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Last Stop! What a Ride:)

 

 

I finally put together a print piece regarding the taxi technology debate in New York City (see post below). I hope the article depicts the difficulties I faced in covering this investigative topic. Countless hours were spent trying to get to the bottom of this issue, but alas, I was unable to draw any clear conclusions.

 

While it’s definitely frustrating that I couldn’t write the story I originally pitched, I learned more from this assignment than I think I have from any other in all my four-and-a-half years of journalism studies. In fact, I credit this Guerilla News for inspiring me to take my reporting to the next level, to be brave enough to go beyond what’s comfortable, to take a chance and do my best:)

Magazine Feature…Well, not exactly, but I’ll tell you why.

The New York City taxi technology debate: Much ado about what exactly?

By Kathryn Carlson  

About three months ago, I left my Canadian hometown behind and landed at John F. Kennedy Airport with my entire life packed in two black hockey bags. When I packed those bags, I was a bright-eyed twenty-three year old girl with a plan. But standing alone in the airport parking lot and sweating under the scorching August sun, I didn’t feel like I had much of a plan at all.

There was no familiar face to greet me and frankly there was nothing remotely comforting about my situation. Once I finally reached the front of the taxi queue, the driver helped me schlep the bags into the trunk of his taxi. His shiny yellow taxi. His shiny yellow taxi in New York City.

Suddenly I wasn’t so frightened. Suddenly I was elated. I was officially in the Big Apple, zig-zagging the streets in the iconic yellow cab that I had only seen in films and on television. It was as if that taxi ride was a right of passage, confirming my transition from a disillusioned girl who quit her job in the Prime Minister’s Office to become a journalist in New York. Little did I know that my first investigative story would be born from that taxi experience.  And little did I know that you would be reading this article instead of the one I set out to write.

I initially pitched this story as an article that would take an in-depth look into an intricate debate being fought out on the city’s streets and in the courtroom – a debate about a mandatory technology makeover of New York’s yellow taxis. It was intended to be a piece that explained why the Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) is requiring that all of the city’s more than 13,000 yellow cabs be equipped with a Global Positioning System (GPS), credit and debit card machine, personal information monitor, and text messaging capabilities, before their next inspection. And it was also supposed to relay the reasons why some of the city’s drivers are so intent on putting the breaks on the installation of the equipment.

I began my research as usual and started off with an extensive online search for media coverage of the September strike. While as a journalist I should have known better, I naively took what was reported at face value. It wasn’t until I read between the lines that I realized there were significant holes in much of the coverage. More importantly, I discovered that there were significant holes in the TLC’s justification for the technology and in the drivers’ objection to its installation.

What soon became suspicious was that not many of the people I ended up speaking with were able to provide any answers that held more than a drop of water. Meanwhile, the bucket was full of conspiracy theories including Big Brotheresque schemes and allegations of financial wrongdoing. One question led to another and the ‘answers’ seemed like public relations spin conjured up for the sake of sound bites. For all I know, everything might have been done by the book and for legitimate reasons, but at this point the fishing expedition for answers to what seemed like simple questions has been less than fruitful.

Drivers were often quoted in the media complaining about having their movement tracked by the GPS and having to dish out thousands of dollars of installation charges and monthly fees. Bill Lindauer, committee member of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance (NYTWA), said he was outraged by the requirement. “This is a moral and financial debacle. It tracks drivers as if they were criminals and financially, it’s crippling,” he said. “A lot of what’s out there about this is lies. The TLC lies, brokers lie, garage owners lie, there’s a lot of sleezeballs in this industry.”

While I might not have put it quite that way, I can attest to the dizzying amount of misinformation that made getting to the bottom of this situation a journalist’s nightmare. After dozens of interviews, thirty hours of taxi ride-alongs, and days spent sifting through stacks of articles and court documents, I have nothing more to show for my work than a smattering of information that doesn’t add up and paints a blurry picture at best.

I should admit the fact that because I had developed an affinity for taxi drivers after that August cab ride, I was initially convinced that the drivers had a solid argument against the TLC. I sympathized with Mamadou Sangare, a taxi driver with whom I spent a couple afternoons, when he spoke of how his livelihood would be affected. “They’re going to know where I am all the time,” said Sangare. “They’re going to know how fast I’m going, how much money I’m making. They’re tracking me down, telling me what to do, and I’m going to lose a lot of money.”

When I asked him who “they” were, he said he was referring to the TLC. But in sifting through court documents pertaining to the lawsuit brought forward by the NYTWA at the end of September, I read that the TLC would not have access to any information to which it does not already have access. And while that may sound reassuring, I could not confirm with anyone exactly how the information would be secured, how the GPS actually works, and who would be privy to the information collected by the GPS system.

Sangare said he was angry that the TLC was dictating how he ran his business. “We are independent workers,” he said. “They won’t let us have a union but they tell us what to do, how much to charge, they control us.”

It wasn’t until I spoke with a garage owner who sits on the Metropolitan Taxicab Board of Trade that I realized this wasn’t a simple black and white situation. He spoke with me ‘on background’, meaning that I can’t quote or name him in my story but I can use the information he provided.

He explained that the taxi technology requirement was announced in 2004 and was offered to passengers as what the TLC is calling a “give back” for that year’s 26 percent fare increase. The TLC claims they mandated the technology in order to improve the taxi ride experience, create better efficiency within the industry, and provide information to the City for policy purposes.

The garage owner also set me straight by explaining that there’s a lease cap on the amount that garage owners can charge a driver per day or per week to rent a medallion cab. The media coverage and Sangare’s statements did not reflect that fact and, instead, it was widely reported that the cost to lease a medallion cab would increase significantly in order to off-set the cost of the system. (A medallion is a small plate attached to the hood of the cab which authenticates it as a valid and registered New York City yellow taxi. About a quarter of the city’s drivers own their taxi and medallion, which cost upwards of $400,000, while the rest lease the medallion and cab from a garage).

What I also realized was that while the NYTWA – which claims to represent 7,000 of the city’s approximately 45,000 drivers – was shouting about the installation cost to the driver, that cost is actually the responsibility of the medallion owner. In fact, medallion owners can avoid that cost by selecting a certain contract plan with their vendor of choice. By choosing a payment plan with free installation, drivers forfeit the right to any portion of the advertising revenue collected by the vendors through ads on the personal information monitor. Though the system is already installed in some taxis, vendors say it’s too early to tell just how many millions of dollars they stand to gain from this requirement.

Next, I interviewed Ibraheem Basir, logistics coordinator with the now-bankrupt Taxi Technology Ltd. – originally one of the four technology vendors – and he explained that the main purposes of the system were to facilitate credit and debit transactions and create electronic trip sheets. Trip sheets, which were traditionally done by hand by the driver, state the time and location of each fare pick-up and drop-off. The TLC requests the start and end points of each journey to ensure that the fare charged is appropriate to the distance traveled and that the meter has not been tampered with.

“This is not like a honing device or a surveillance system,” Basir said. “At the end of the day, the functionality is keeping the electronic trip sheets. When a person gets in a cab, it sends a report out to the computers as to where they are and when they get out it sends another report. However, at 11:55, can I go and say I want to find John Smith and type his name into a computer? You can’t do that.”

Similarly, once I finally convinced someone from the TLC to speak with me, I was told that only a cab’s location at a precise moment can be ascertained. “It provides a snapshot in time rather than a moving blip,” said Allan Fromberg, spokesperson for the commission.

This sounded convincing to me, until I stopped to think about it.

The GPS uses satellites to determine the relative positions of objects using the geometry of triangles and the receiver calculates its position by measuring the distance between itself and three or more GPS satellites. How is it that the GPS allows someone to locate a certain cab at a precise moment but not be able to track it by finding its location second by second?

What furthered my confusion was that Fromberg said the TLC never even asked the vendors to include GPS in the system in the first place. Rather, the commission stipulated what it wanted to accomplish and the vendors came up with the scheme to materialize those desires.

“The TLC did not ask for GPS,” said Fromberg. Not so, say officials from one of the vendors.

            “The GPS was required by the TLC,” said Joey Ledford, the offsite public relations spokesperson for the company. “When you compete for these contracts, there are criteria that are outlined by whoever is issuing the contracts. The GPS was one of the criteria.”

As for the TLC’s claim that the GPS will help to locate lost items, Fromberg was unable to articulate exactly how the GPS will be able to assist in determining which vehicle the passenger left his or her belonging. When I spoke with Ledford, he was equally at a loss for a convincing explanation of that functionality. Surprisingly, he was unaware that this was one of the stated functions of the system. “I don’t see how the technology will help to locate lost items,” Ledford said. “If you don’t have a receipt then you have a problem.”

            Aside from the GPS, the other requirement that has some drivers angry is the five percent service fee they must pay on credit and debit transactions and the fact that there is no minimum charge for those transactions. While a five percent fee over the course of a year can add up and while it’s in the vendors’ and the TLC’s interest to say so, both likely rightly estimate that the credit and debit options will mean more fares, longer trips, and better tips.

            Bill Ciofero, a cab driver of 30 years, isn’t so sure of this and said that he and other drivers have chatted about ways to limit the amount of plastic transactions. He said drivers might post a sign stating there’s a minimum charge for credit or debit cards. Or perhaps they’ll simply say that the machine isn’t working.

            Though the privacy concerns and transaction fees may be part of the reason some drivers are against the system, at this point, I think it’s hardly a convincing case. It seems that while drivers may be hooting and hollering about the machine heating up the cab or the radiation affecting their health, they are primarily concerned about the potentially significant blow to their incomes.

Ciofero said some drivers make an extra couple hundred dollars a week in un-taxed off-the-meter fares. Because of the technology, drivers won’t be able to skim a little of the top and it will be easier for the government to audit their incomes. “With the GPS being installed, a lot of guys will get out of the business because of the whole tax issue,” Ciofero said. “Some of these guys either have never paid their taxes or pay a lot less than they should.”

Professor Graham Hodges of Colgate University who was a driver himself and wrote a book about the industry, said that some form of tax evasion does go on and agrees that this technology will put a dent in drivers’ incomes. “The machine will track the income that drivers make. Some drivers will be affected, but it’s hard not to sympathize when the highest paid drivers make somewhere around $42,000 a year.”

And it’s no secret that the recent ‘strikes’ were lucrative for many drivers as well. What’s striking to me is that for three and a half years, the industry has known that this technology was coming. Why wait until the very last minute to stage two strikes and launch a lawsuit?

            The NYTWA said it was strategic, the TLC said it was an irresponsible last ditch effort or a way to rally the disorganized drivers for the sake of future bargaining, and some drivers said that working during the ‘strikes’ made them twice as much money as they would’ve made on a regular day. “We made a fortune those days,” said Ciofero. “We did a ton off the meter, flat fares, zone fees. We really made out good those days.”

In the end, what it all appears to come down to on the drivers’ side is money – specifically un-taxed money. On the other hand, the motives of the TLC are more difficult to define. Whether it’s to crack down on the income tax issue, to ‘spy’ on the movement of drivers (about 95 percent of which are immigrants), or simply to bring the industry into the twenty-first century for the sake of the passengers and the drivers themselves, is still unclear.

            So here I am, overwhelmed with “no comments,” misinformation, and ‘answers’ that are so full of holes that if they were cheese, they’d surely be Swiss. After two months of research, I’m not buying the lines that the drivers, the TLC, or the NYTWA are selling.

                                                                     -30-

Coming soon to a taxi near you

Et voila: here is the final edit of my web video. It’s much the same as my original video, however I did some fine editing and added a voice over at the end. It felt good to go back to Avid and feel comfortable with the software. I look forward to my next video project! 

Stop, look, and listen

This is a short audio slideshow that I put together in order to experiment with pairing noises with photos that depict motions which would create those sounds. Bill, the cab driver who has devoted many hours to helping me better understand the industry and the drivers’ point of view, stars in this short photo essay. I used Avid and iPhoto for my multimedia pieces, though I must say that I did experiment with Soundslides and Audacity. Technology is changing nearly everyday and, while I realize that it will be difficult to keep up with software developments and the changing tides of multimedia production, I am no longer intimidated by what lies ahead.

Audio Podcast: Word on the Street

Photo Op

For this aspect of the multimedia project, I decided to experiment with iPhoto on my Mac. I enjoyed the process of editing my photos and was able to compile a slideshow with more ease than with Avid. The quality of the images was also better when I used iPhoto and I was glad to learn the process of adding captions and uploading from my Mac, to YouTube, and then here onto my blog.

The big picture

I just finished putting together my first audio slideshow. It took me significantly more time than I had anticipated but I wanted to try something creative. Rather than a silent slideshow or have characters narate the photo essay, I wanted to have corresponding sounds accompany the pictures. It was difficult to match noises with still photos, but I think the experiment went well!

I realize the importance of taking good photos and making sure that the audio is of high quality. As this first slideshow was indeed an experiment, I learned a lot about photo/sound editing and have come to realize the importance of meticulously planning a project before I begin gathering footage/photos/audio.

While the photo slideshow is indeed complete, my next task is remembering out how to export it to YouTube and embed it here on my site!

Congestion Suggestion

 

Today is a day most cab drivers dread. Today is the day of the Rockefeller Center Christmas Tree Lighting Ceremony. Apparently, from now until the end of January, most cab drivers (or at least the seasoned ones) will stay as far away from mid-town as humanly possible to avoid the mess of traffic and tourists.

Just after the Thanksgiving rush comes the lighting ceremony. And in between, before, and after it’s not as though the streets of New York move anything close to quickly. Horns, yelling, screeching, and various other elements of road rage are heard nearly every day, all day. Cab drivers (and their passengers, for that matter) face traffic and congestion to a degree that most other cities’ drivers could not comprehend.

This is a prime example of why most of the city’s drivers that I’ve spoken to are hopeful that Bloomberg’s congestion pricing plan will go ahead as laid out in PlaNYC. This would mean more fares for the drivers and less time spent waiting in frustration just to move forward an inch or two. Less frustration might lead to friendlier drivers and less agressive driving on the roads.

PlaNYC is just that, a plan. We’ll see how much of what’s in that document comes to fruition - and what it will really mean for the city’s drivers.

Lean Mean Green Machines

 

While the current taxi technology debate will likely continue into the future (I don’t foresee drivers keeping mum even after they install the system), it is important to note that the TLC and drivers seem to agree on one technology upgrade that will help make New York a cleaner city.

It is well known that the Bloomberg administration ordered all of NYC’s taxis be hybrid by 2012. I literally read Bloomberg’s plaNYC from front to back, and after doing so, I am even more convinced that improving the city’s air quality must be a top priority.

It is no secret that New York City’s air quality violates the federal health standard for photochemical smog, but how that affects people on a day-to-day basis is perhaps talked about less at the water cooler. The city has one of the poorest air qualities in the United States and one of the highest asthma rates. 

By requiring that the city’s taxis go green, the City is acknowledging the need to address this issue and attempt to make a significant change. Granted, taxis only account for about 13,000 cars on the street at a given time. But given their constant use and the fact that they are regulated and thus offer an opportunity for mandated improvement, this requirement should be welcomed by all.

Drivers will spend less on fuel, the City can say that it is being proactive, and New Yorkers will be able to breathe even just a little bit easier. Some hybrid cars on the market, such as the Ford Escape, provide twice the fuel efficiency of the Ford Crown Victoria (which comprises more than 93 percent of the city’s taxi fleet today). According to the Sierra Club, “the use of such hybrid cars can cut emissions of global warming pollutants by 50 percent or more in comparision with traditional vehicles.”