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Scamming Cabbies Finally Brought to Justice
By
Jaya Saxena
Published Aug 18, 2010
Modified Aug 18, 2010
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By
Jaya Saxena
Published Aug 18, 2010
Modified Aug 18, 2010
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The first batch of cab drivers found charging passengers out-of-town rates within city limits have been punished. Six of the worst offenders were fined $850 on Monday and had their licenses revoked. However, this doesn't quite seem like a fitting punishment; guilty drivers cheated passengers out of $1.1 million over 286,000 trips. The worst was Michael John, who ripped off riders 570 times over two years.
The TLC found that 88 drivers pulled the scam over 500 times, though many drivers say they were recorded as charging out-of-town rates when they pressed the wrong fare button by mistake. This past Sunday, Antenna Design's Masamichi Udagawa and Sigi Moeslinger offered some ideas for making the Taxi TV interface useful in a NY Times Op Art column. For instance, they propose making it very obvious is the out-of-town rate is activated: "If a rate changes, an alert appears, and passengers are prompted to acknowledge the change or to tap on 'Why' for an explanation. A transparent system like this would increase passengers' confidence and, ultimately, their trust in the driver."
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scamming cabbies
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Jaya Saxena
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