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Survey Says: Cab Riders HATE Taxi TV
By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 11, 2011
Modified Feb 11, 2011
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By
John Del Signore
Published Feb 11, 2011
Modified Feb 11, 2011
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According to a recently-released survey [pdf] by the Taxi and Limousine Commission, the second biggest criticism from cab riders is about the Taxi TV, which automatically turns on in the back seat of cabs and, in some cases, never shut off. Only the cost of cab fares is disliked more than Taxi TV—36.8% of respondents cited the fare as their biggest beef, while 31.3% said those annoying TVs were the worst. And among the Taxi TV critics you'll find none other than TLC Chairman David S. Yassky.
"I was not surprised [by the Taxi TV response], to tell you the truth," Yassky tells the Times. "I do sympathize with passengers who don’t like the content on the Taxi TV screens right now. We are not going to be a government censor here, but we want to offer more options to passengers in taxis." Currently, two companies provide content for the TVs, which broadcast a mix of news, weather and cultural reports produced by WABC and WNBC.
Yassky says the TLC plans to unveil a second channel on the TVs in the near future; the channel will feature shopping and cooking shows, possibly produced by the media arm of the Bloomberg administration. Of course, there's nothing to be done about the #1 gripe in the survey, the cost of cab fares—unless you're one Abdul Mohammed, who won the grand prize of a year’s worth of free taxicab rides for filling out the survey. Yesterday Mohammed, a convenience store manager who works in the Mosholu Park section of the Bronx, received a specially-coded credit card good for up to $5,000 worth of rides. That could definitely come in handy—assuming the cabbies let him use it.
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John Del Signore
Originally from the Albany area, John Del Signore has called NYC home since 1995. In addition to his thousands of meticulously-crafted bespoke blog posts for Gothamist, his writing has also been published in The Awl, Deadspin, The Nervous Breakdown, and performed at The Brick Theater in Brooklyn.
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Gothamist is funded by sponsors and member donations
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