New York City Mayor Michael Bloomberg said Monday that the city has a plan just in case thousands of city cab drivers decide to hit the brakes this week.

The New York Taxi Workers Alliance announced Sunday that an overwhelming majority of its 7,000 members will be on strike for 48 hours, beginning at 5 a.m. (0900 GMT) Wednesday in protest against new city rules requiring GPS tracking and credit card systems installed.

Bloomberg said the city will respond depending on how severe the strike would be, but he did not think the turnout will be big.

He said if drivers do strike, they will only hurt themselves because the city is not backing down.

The Taxi and Limousine Commission, a government agency, has scheduled the GPS system to be installed in the city's yellow cabs beginning in October, and by Jan. 31.

A credit card reader will also be installed - which would charge drivers a 5 percent fee for transactions. In exchange, the commission agreed to raise fares by 26 percent in a 2004 deal.

The city and the TLC say the technology will help passengers, but drivers are worried it will be used to track them.

Bloomberg said the city gave two fare increases as part of an agreement with taxi owners to have this technology installed in cabs.

He said the city even made the fare increases effective a couple of years in advance so drivers and owners could earn the extra money to pay for this technology.

The taxi drivers' alliance, which counts about one-fifth of the 44,000 licensed drivers in the city, is calling for drivers to idle their cars for 48 hours.

The group organized a one-day strike in 1998 that caused headaches for many residents and tourists and had city officials hustling to line up buses.

But several other drivers' groups that represent thousands of city cab drivers have released statements opposing the strike.

An estimated 800,000 passengers travel by cab every day in New York City.