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Is Taxi TV finally going away? – Metro US

Is Taxi TV finally going away?

Cuomo prioritizes train access to LaGuardia Airport
Mehdi Taamallah/AFP/Getty Images

Those Taxi TV screens that have been irritating passengers for nine years may be removed and replaced with smartphone or tablet payment systems, according to a New York Post report.

The final proposal will be voted on by the Taxi and Limousine Commission on Thursday, and Post sources say it is likely to pass.

“The TLC regularly receives complaints from passengers and drivers about the Taxi TV, the responsiveness of its screen, the noise it generates and the repetitive media content it plays,” the proposal’s wording stated, according to the Post.

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Drivers also hate Taxi TV, which requires them to listen to the same looping content for shifts that typically last 12 hours, the Post report claimed.

“All I do is listen to people in the back seat trying to turn it off,” said cabby Gene Salomon in the article. This summer, he offered all of his customers $1 to shut off the Taxi TV sound.

“I’m happy to hear that they are getting rid of it,” he was quoted in the Post. “It will be a big hit with the passengers.”

RELATED: Independent taxi medallion owners protest in front of TLC offices

Officials have been flooded with complaints about Taxi TV for years, the report stated, and they even admit that the obnoxious devices have been a big factor in riders switching to app-based services such as Uber.

Once approved, the screens would be removed at the medallion owners’ expense, the Post reported, adding that any new program would be tested in 1,000 cabs and would expand citywide by 2017 if it is a success.