November 30, 2007
Taxicab Commission Reinstates Gas Surcharge
If you've taken a D.C. taxicab since the stroke of midnight last night, you may have been surprised by a cab driver insisting that you pay an extra $1 gas surcharge. Didn't the gas surcharge expire in September? It did, but last week the D.C. Taxicab Commission quietly passed an emergency measure to bring back the $1 fee, beginning at 12:01 a.m. this morning and lasting until 11:59 p.m. on Tuesday, January 29, 2008.
“Prices continue to spiral up, drivers need help, and the Commission has no choice but to provide it in this way,” said Leon J. Swain, Jr., Chairperson of the Taxicab Commission, in a statement. Average gas prices in Washington, D.C. are currently $3.13 a gallon, according to WashingtonDCGasPrices.com.
Since the switch to time and distance meters won't happen until April, we've pasted the zone chart with the $1 fees added below. If cab drivers ask you for an additional dollar starting today, they are well within their rights.
UPDATE at 5:02 p.m.: We could be wrong about this, but a quick search of Google News shows that the gas surcharge that went into effect overnight hasn't been reported anywhere else (at least not online). We don't mention this to toot our own horn -- we were only alerted to the surcharge from our reader tipline, which prompted us to go to the D.C. Taxicab Commission web site. The web site was where we found a press release, dated yesterday, about the increase. Shouldn't the Commission be doing a better job than that of alerting customers to fare changes? We can imagine a lot of taxi riders are going to dispute the fee this weekend if they haven't heard a word about it. Local media outlets apparently only had one day of notice to get the word out, and none had done so as of this writing.
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So glad I walk or take the metro. Really don't have to take a cab unless I am coming to or from Union Station and I have a bunch of bags from an Amtrek trip.
I hope they use that dollar to clean up there cabs though. Seriously 9 out of 10 of them that I take usually smell and are dirty.
So glad I walk or take the metro. Really don't have to take a cab unless I am coming to or from Union Station and I have a bunch of bags from an Amtrek trip.
I hope they use that dollar to clean up there cabs though. Seriously 9 out of 10 of them that I take usually smell and are dirty.
there=their
Basic English!!!
There hasn't yet been invented an emoticon to express how I'm feeling right now.
Two things:
1) thanks for the heads up. I definitely would have argued this weekend. It's always Ham V. Cabs out there folks.
2) MS, take it easy on yourself.
The dollar surcharge will just come out of their tip.
Question: are there actual DC citizens not associated with the cabs on this commission?
If so how many?
If not why aren't there any?
Question: are there actual DC citizens not associated with the cabs on this commission?
The Commission has eight members, with one vacancy. Four are picked by the Mayor to represent the public, two are picked to represent the taxicab drivers, one is picked to represent the limousine industry and one, the chairperson, is a D.C. government employee.
CMINUS:
Thanks so much.
To clarify, BTW: the eight members I mentioned are the ones who are currently serving. If they get up to the full nine, there will be another taxi representative.
Did the Taxicab Commission publish this notice of a rate increase in the DC Register? If not, then I don't think they can legally impose the surcharge because they did not provide the required public notice.