August 1, 2007
Democracy Abandoned, Lack of Parking Cited
We've spent plenty of time debating whether or not the District's taxicabs should stick to the zone system or join the rest of the modern world and employ meters. Last year, Congress passed legislation giving the District until this October to switch to meters, and more recently, the D.C. Taxicab Commission released a study that found that on average, meters were cheaper. Of course, cab drivers have long opposed the prospect of a switch, and promised to put up a fight before the commission. Now a canceled hearing has cabbies crying foul.
We mentioned it briefly yesterday, but the public hearing on the issue that was to be held today was canceled because organizers feared that not enough parking would be available. No, that's not a joke. Members of the D.C. Taxicab Commission opted to cancel the hearing, set to be held in a 250-person room in the MLK Jr. Library, and replace it with a citywide telephone survey to judge how the city's residents feel about the prospect of doing away with the zone system. Of course, cabbies have screamed conspiracy, and understandably so.
Why a public hearing in a central location with access to public transit would be canceled because not enough parking would be available for attendees is beyond us. We've seen plenty of hearings at the Wilson Building overwhelmed with residents seeking to testify, and city officials responded as one would expect -- they stuck around until everyone had their word. We don't know if members of the commission really did have public safety in mind, just didn't want to hear any opposition to the idea or simply couldn't imagine that all the taxi drivers who planned to attend might just have to rely on Metro, a bus, or their feet to get there. Either way, it's an odd decision.
The telephone survey is set to take place this month, and for those of you that don't get a call, the commission has promised to set up a comment hotline and accept comments via email to dctc (at) dc (dot) gov.
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NYC is better than DC.
I would imagine that complaints related to parking have little to do with the attendance of the general public, and everything to do with the attendance of cabbies. Cabbies have their cars with them at all times, and would find it difficult to block out the time to attend a public meeting if they had to factor in distant parking and commuting to . Although there is a decent amount of parking near Gallery Place, most of it is either full or extremely expensive, whether during the day or in the evening.
Do you really think that all the cabbies who would be packing the hall to yell against meters would be taking Metro or buses?
I work a few blocks from the MLK Library and walk past the nearly empty huge parking lot at the site of the old convention center every day. There has to be enough parking there for 250 cabbies...
Do you really think that all the cabbies who would be packing the hall to yell against meters would be taking Metro or buses?
Nope. I suspect if there was insufficient parking they'd be parking illegally, per their usual.
Of course they wouldn't take public transportation. I would imagine most of them don't actually live anywhere near DC, like this guy.
That would also explain why many of them seem to barely know their way around DC, as evidenced by the awful routes they choose, despite operating in a zone system whose sole purpose is to eliminate any benefit of taking long routes. My kingdom for a cab driver who's heard of Rock Creek Parkway.
Delaware is better than NYC
Ohh I can hear it now. So imagine that the hearing wasn’t canceled and there were not enough parking spaces...then imagine the roar from taxi cab companies, cabbies and other associates on how DC was suppressing their voice and they would file some injunction to any outcome that might have remotely been influenced by the hearing.
I read this totally differently. My impression was that the Cab Commission was pro-taxi, and they didn't want to hold a meeting where the public would be so overwhelmingly for meters.
The lack of parking excuse is so lame. They clearly didn't want to hold a highly publicized meeting, whatever the reason. That's why they're resorting to maleable surveys. Whether their end goal is meters or no meters, I don't doubt they'll manipulate the survey to reach that goal.
The real question is whether true meters are even on the table. If they're just going to be GPS-based meters that measure how many zones you've gone through, then I say it's a waste of effort. And I seriously doubt the cabs will ever give up their right to pick up additional passengers, which is a system that doesn't work without zones.
For the record cabbies: if you pick up an additional passenger while you're driving me, I refuse to tip.
i honestly could care less about cancelled meetings, cabbies' feelings and the process in general. just as long as, at the end of it all, we wind up with a normal meter fare system where you don't get charged an arm and a leg (including a bunch of bs extra charges) for every ride, it's alllll gooooood!!
I agree with DC Dawg... just do it already. Forget the studies, the surveys, the meetings - just make meters mandatory effective Jan. 1 2008 and be done with it already. This issue has been studied to death for decades. It's time to join the rest of western civilization and ditch the zone system. Marc Fisher will be all up in arms, but too bad...
-Mr T in DC
Yes, no more picking up additional fares and no more charging twice for the same ride when I get in a cab with my friend. (Again, they can manage it in New York. Or in Baltimore, for that matter.) If we can achieve those two things, I don't care whether it's by meters, zones or whatever else you got. Raise the rates if necessary. Just make it fair.
Want to involve cabbies? Make it a conference call. DC cab drivers are always talking on their cell phones while they drive anyway.
That dc cabbie blog is hilarious. I can't tell if it's for real or a joke.
Comment #4 hit it head on. How can anyone justify canceling this meeting for lack of parking with the thousand or so parking spaces at the old convention center site? What, you have to walk 2 blocks? Give me a freak'n break. Something is rotten here!
Doesn't Graham have some kind of oversite of the Taxi Commission? And isn't he in San Salvador at the moment?
As an amused spectator who still can't figure out why DC has the zone system, I actually hope that we don't get meters by Oct 1. Then Levin can get so pissed that he'll abolish the damn taxi commission and replace it with a Congressional oversight committee. I'd imagine even Congress would be more efficient than the DC government in figuring this crap out.
The DC taxi commission is so corrupt and anti-customer it would make Boss Shepherd blush.
I like the zone system. Everyone who is begging for meters will regret it when you get stuck in traffic and what would have been a $6 zone fare becomes $20.
You're too right about the $6 fare becoming $20 in traffic jams. People who can't figure out the zone system or are too dumb to ask the fare BEFORE they get in the cab are going to regret begging for meters.
On another note, why do we allow cabbies to carry on cell phone conversations in DC when it's ILLEGAL to be on a cell phone while driving in the District?
On another note, why do we allow cabbies to carry on cell phone conversations in DC when it's ILLEGAL to be on a cell phone while driving in the District?
It's not illegal to be on a cell phone while driving in the District if you're using a hands-free model. Every cabbie I've seen has one.
Now, the best estimate of safety professionals is that hands-free cell phones are at best a marginal improvement over the standard sort, and quite possibly no improvement at all, but so long as the law makes the distinction the cabbies can gab all they want.