08/29/2021
A Matt Daus Retrospective: 2007 Taxicab Passenger Enhancement Project Implemented -- Pictured below celebrating the prestigious honor bestowed upon Ira Goldstein and DoITT Commissioner Paul Cosgrave. https://bit.ly/2WumD7c
Twenty years ago, I was appointed New York City Taxi & Limousine Commission (TLC) Chair/Commissioner/CEO. As we celebrate the 20th anniversary of my appointment, we are also looking back at some of the notable accomplishments during my tenure as the longest-serving TLC Chair.
2007 was a pivotal year for the TLC with the idea and implementation of the Taxicab Passenger Enhancement Project (T-PEP). The T-PEP initiative began in March 2004 when the Commission granted a 26% taxicab fare increase that was tied to a series of technology-based customer service improvements for passengers. Over the ensuing time, I had directed that the TLC engage in extensive research, procurement, and testing for this new taxi technology system. As a result, four companies created T-PEP systems that the TLC would approve as meeting the standards for the taxicab owners, drivers, and the riding public.
By the end of 2007, the TLC saw the installation of the T-PEP systems in approximately one-half of the city’s fleet of 13,000+ taxicabs. The enhancements included credit/debit card payment, a passenger information screen that featured safety and public service messages, and an interactive map to follow the taxi’s progress throughout the city. Each of the authorized vendors had unique agreements with content providers, meaning that while passengers would always have the same basic amenities of credit/debit card payment acceptance and map and service information, they also enjoyed a wide variety of entertainment and information such as news, sports scores, weather, movie and restaurant reviews, and information on happenings in New York City.
The system made use of vehicle location technology to facilitate an “electronic trip sheet” in lieu of the old “paper and clipboard” version, capturing the same details automatically with no effort on the driver’s part. This same vehicle location technology assists in the recovery of lost passenger items, which account for more than half of all TLC-related calls to 311.
The T-PEP system was a “game-changer” and was even recognized for its innovation by the NYC Department of Information Technology & Telecommunication. The GPS tracking system ushered the yellow cabs into the era of big data. Some of the trip metrics captured include pick-up/drop-off timestamp and location, trip duration, and itemized fares. These datasets have been widely used to analyze the spatio-temporal pattern of taxi trips, well before Uber came into the picture.
The photo from the award ceremony is pictured above.
The T-PEP system is still in place with the NYC taxi fleet, but now the T-PEP (and Livery Passenger Enhancement Program, or L-PEP, in street hail livery vehicles) components have been upgraded with new technology like a digital taximeter, and the T-PEP and L-PEP providers are now TLC licensees. As further proof of the merits of the T-PEP system, I fielded questions and visits from many IATR members who are taxi regulators from numerous other cities in the U.S. and around the globe who have since adopted a version of the T-PEP system and its features for their local taxi fleets.
