
The cars will be outfitted with GPS, credit-card readers and meters, just like yellow cabs, but no taxi-TV. Is that means, cabs without a medallion, like in other countries? No middle man, and finally cabbies have a chance to buy the car and keep it just like a family car.
What do you think? Are you for the Mayor Michael Bloomberg’s proposal? It is shocking you? You may have a better proposal.
– Yellow cabs – Green cabs – Orange cabs – Blue cabs – Gold cabs – Silver cabs – Hybrid cabs – Electric cabs -
No free advertising in the livery cars TO START — but once the system is in, why do they need meters which is the hallmark of a cab or taxi? And why the meters? A cabbie would do better to start up a livery — no medallion payments. I wouldn’t talk too fast — Bermuda, where cabbies own their own cabs (no middlemen) they got the tv ads, the card swipes and GPS because the ex-premier said to be multimillionaire ordered them into every Bermuda cab. Who needs GPS on 22 sq mile island? How many livery cars to have meters in NYC are we talking about, and these are dispatched by the dispatch company right? Now, do you think it was a put-up job to have those comments about can’t get a cab to Brooklyn — just a put up? Everyone needs every job to survive. No one refusing Brooklyn job without timing reasons.
Won’t this drop the value of individual and fleet medallions on the purchase and sale market? In other words, if the mayor signs away the medallion system (slowly but surely in tiny steps) the medallion values will tank like lead balloons.
Bermuda rider said ex-premier Ewart Brown (resigned Oct 2010) owns luxury condo in Manhattan. Hey, maybe he’s living off GPS ad card-swipe residuals or maybe just wants to drive a yellow cab in NYC? LOL
Brown’s biography (or CV) obtained on the internet says when elected Premier of Bermuda in 2006 he insisted on retaining the Minister of Transportation position at the same time as Premier. Was it under this hat that Brown forced the installation of GPS computer dispatch card-swipe in every Bermuda cab — all owned by the drivers? I suppose they got the advertising screen along with it – anyone know? No fleet renters in Bermuda.
Cute how the picture shows the livery phone number, should this taxi site be showing a competitor’s phone number? Whoever put this picture on the site, you should airbrush out the phone number. Why help your competitor.
What is procedure for someone to buy and set up livery car and be approved by the TLC with a number? What are the requirements, basically? Meter, card-swipe, GPS and no medallion payment!! Ooops, and must they pay computer dispatch weekly fees? You know there is parasite money built in somewhere — because these meters, card-swipes GPS are 9/10 of a dispatch setup. Big money for the installers of that equipment — our taxi tycoon pals maybe from Greenbaum’s Verifone or Sherman’s CMT? There used to be 30,000 taxis in NYC. Now only 13,300. Soon no more taxis at all!! And who will the new owners of the liveries that can pick up on the street? And what is the defined geographical area they can pick up on the street.
One lady rider said that under the mayor’s proposal, the livery car that brings a rider to Manhattan (or the NYC boundaries) can pick up a fare on the street that is going back to the livery’s source neighborhood. Livery brought someone in from Jersey? Can take another one back to Jersey; that is how she explained it. It was not clear how the livery would know where a street hailer was going until questioned.
Worst mayor ever in the history of this city!!!!!!
The cabbie union NYTWA must demand from the TLC a 5-year plan, 1-year plan, 3-year plan, and 10 year plans — that the TLC has underway.
It is absolutely unjust for a regulatory commission such as TLC to plan quietly to change the regulated busineses as a surprise — especially at the root of the surprise is to take away all their business. Remember the Administrative Procedure Act, nationally, state-wide, and city-wide. It is a code of ethics for regulatory agencies. Why no one is forcing Bloomberg and TLC team to abide by it? Well, I suppose Bloomberg does not care about the APA Administrative Procedure Act as he does not care about federal law either, has no respect for it.
The APA also prescribes ethical interactions and input between regulated and regulators. Prescribed notifications and informational codes, advance notices of proposed changes, with the regulated business plenty of opportunity for input and presenting special problems the regulations may or will incur.
If any regulatory agency was not bound by the APA, they should follow it anyway because it is not stringent, it is only what any reasonable, just, and fair agency would WANT to do in its effort to regulate in a fair-handed manner.
Seems that TLC is bound not only by APA but State APA, and certainly there must be a NYC APA — under which the TLC must regulate — spelling out what is the fair way to regulate a segment of business.
As the yellow cab driver gets slapped in the face yet again.
First its our favorite taxi conglomerates and no the city itself.
Glad i sold out years ago. Watch the medallions value plummet now.
Suckers
I think there is a whole lot of worry over nothing. If there is so much money in the outer boroughs that these livery cars are going to “steal” from us, then why aren’t there yellow cabs working these areas now? Its because there is a thinner demand for cabs there. As long as TLC enforces the law and doesn’t let them “take over” Manhattan, I have no problem with these livery cars. I was happy to see TLC ticketing livery cars on Bleeker St the last two Saturdays in a row. I got a few fares taking the passengers out of the liveries while they were being held up by the police. All the passengers told me that the livery drivers still wanted their money, but the cops told them not to pay and to give it to me as a tip for taking them in a legal car.
I drove a yellow taxi for 15 years now Im going to buy a livery cab. I will work the airports solely. They are both in the outer boroughs,Queens. Medallion prices will drop to $300,000. The funny thing the liverys wont be able to charge triple price if they use the meters, but Im sure they will continue not using the meters in NYC.
Why should I pay a weekly lease when i can pay off a new Livery cab with the GPS and CC machine?
The old days, was one man one cab — call it a livery cab, but it will be back to one man one cab, except controlled and surveilled by the taxi tycoons installing their GPS card-swipe systems, which means they log in every single job the guy does, whether card-swipe or not. For the luxury of picking up street hails in the outer boroughs, the price is sell your soul to the devil — he’s watching and ordering you around, through card-swipe guise. Soon after installations, the next step will be: 9/10 of a GPS dispatch system already there without them saying so, the TLC approved livery cab will be forced to join a job dispatch association and pay $100 a week — no choice — to get a job or 2 now and then. Big jobs already bought out. Around the country, there has been no word that the GPS surveillance cut out cheaters and feeding big jobs to paying favorites by job dispatchers — no one seems to be announcing cabs who fly in and out of the airport without the standard wait!!!! The GPS spyglass used to run the independent contractors business for them — for a profit. Soon the TV ad screen friendly component will be coerced into the livery by some new threat — lower your weekly dispatch dues of $100 a week to $80 a week and let advertising pay for it!!!!! It is always about a parasite collecting money — not about getting a passenger from point A to point B. The trade off: give up independent contractor control, install the GPS spyglass, and you will be allowed to pick up street hails in the outer boroughs, a privilege that can be recinded at any time.
Do the livery cabs want this? Seems like they are in for a huge headache.
when i drop off in outer boros i usually come back empty. where is all this street business coming from? many of the hails i do see are by people that look scary. expect to see livery cabbies killed on a regular basis.
If the Livery drivers picks up from manhattan the gps should should pick that up right away and issue a summons to the drivers house right away and then I think the yellow cab drivers should not have a problem.
NYC CAbbie — But when they pick up street hails of manhattan they wil NOT used the meter and no one will enforce that law any more because the tlc and you think that the GPS will
Damn it, it just seems to get worse. Poor people. The medallions are an ilegal trade and that is what’s cause the big problem. They should not cost more than the license plate on the car and should only be given and limitted by the City so that all the drivers stay busy and make money. And then getting a job/contract as a nyc taxi-driver would be based strictly on qualification, those who are most qualified. This way everything would be more professinal and beneficial, and then the taxi industry can also affored to provide personal insurance, pension plan, etc.. Now everything is in shambles, and as poor as it can get. But now, This greedy and crazy system calls for the most desparate, down-troden, irresponsible, etc., taxi drivers. And that is what you’re going to get when the cost fot driving a taxi is so high. I hope Allah will justifie this mess.
1) “The medallions are an ilegal trade”
How are they illegal?
2) “They should not cost more than the license plate on the car..”
Why? Because you can’t afford one? They should cost what someone is willing to pay for one. I was willing to pay $614,000 and I did so.
3) “..and should only be given and limitted by the City..”
They are limited by the city (13,254 medallions)
4) “…so that all the drivers stay busy and make money.”
If you are not busy and making money, maybe you are doing something wrong. I am “busy” and “making money” every day I get in my cab. If you’re not, maybe you need to do something else.
5) “greedy, most desparate, down-troden, irresponsible, taxi drivers.”
I’m certainly not greedy, desparate, downtrodden, or irresponsible and neither are my partners who drive my car with me.
6) “when the cost fot driving a taxi is so high.”
The cost of driving is only “so high” at a garage. It is your responsibility to advance and move yourself forward and lower your cost structure by getting out of driving at the garages as quickly as possible. Drive a private cab where the lease is lower. Buy your own cab and lease the medallion, its cheaper when amortised over the 5 year life of the car. Don’t drive like an asshole, that way you save gas (I spend about $25 a day on gas in my Crown Vic) and my tips are bigger since the passengers like the way I drive and they’re not bouncing around like a pin-ball in the back seat.
7) “I hope Allah will justifie this mess.”
I’m not sure what you mean by this. The word “justify” means “to defend or uphold as warranted or well-grounded” or “to show a satisfactory reason or excuse for something done”
I absolutely LOVE driving my cab and that is reflected in the wad of cash and CC receipts I go home with every night. Its clear that driving a cab is not for you.
what if they start to p/u @ airport?
Aren’t they already picking up at airport?
To M;
Good goin’ It’s about time some one with sense posted the truth….
In case you haven’t noticed most of the posts here are by the losers who do nothing but complain.
If they going to put meters,gps,cc machine and paint the livery cabs one color as a yellow cab driver i think is a good idea cuase that way the passenger and TLC could identify a livery cab. That could help TLC in given them more fines when a livery picks up illegally in manhattan that way they could stay out the city.But that would only work if TLC get really strict on that if not that would be a waste of time and it would be bad for yellow .A nother thing adding 1,500 more yellow should’nt be a probem beacuse they would be way more then 1,500 livery cabs out side the city so i think yellow would be making about the same or a lil more.Whats funny to me is that livery cabs think is good for them but is really not becuase now they might be making less money cause of the meter they CANT OVER CHARGE PEOPLE no MORE and they would have to pay MTA tax and city tax and might pay more for the lease. So my yellow cabs brothers lets just hope for the best and help livery cabs drivers in making more money is only right the have famaly to.thanks for taking your time in reading this much love to ALL DRIVERS out there.
Just another example of the city sucking money from somewhere. How come we never hear of cutting city executive jobs?God forbid. They might have to get a real job.
I can’t believe it came down to this as of 12/21/11. I used to get $10 each fare when its $7.20 or $8.50 on the meter but now its like $9 and change.
I hate driving a cab so much from 5pm – 10p because those 1st five hours are for the gas, lease, and tolls. I only have about 2-3 hrs from 10pm – 1am to make about $120 if I am lucky enough not going to the outer borough from 5-10pm. This job is so streessful until the past 2 months where I no longer give a dam about the customer, tlc car, police, and my cab company. I used to NEVER go OFF DUTY, now I start OFF DUTY and END OFF DUTY. The most I’ve made was $67 an hour from rejecting fares. My Hack license is suspended but I will be picking up passengers with my black personal car charging $10 – $13 dollars anywhere in Manhattan. If I charge $10 each trip from 5pm – 10pm then I will have over $100 profit then I can go home to my new born and wife. As a yellow cabbie, we know how HARD it is to be stuck in a car for 8-12 hrs each day. Back pain, leg pain, mental strees, outerboro stress. Believe it or not, I actually gave this lady $10 to take another cab to Harlem from like 32st and Park. She said “God Bless me”, I picked a $7 fare instantly to cover that $10 lost. I make $25 dollars going to Bronx, Brooklyn and Queens, then I lose about $4 for gas round trip so I only made $20 that hr but if I stay in Manhattan I can make at least $40. I educate my passengers all the time and its amazing that most of them don’t know anything. Honest Truth, I kept a few iphones from passengers because of their lousy $1 credit card tip which becomes $0 after CC fees for $.50 fee + 5% from each transaction. My 2 cabbies fellow regrets returning $500 cash in wallet to CT for $100 reward and another $1,200 from cash wallet from JFK flight. GOOD BOYS FINISH LAST. I AM NO LONGER A GOOD BOY BUT A BAD BOY WITH BETTER PAY. This job, everyone is against you. Other cabbies, cops, jay walkers, tlc, passengers.