May 28, 2009 7:30 pm US/Eastern
NYC 'Share Cabs' Headed To A Street Near You
You'll Pay Less If You Sit With Strangers
New Type Of Cab -- Outfitted With Destination Signs And Multi-Fare Meters -- On Horizon
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
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Starting May 28, if you are willing to ride with perfect strangers you will save money on a taxi ride in New York City.
AP
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They say sharing is caring. So would you share a cab with a complete stranger in order to save on the fare?
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Talk about a cozy cab ride!
Plans are moving forward on the new plan where, if you share a taxi with strangers, you save money – but some say safety is taking a back seat.
Some don't seem too thrilled about sharing a cab with total strangers.
"I don't think I would be very comfortable with that," Barbara Vann says.
Like it or not, the Taxi and Limosine Commission voted in favor of several share-a-ride cab pilot programs Thursday.
The ride-share program would allow cabbies to pick up passengers along the same corridor using new technology – multi-fare meters. The first passengers would set the destination.
"If you're the senior trip you'd get that point to point ride that you're used to," said David Klahr of the TLC. "But if you're the second or subsequent passenger you may not necessarily want to or need to go door to door."
The other program would allow a group of friends or strangers to share a cab and pay a flat, discounted fee of up to 50 percent.
Pick-up points would include Grand Central Terminal, Penn Station, Port Authority Bus Terminal, West 57th Street at Eighth Avenue, East 72nd Street at Third Avenue, and West 72nd at Columbus Avenue. The cabs would have electronic signs showing what neighborhood they were going to.
For instance, under one proposal, four passengers riding in one taxi would pay $4 each for a ride from Penn Station to 59th Street.
"You get into the taxi and they stop to let somebody else off and they search for other passengers while you're still in the taxi," said a New York City taxi passenger who spoke to CBS 2 HD. "It takes 45 minutes to an hour to get to work, it's just not worth it to me."
New Yorkers are social and environmentally conscious, and I think they're going to make it work," said TLC Commissioner Matthew Daus on Thursday.
Some cabbies say they wouldn't mind the prospect of several tips for each trip.
"This is sounding a little better," taxi driver Mohammad Hussein says.
The livery cab portion of the proposal involves private companies submitting plans to send dispatchers and cabs to shopping centers.
Whether you think it will be an adventure or a nightmare, the share-a-ride pilot programs are set to start in the fall.
(© MMIX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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