WHAT HEELS: Checkered Cabbies
An investigation by the NYC Taxi and Limousine Commission finds that hundreds of hacks overcharged passengers an average of $5 over the past two years, reports The Associated Press:
The agency said 88 drivers each overcharged clients at least 500 times, while 545 more did so 50 to 499 times.
Some could lose their licenses, while others with up to 49 overcharges face fines of as much as $5,000. …
Almost 22,000 medallion cab drivers, out of about 50,000 total, charged higher rates 286,000 times, costing passengers about $1.1 million, according to the TLC survey. …
The TLC has referred its findings to the city's Department of Investigation and the Manhattan district attorney's office.
Agency spokesman Allan Fromberg said the city will begin proceedings against the accused drivers in the coming weeks. He emphasized that each has the right to due process before a TLC- independent tribunal linked to the city's Office of Administrative Trials and Hearings.
To deter dishonest drivers, cabs are being rigged with a system that will alert passengers that the driver has switched the meter to calculate the fare for a zone outside the city limits.
The Stiletto also knows from personal experience that crooked cabbies will insist that passengers pay bridge and tunnel tolls from the airport for the trip to the passenger’s destination and for the trip back to the airport. Round-trip tolls are required only from Newark Airport (not JFK or LaGuardia) and on crossings over the Cross Bay Veterans Memorial Bridge connecting Queens and the Rockaway Peninsula, the Marine Parkway-Gil Hodges Memorial Bridge connecting Brooklyn and Queens, and Verrazano Narrows Bridge connecting Brooklyn and Staten Island.
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