The days of the Taxi TV, like the days of the "buckle up" celebrity announcements before it (Eartha Kitt, RIP), may be numbered. The Taxi and Limousine Commission is getting ready to vote on a pilot program to replace 50 taxi boob tubes with iPads equipped with credit card software from Square, a San Francisco company that just happens to share a co-founder with Twitter. Which is to say, don't be shocked when this program gets a green light on March 1. And don't be upset!
The program would not only mean that cabbies wouldn't have to deal with an endless loop of pithy news bites, it would also mean that passengers would be able to swipe their credit card at any time, get receipts via text or e-mail, play some games even and use a far more familiar interface than the hodgepodge currently available. Even better, Square says that it would drop the fee hacks pay on credit card transactions from 5 percent to 2.75 percent—which is nothing to sniff at for drivers working for every cent.
Of course, don't expect the companies currently running the Taxi TV racket (y Verifone Media and Creative Mobile Technologies) to go down without a fight. They already persuaded the TLC to push the vote on the pilot program back from January to March and have actively been trying to argue that Square's technology is not secure.
Still, considering the fact that Square is run by Jack Dorsey, whose other baby Twitter is a Bloomberg favorite, there is every reason to think that the TLC will approve the 50 cab pilot program. And in case you were wondering what kind of company Square is? The Times tells us that "If Willy Wonka built a financial institution, instead of a chocolate factory, it would look something like Square." And now you know.
