Get ready for a cheaper taxi ride to Target. Meter-fares will be enforced in District taxis beginning on May 1st, BYT can confirm. Stories ran this morning in the Washington Post and on all local broadcast news incorrectly reported that the switch would be delayed until October.
Confusion was created overnight by comments made by Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham which implied that the Mayor’s office would delay the meter switch until October. In speaking with Brightest Young Things, Doreen Thompson, General Counsel for DC Taxi Cab Commission, confirmed that the information provided by Graham – and widely reported in the media – is incorrect. The District will begin dolling out $1,000 fines to cabs caught picking up passengers without a meter, however only warnings will be issued during the month of May.
Mayor Adrian Fenty first announced the change to meters in mid-October. That was followed by a series of protests by taxi drivers, a strike on Halloween, rolling strikes this spring and month of lawsuits by taxi cab companies. Like Lucy repeatedly removing the football from Charlie Brown’s kick, the early-April deadline for the switch was delayed until later in the month, then to May 1st and then seemingly until October. However, Mayor Fenty is insisting that the May 1st deadline now be enforced.
The District of Columbia has long employed a zone-system that charges a flat rate per zone – whether a passenger travels one block of forty. Getting from Dupont Circle to a bar across town on Capitol Hill would only cost the lowest one-zone fare of $6.50 while taking a cab only two blocks north – and across a zone line – would run the tab up to $8.80.
This is a disaster. I have yet to see any “zone vs. meter” price comparisons that take into account the idling fee. This is going to be a constant ass-pain. How many times have you been sitting in a cab that is just totally stuck in traffic? Now, not only do you get to wait, you get to watch your fare get jacked up at the same time. Awesome.
April 22, 2008 at 12:24 pmEff that. If they had delayed it till October, I’d be the first one leading the boycott.
April 22, 2008 at 12:24 pmGood point Jesse. Of course I’ve only been in a cab maybe three or four times in a decade, but you’re right – they sit in traffic and your fare is going to be increasing in front of your eyes.
Not my game though.
April 22, 2008 at 1:58 pmA thing that is so often overlooked is the effect this will have on DC’s poorer communities. For those living across the river where there is an enormous scarcity of grocery stores, they often have to work into their monthly budgets taxi costs. With a zone system, they can plan accordingly- they can walk to where it may be a little cheaper to catch a cab, and they always know what its going to cost. A meter system is their worst nightmare– traffic and unplaned detours can add unexpected costs. When youre living in poverty every dollar counts.
Next time you complain about your expensive cabride home from a bar, try thinking about the other part of DC so often ignored.
April 24, 2008 at 12:31 am
finally !!!!!! I’m sure we are all tired of paying a 3 zone fare to go a few blocks.
April 22, 2008 at 12:00 pm