Oct 23, 2007 8:32 am US/Eastern
Strike Two: A $50 Flat Rate In Manhattan?
Passengers Tell CBS 2 HD Of Apparent Price Gouging
By Dave Carlin, CBS 2 News
NEW YORK (CBS) ―
With cabbies on strike again Monday, some commuters thought it was business as usual -- until they opened their wallets.
Price gouging allegations had riders hailing yellow and then seeing red.
Taxis were everywhere Monday, prompting many New Yorkers to wonder: what strike?
But then, some riders hopped into cabs only to angrily hop out.
"It's a taxi hike," Julian Brangman said. "They are hiking prices."
"I wanted go three blocks down the block, a regular $5 cab ride. He wanted a flat rate of $50. I got out of the cab and walked."
Added rider Bertha Smith: "(It was) $15 already and you only gone three corners."
Some blame the cab cost chaos on the city for allowing multiple passengers and flat rates during the strike -- $10 per zone, $5 each additional zone. The four in Manhattan are south of 23rd Street, 23rd to 60th, 60th to 96th and north of 96th. One zone each for Brooklyn, the Bronx, Queens and Staten Island. Airport rides: $30 for JFK and $20 for LaGuardia.
Cab drivers on the job Monday got a boost -- a bigger payday for crossing the line.
"I should strike, but I'm not," taxi driver Gamal Mahmoud said. "Because I need money. I got four kids, a family."
Mayor Michael Bloomberg said despite confusion and abuses, the contingency plan worked because it hooked drivers and kept the city moving. He called the strike's impact "minimal." Strike leaders disagree.
"The last time we struck we had a lot of passengers the day after who made phone calls to 311 who came out in support of us," Bhairavi Desai said.
The strikers are railing against global positioning Satellites, and its surcharges, dead zones and big brother implications. Their demand: toss the new technology.
The city says that won't happen, so the drivers are just spinning their wheels.
The 24-hour strike ended at 5 a.m. Tuesday.
(© MMX, CBS Broadcasting Inc. All Rights Reserved.)
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