Cabbies to strike over new devices

Taxi drivers angry about a new rule requiring the installation of global-positioning systems and credit card machines in cabs are planning a one-day strike today. The city was preparing for the strike by the Taxi Workers Alliance by instituting a contingency plan that lets drivers pick up multiple passengers and charge zone-based fares.

The touch-screen monitors, being phased in as cabs come up for inspection, let passengers pay by credit card, check on news stories, map their taxi’s current location and look up restaurant and entertainment information.

The alliance, which claims to represent about a fifth of the city’s 44,000 licensed cab drivers, opposes the technology, saying the 5% surcharge on each credit card transaction amounts to a wage cut. It also says that the GPS device allows cab companies to track drivers and that the devices don’t always work.