Bermuda Taxi Association (BTA) boss, Raymond Robinson, wants to "clear the air" regarding his company's stance on GPS and how the controversial system works.

Speaking to The Royal Gazette at BTA's Southside dispatching headquarters, Mr. Robinson said: "The system works the same way as when you order a pizza.

"You call in, give them your address and your phone number, the dispatcher puts your information in and sends it out to the Taxis."

The taxis then have the option, through their digital dispatching system, of accepting or rejecting the job."

Mr. Robinson said that the Digital Dispatching System in the cab should not be called a GPS.

Mr. Robinson added the initial cost for drivers to install the data terminal is somewhere in the range of $2,000 dollars, with a monthly fee of approximately $150.

"It is not a turn by turn GPS system as many think," he said. "It is nothing more than a mobile data terminal for sending and receiving information. And the data terminal won't work without a working two way radio hooked up. That is how the system sends and receives information.

The GPS is up in the office and is just one part of this whole system."

After briefly describing the Digital Dispatching System unit on his dashboard, Mr. Robinson gave a tour of the company's call center – where up to four people can answer calls and assign taxis to jobs all over the Island.

In the dispatching center four work areas – each with two monitors, sit in the center of the room.

On each of the screens is a detailed GPS map of the whole Island with the current position of each of BTA's 398 subscribing taxis.

"When the dispatchers receive a call, they are able to pinpoint the cab that is closest to the caller and send that taxi directly to where it has to be," said Mr. Robinson.

"It is a lot faster than the old way where the dispatcher would have to call cabs to find their locations before assigning a job."

Everything is computerized at BTA. And according to Mr. Robinson, the whole system is run digitally. He said the only time that the company would switch to radio is in case of an emergency.

The $600,000 worth of computers and servers that support the hi-tech GPS and dispatching system are housed in a secure and climate controlled room in a separate area of the building.

"Even the older guys are starting to embrace the idea. I think it was just a matter of getting over the initial fear and the shock of how the system was implemented – right away," said Mr. Robinson.

He added: "I have heard a lot about taxi driver not working together, that we are scatter-brained," he said. "But this company is living proof that we can work together. This company never existed before GPS legislation, yet we were able to get two thirds of the taxi industry to move to our company – that says something."

And while he admits, he was one of the "ringleaders" in the go-slows and protests about GPS, Mr. Robinson says that he has changed his mind.

"If you can't beat them, join them," he joked. "Once we can move on from this GPS thing as an industry - we will be in a better place. Basically we want to get on with our business and abide by the law. "

Meanwhile a meeting called by Coop Taxi boss George Scott was held at the BIU headquarters last night. After a dismal showing of only about thirty taxi operators, Mr. Scott said: "We have decided to call another meeting, this time involving all three companies, BTA, Radio Cabs and Coop. We want to come together as an industry to see how we can collectively resolve our concerns."

The row over GPS in taxis has been raging since the year 2000 when the legislation was first tabled. In 2006 GPS became mandatory for all taxi operators. While Government re-evaluated the legality of their imposition on the taxi industry, the laws were not enforced.

In 2009 amendments to the motor car act as it pertains to GPS were put into law but "suspended indefinitely" after accusations of unfairness by the taxi industry. Last Monday, January 11, the laws were enacted and several taxi operators have been pulled off of the road and told not to return to the airport after being found to be non-compliant with the laws.