GPS Log Analysis Uncovers Millions In NYC Taxi Overcharges

Hugh Pickens writes "The NY Times reports that New York City's Taxi and Limousine Commission is using GPS data collected in every cab to review millions of trips in New York City over the past 26 months and has discovered a huge number in which out-of-city rates, twice the rate charged for rides in the five boroughs, were improperly charged. The drivers' scheme, the commission says, involved 1.8 million rides and cost passengers an average of $4 to $5 extra per trip when drivers flipped switches on their meters that kicked in the higher rates, costing New York City riders a total of $8.3 million. Cab drivers are supposed to charge the higher rate only when they cross the border between New York City and Nassau or Westchester. 'We have not seen anything quite this pervasive,' said Matthew W. Daus, the taxi and limousine commissioner. 'It's very disturbing.' The taxi industry vigorously challenged the city's findings, saying it was unimaginable that such a pervasive problem could be the result of deliberate fraud. The commission says that 75% out of the city's 48,000 drivers had applied the higher rate at least once. Officials hope to roll out a short-term fix in two or three weeks in which an alert will appear on the backseat monitor when a cabbie activates the out-of-town rate."

Bullshit (except in London)

[Anonymous Coward]

it ultimately comes down a judgment call for things that can't be easily automated

At least 9 out of 10 taxi drivers in NYC do not know enough about the city's streets or the city's traffic patterns to know when it is appropriate to make a judgement call to deviate from the GPS-selected route.

If NYC required taxi drivers to pass a test comparable to "the Knowledge" test required of London taxi drivers (http://www.tfl.gov.uk/businessandpartners/taxisandprivatehire/1412.aspx [tfl.gov.uk]), that would be a different matter.

Last spring while Cirque du Soleil was doing their "Kooza" thing at Randall's Island in NYC, only 1 out of the 20 taxi drivers that I caught from a Manhattan Hilton had even heard of Randall's Island let alone knew how to get there.

Re:Because Cab drivers are notoriously ethical

[Gorobei]

That makes no sense. All NYC cabs are yellow and charge the same rates - you don't the choice to either hail an honest one or a dishonest one. It's about the most uncompetitive market there is.

Re:Maybe it's not the taxi drivers

[dudeman2]

Not true. In NYC, Taximeters are installed in individual cabs and are controlled by the driver. All the GPS/credit card/entertainment systems with two way radio communication were installed very recently. Before now it would have been impossible to prove fraud other than by hand matching receipts and rates charged to driver logbook to/from/time entries.

Re:Very easy fix

[techno-vampire]

Who cares, as long as both roads are in the same county? The point of the GPS isn't to keep track of exactly where the taxi is at all times, it's to make sure the passenger isn't being charged the suburban rate while they're inside New York.

Re:Because Cab drivers are notoriously ethical

[wanax]

Indeed, NYC created a taxi monopoly in 1937, partially as a response to poorly maintained vehicles and their attendant dangers. The problem is, that the law which did so hasn't been revised since, we've only had several hundred new medallions issued (as far as I know given for hybrid cabs) since 1937, and are stuck with the same ~13k cabs. Since this has made the medallions extremely valuable ($500k+), there is obviously a significant lobbying interest to prevent the sale of new medallions. While I'm not a huge fan of gypsy cabs (which, for example, often don't have functioning seat belts) the idea that the current population is served by the same number of cabs as was available in 1937 is absurd.