Taxi Drivers Protest $1 Surcharge

New York, NY —

Cab drivers, fleet owners, and leasing agents rarely agree about how the industry should operate. But they're united in their opposition to a state senate plan to add a dollar surcharge on cab rides. Supporters of the bill say the money is necessary to fund the MTA capital plan and upstate road and bridge projects. But David Pollack of the "Taxi Safety Committee" says the surcharge will negatively affect people who are already struggling.

POLLACK: There's an all-time high of taxi drivers right now who've left other jobs - they fall back on the job of driving a taxi to earn money for their families and if this taxi-tax is enacted those same people will no longer have jobs driving taxis either.

Taxi drivers say they're considering a "yellow cab caravan" all the way to Albany - to fight the senate bill before it gets a vote next week.