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by Sean Hennessey
NEW YORK (CBS) ― Get ready to put on your walking shoes! A fight with the city over high-tech equipment has New York City taxi drivers on strike Wednesday.

At the 5 a.m. bewitching hour, a significant number of cabbies parked their vehicles and planned to keep their meters off for 48 hours to protest new rules that require New York City cabs to carry electronic equipment, including GPS tracking devices and credit card machines.

"We would say over 12,500 of the cabs are off the road today. That"s what we are counting," says Bhairavi Desai, co-founder of the Taxi Workers Alliance, the main union behind the strike.

With about 13,000 cabs servicing the city, Desai's estimation is likely inflated for union spin, but there was a noticeable decrease in cabs on duty at major hubs such as Pennsylvania Station and Grand Central Station.

But Mayor Michael Bloomberg downplayed that number, saying the strike had only a limited effect on the city, even calling it a "non-strike" or a partial strike.

"Our best estimate is the majority of yellow cabs are operating normally," he said Wednesday. In fact, he said 75-percent of the fleet cabs are on the road.

While Times Square wasn't peppered with its usual flashes of yellow during the morning commute, there were cabs to be had, and waits of only five minutes. Still, some passengers at Port Authority told CBS 2 they waited up to 25 minutes to hail a cab.

Taxi comission officers at some stations even required passengers to double and sometimes triple up. That was the case at the major airports, where small amounts of cabs forced travelers to carpool.

"As you can see we have a limited amount. So far it's going good, everybody's been cooperating to try and make my job easier," said taxi dispatcher Maria Padmore.

Some passengers aren't thrilled with the requirement to carpool, and say they'd rather wait. "There are cabs, but you are supposed to be taking a cab by yourself you are not supposed to be carpooling," said June Zapata.

The electronic routing device at the center of the storm allows passengers to see where they are going, but it also allows cabbies to be tracked, which drivers say is an invasion of privacy. They're also upset with the installation of credit card payment devices they say eats into their profits because of processing fees.

"I have to pay five percent out of my pocket for the credit card. It's not right," said Anita Goodridge, a driver who decided to join the strike.

And that's why she, along with many other cabbies are putting the brakes on the bid to mandate the technology in every New York City taxi.

"What does it mean to bring in the so-called modern technology and set working conditions back into the dark ages?" said Desai. "The Taxi & Limousine Commission wants to spy on drivers, and they want drivers to pay for it."

Not all drivers were convinced a strike would be effective though. Some would rather take advantage of the demand for cabs Wednesday and Thursday. Cab driver Jimmy Baldwin, who already has the GPS in his car, took the opportunity to make some extra money.

"It's a done deal. It's already passed by the city, striking doesnt solve the problem," Baldwin said.

Both sides of the dispute agree the TLC uses satellite GPS technology to track everywhere a taxi cab goes and keeps logs of that information. The dispute is over how that information will be used and just who will have access to it.

Sources within the TLC and individual taxi drivers tell CBS 2 News that the GPS fears have nothing to do with privacy and everything to do with money. Many drivers fear the IRS will use the data to audit drivers and alert the INS about illegal immigrants driving cabs.

"The overwhelming majority of drivers are against this system, and there are serious setbacks this system is causing drivers," she said early Wednesday.

One taxi driver told CBS 2 News early Wednesday morning that he opposed the strike, but would walk out anyway. "I don't care about the GPS problems. I just plan to take two days off and be with my family," he said.

Several other drivers' groups that represent thousands of city cab drivers have released statements to CBS 2 News opposing the strike.

On Tuesday, Bloomberg announced a contingency plan to help travel run smoother.

The city instituted a group taxi ride plan, saying it would be called off if the strike didn't cause a significant disruption. Normally, drivers are allowed to pick up only one passenger at a time.

The plan allows working cab drivers to pick up multiple fares, including from the city's airports where passengers would pay a flat fare of $20 a person from LaGuardia and $30 from JFK.

Group rides within the city would be based on a zone system, starting at $10 for the first zone and $5 for each zone the passenger crosses.

In addition, the Metropolitan Transportation Authority, which runs the city's subways and buses, planned to provide additional service on routes to and from LaGuardia.

The New York Police Department was assigning extra police officers to taxi garages and transportation hubs like Grand Central Terminal and Pennsylvania Station, and plainclothes officers were to ride in some taxis.

NYPD Commissioner Ray Kelly said the measures were designed in part to guard against reprisals against cabbies who kept driving during the strike.

For Lea Acey, who drives 60 hours a week to support her son, the system already in her car means headaches and less money in her pocket.

"I don't want to make an appointment to fix something that doesn't belong to me," Acey said. "I don't have profit from the GPS advertisement. I don't want to take my car to the shop, sitting there wasting my time. I don't get paid for that."

Stay with wcbstv.com and CBS 2 HD for the latest on the taxi strike.

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