A group representing thousands of taxi drivers said Wednesday it will idle cabs in September if the city goes ahead with a plan to require installation of GPS tracking systems. Starting Oct. 1, as the city's 13,000 taxis come up for inspections they must have the GPS equipment along with touch-screen monitors that will let passengers pay by credit card, check on news stories and look up restaurant and entertainment information. If the Taxi & Limousine Commission abandons the GPS part of the plan, 'then there's room to sit down and talk,' said Bhairavi Desai, executive director of the New York Taxi Workers Alliance, which counts more than 8,400 members.
See "NYC Cabbies Turn Up Strike - Talk Volume", Associated Press, The New York Times, July 24, 2007