I noticed something interesting during a recent visit to New York City. As I settled into the backseat of the cab and looked around I noticed something I hadn’t seen on previous visits. Perched on the dashboard, just above the meter, was a GPS unit. I was meeting my daughter at a new restaurant in Greenwich Village. She had warned me that it would be hard to find and had e-mailed me what looked like some pretty convoluted directions. Tracing the directions, I couldn’t even find the place on my map; hence the cab. I decided instead of struggling, I’d just put my life in the hands of a cabbie and let him worry about it. I figured I’d pay through the nose for a lot of wandering around, but at least I’d get there — eventually.

As I got into the cab, I gave the driver the address and handed over the directions. Imagine my surprise when he handed them back and punched the address into the GPS unit. As we sped along with traffic, I could see the GPS screen changing. I couldn’t hear the turn-by-turn directions because the cabbie was using a Bluetooth set-up. As we entered the Greenwich area I began to understand why this place was so hard to find. In Greenwich there are a fair number of diagonal streets that play havoc with NYC’s normal grid system. This restaurant was located on a tiny triangle just one building wide at a confusing 7-point intersection. Add in the complication of one-way streets and it’s a wonder diners ever found the place. (Excellent Thai food, by the way.) Armed with his GPS, however, my cabbie didn’t seem to have any trouble. He deposited me at the curb in front of the restaurant with time to spare.

I have to tell you, I was impressed. I’ve lived in a couple of big cities and visited a few more. I’ve become jaded about big city cabbies over the years. I’ve been given the run around in unfamiliar towns where the cab driver takes an unnecessarily circuitous route to build up the fare. I’ve run into drivers whose command of English and street names seemed marginal at best. I’ve been stung by gypsy cabs. My overall opinion of big city cabbies has become considerably less than fabulous. This last trip to NYC could change that.

Equipping cabs with GPS guarantees that the driver takes the most efficient route to a destination, thus guaranteeing the passenger of the quickest trip and lowest fare. Seems like a win-win scenario to me. I can even see value in cab companies advertising their use of GPS. As a consumer, I’d certainly choose a GPS-directed cab over the competition. Something for cab owners — and consumers — to think about.