I run around the city quite a bit, on foot, on the subway, and sometimes in cabs. I try not to take cabs as often as I used to because public transportation is cheaper, greener, and better for me, what with all the walking and climbing stairs and whatnot. But sometimes, when I have to race from a doctor’s appointment in SoHo to a customer meeting on the UES, I gotta deal with the cabs.

I have a love/hate relationship with NYC taxis. One of the things I’ve come to like for its convenience yet despise for its annoyances are the credit card/infotainment devices in the back of most (if not all) cabs now. They’re touch-screens, and they have the option for you to turn them off, which I always do for a couple of reasons - one, I don’t want to watch TV all the time, and two, I get motion sickness if I read things while I’m in a moving car, and I just can’t tear my eyes away from the news ticker when it’s on. However, a few weeks ago, I was in a cab whose touch screen didn’t work. I couldn’t turn it off - the mute “button” didn’t work, nor did the off button. The driver couldn’t override it either. So I just hung my head out the window, much like a dog, and tried to ignore it.

I also had the privilege of seeing one of them reboot itself after an error. It was running Windows 2000. Way to stay current!

I do like the ability to pay via credit card. I usually pay cash, and always tip in cash, but every once in a while I have to get somewhere and don’t have the cash on hand. I know the last couple of taxi strikes were about this issue (among others) - the drivers said that many people who pay by credit card don’t tip and they get less of a cut because of the credit card fees.

So what do you think? Do you like the little news and ad TVs in the cabs? Like the convenience of the credit card machines?  Think cabs are for rich yuppie assholes? Confess!

Related posts:

1. Cash…it’s just as good as money
2. Charge it! Or not.
3. Two signatures?
4. tipping
5. Credit Card Minimums are my pain