UMy anecdotal observations could be wrong but I doubt the problem is as endemic as it was 33 years ago when I was starting out in taxi driving, bit ,,"not as bad" doesn't mean "good",
A couple of commenters responding to my "Comment is free" article implied that I don't care about this and that somehow these apps present a solution or at least a remediation. Well, if anything the opposite is true
In preparation for the greasing of the Hailo / Uber skids the city fathers got rid of the "Off Duty" light and enable drivers to turn off their roof lights so as not to inflame arm hailers who are being passed up for app hailers.
This leads to all sorts of possible stunts, such as turning off the roof light when approaching a black person who is trying to get a cab. The drivers has gone stealth, appearing to the world to have a passenger.
Because the Hailo/Uber driver gets to rate the passengers some will be noted as not desirable and won't be paired with the downrater again. It isn't hard to see where this leads.
Now I don't have the magic bullet but I do know that if a passenger takes the simple steps there is going to be one unhappy cabbie.
I could go.on and on but I think I've covered this point. Iwill only add that I don't know any drivers who have been taken to TLC court by passengers and a very small number are. This suggests tome that the problem may be more prevalent in the minds of limousine liberals than it is on the streets.
YOU HAVE A RIGHT NOT TO BE MOWED DOWN ON THE STREETS OF NEW YORK CITY BY.TAXI DRIVERS WHO ARE NOT.FOCUSED ON THE STREETS BUT ARE FIDDLING WITH HAILO AND UBER APPS
Guardian newspaper online
http//gu.com/p/3hytp
