Cabs jammed in tech wreck Traffic queues near the corner of Southern Cross Drive and O'Dea Avenue, Kensington / Pic: Jess Husband Source: The Daily Telegraph TAXI companies should embrace technology and monitor live traffic conditions to prevent hefty fares for passengers. Keeping accident and congestion reports up to date would ensure the smoothest and cheapest passage possible, the NRMA said yesterday. But The Daily Telegraph can reveal cab companies do not regularly monitor freely available live traffic websites or apps, but instead rely on reports from their drivers. Yesterday, a four-car pile-up on Southern Cross Drive near O'Dea Ave in Zetland brought traffic to a standstill for hours. Taxi passengers paid as much as three times the regular fare after being caught in the jam. NRMA head of media Peter Khoury said companies should keep on top of traffic reports and report incidents and jams to drivers. "It makes perfect sense," he said. "It's the most effective way to get information out."You can't expect drivers to be checking websites when they're behind the wheel." A NSW Taxi Council spokesman said: "If there is a significant delay, for example, an accident, drivers will often report this to their network. The network may check with the publicly available RTA live traffic website and then broadcast the information via dispatch screens. If information is known in advance about roadworks, drivers will also be notified. The spokesman stressed there was "no advantage" for drivers to be caught in traffic. "When a cab is moving faster than about 20km/h the fare is based on a distance rate, but when it slows right down or is stationary it converts to a lower time-based rate," the spokesman said. It is much better for the driver to have the meter running at the distance rate than at the time-based rate. (Also) cabs burn through more LPG when stopping and starting, so the driver's costs go up quite a lot while the fare goes down. Mr Khoury said drivers and passengers would benefit from more regular monitoring. "If you're approaching an accident you don't want to hear about it as you're hitting the back of the queue," he said. It's too late. If they're not using the technology it's to their own detriment. Commuters fear the risk of being caught in traffic and racking up a high fare. Admin officer Antonia Bonello, 27, of Pemulwuy in Sydney's west, said: "There was a breakdown in the airport tunnel and on the Eastern Distributor. By the time I got to Engadine, the fare was $150. I handed the receipt into work and was in trouble for not telling the cabbie to take an alternative route. I will never forget because I was scared to get a cab again for work."EDITORIAL PAGE 22