Members of the New York Taxi Workers’ Alliance, who don’t want their movements tracked, are rallying against a mandate that requires them to install a GPS tracking system in their cabs, according to a Newsday report. Alliance members are against the installation of GPS tracking systems in their cabs because of the $3,000 to $5,000 costs associated with installing the systems, which they would be forced to pay out of their own pockets. They are also citing concerns that the new requirements are because many cabbies in the city are Muslim. The Taxi and Limousine Commission mandated that GPS eventually be installed, along with other technological innovations passed at the same time as a fare hike in March 2004. TLC spokesmen say that the use of GPS is purely intended to improve customer service by providing a navigational map on a video monitor and making it easier to locate cabs when customers leave property behind and nothing more, according to the report. It also would render paper log sheets obsolete, which would make cabbies jobs easier. There is currently no timeline to introduce GPS in NYC cabs.
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