February 14, 2008
Taxicab Strike Actions Reported Throughout Downtown
We've had enough reports from eagle-eyed readers now to say that an unannounced taxicab strike is underway today. Rolling taxi strikes originally began last week on Monday, and were supposed to continue on Tuesday of this week, then Wednesday of next week, and so on. No strike actually occurred, however, on Tuesday. This 2nd-week Thursday action was not made known to the public beforehand.
Here's what we're hearing:
From reader Chris, 10:47 a.m.: "I'm downtown on F St. near the White House and numerous times large groups of taxis have stopped at lights and begun blowing their horns constantly."
From commenter SF2DC, 10:43 a.m. "Buncha taxis just honked up a storm driving by my office building on 14th and F en masse..."
From reader Martin, 10:41 a.m.: "A huge line of taxis is driving very slowing around Freedom Plaza, in front of the Wilson Building, all honking their horns."
From reader Bryan, 9:39 a.m.: "Looks like DC taxicabs actually organized their strike / service disruption today. 16th street southbound is a parking lot."
From commenter whitehatgirl, 9:30 a.m.: "I think the taxi strike is on today. I felt terrible for the German tourist laden with a huge rolling bag, suit bag, and duffel bag looking for a cab. I told him he probably wouldn't get a cab. I hope he makes it back to Germany. I also think the cabs, while on strike, are intentionally clogging up the streets. I saw a line of them on 16th street as far as the eye could see around 8:45 a.m. Traffic was going nowhere."
Let us know what you see and hear regarding this taxicab action in comments while we try to dig up some more information.
Photo by MatthewBradley
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Bring in the Maryland and Virginia cab companies. Do it now.
Well I guess they figured out that simply staying off the roads was actually a good thing. Now they've learned how to annoy us.
11:08 AM Taxis are sounding their horns in the vicinity of 12th and F Streets NW. Lots and lots of honking.
@Hillman:
One of my coworkers claims he heard that today's strike/demonstration is actually a response to Mayor Fenty deciding to let MD/VA cabs pick up fares in DC on days when the DC cabs are on strike.
I don't actually care one way or the other, I'm just already sick of hearing these jackasses honking up and down F St.
Work in the R. Building and just had a Judge discontinue a teleconference with me because of honking outside. The first 30 minutes were fine, but this is a bit much. If I didn't agree with them before, I certainly do not now. Oh, and yeah . . . I'm a labor and employment law atty -- pro-labor and pro-employee.
The explains why there were about no cabs at the taxi stand Union Station at 8:15 this morning.
18th and Columbia was like a ghost town at about 8:40 this morning, car wise. There were lots of people looking (in vain) for taxis.
Fight annoyance with intimidation, anyone?
Can't they be sited for public disorder, nuisance or some such. Nothing like having a cop pull over a taxi (with cause) and then running their registration, safety check, etc.
I would love nothing more than for
(1) the police enforcing traffic rules on these clowns, including misuse of horns, and
(2) Fenty allowing MD and VA cabs into DC as an "emergency" measure until the strike ends.
I'm all for everyone making a living wage, including the cabbies here. But the residents of DC are overwhelmingly in favor of meters (which also happen to work reasonably well in almost every other major city). So if their beef is that they just don't want meters...well, screw 'em. We want them. Get used to it.
But if their complaint is that they won't make enough money with the fare rates that have been announced, I'm not sure how to address that. How do the announced fares compare to other cities (when cost of living is factored in)?
Thankfully we have Metro! If someone is in a real pinch they can metro over to Rosslyn and get a cab there.
I don't know if the cab drivers realize that most of the city is not on their side. Even those people that are on the cab drivers' side of the argument are not actually arguing for the cab drivers; those people just want to save money on very specific cab rides that will cost more under the new system.
So the strikes and the honking and the blocking of traffic, it will all do absolutely nothing to help them sway the public. In fact, it might turn more people against them.
And I highly doubt, after we've gone this far, that it has any chance whatsoever of changing Mayor Fenty's mind.
8:40 this morning - About 100 taxis made their way SLOWLY down 16th past U street. They were even getting out of their cars to talk to one another. Had to wait for about 20 mins for the cabs to finally pass before any buses came by.
8:40 this morning - About 100 taxis made their way SLOWLY down 16th past U street. They were even getting out of their cars to talk to one another. Had to wait for about 20 mins for the cabs to finally pass before any buses came by.
thanks to the cabs that just stopped in the right lane of 16th street, i had the pleasure of walking 1.5 miles in the wind because no buses could get through.
can i sue them if my face falls off?
ps. this was especially annoying since i don't even take cabs and have no opinion on meters vs zones!
Rode my bike into work down 16th St. this morning, and the only time I've seen it run that slow is when there was an accident that closed down the whole street. Cabbies were taking their sweet time (of course I didn't really mind).
Can't we just agree to boycott the taxis? Drivers do not get to dictate city-wide policy - in fact I believe the tax payers are the ones who should have the final say. And the tax payers have been pretty clear about their preferences.
This city has excellent public transit. Use it!
The cabs are creating public nuisances (the honking) and impeding traffic (the stopping and going super slow in lanes). If I were Fenty, I'd be on the phone with Chief Lanier to make sure MPD were properly ticketing the violating cabs and then running inspection checks as well.
The cabbies really seem to have no clue that the public does not support them on the meters issue. All they are doing is continuing to piss off the public and killing any sympathy they would get from undecideds.
I love their logic. "We don't want to switch to meters because we then become accountable for the amount of revenue we fraudulantly take for the citizens of the city, so let's piss them off by disrupting the ability to get around."
Do they think they're winning anyone over? They're ripping us all off, and then have the nerve to get angry when the city does the responsible thing and switch to meters?
They must be violating some traffic law (especially if krislawt's report is true). I say ticket and tow 'em.
Yeh buddy, I'm sure you're "pro labor". This is their job, they have the right to make decisions about it. Stop with the boss think.
10 a.m. No cabs at 18th and Columbia and those there were there either had off-duty signs in their windows and the few with passengers refused to do the usual pick up of a second passenger. Virgina cab went by but he wouldn't pick anyone up either. Approached a cabbie who was dropping off a friend and asked if he would take me and of course he said no.
They do realize that this just makes people angry at them right? I'm not going to pick up the phone and complain to the Mayor but I am going to be pissed at the cabbies.
Who wants meters?!
-I do!
When do you want them??
-Now!
Who wants meters?!
-I do!
When do you want them??
-Now!
I agree with several others. I hope these cabbies are getting ticketing. I also saw a bunch parked in zoned RPP spaces, I sure as heck hope DPW is out ticketing them as much they ticket everyone else.
I think the police should put spikes on the road so the cabbies will all get flats. Yeah it'll clog up the roads something fierce, but the cabbies will all have to get new tires.
Oh who am I kidding, they'll just put some gum in the holes, inflate and keep driving.
It's like they took a seminar in good PR, and did the opposite.
I did see one taxi being towed away. I also saw a lot of police around, but it was tough to tell what they were doing. They might have been clearing the way for a motorcade, but they might have been trying to deal with the cabs.
Those cabbies are going to be so sorry they've pissed off the German tourists. They're not all smiles and sunshine, you know.
haven't heard anything by my office @ 17th and M yet . . . are the cabbies sticking to certain areas only? so glad i don't rely on them.
learn to use the buses, people. maybe if the energy that goes towards griping about the taxis was directed towards the bus issues, we could get some positive changes made.
Saw cops this morning pull over a cab who was driving really slow, and then stopping, at various points up and down 18th Street to block traffic. They gave the cabbie a ticket.
We have too many taxicabs in this city as it is. Trying to park at U and 9th Streets NW last night, at least every other valid space within a two block radius was taken by a parked, and therefore useless, cab.
Well, I am a casually dressed African American male. DC cabs are frequently on strike where I am concerned.
By making it difficult for buses to get around, they're going to far. MPD should ticket the bastards like crazy (impeding the public way and obstructing traffic are probably both traffic and criminal offenses), and Fenty should drop the base fare for meters $1 every time they pull a stunt like this. The deal they got--$3 plus the Taxicab Commission's "emergency" $1 gas surcharge, which extends past the meter deadline--was already much higher than even Manhattan's fares.
The cab drivers are on the wrong side of public sentiment on this one, and with nonsense like this, they are just isolating themselves even more.
You can't take buses or Metro all the time. Well, I suppose you can if you like walking down deserted streets at 3am, but some of us acknowledge that we live in a city and take reasonable precautions to avoid being assaulted.
In addition to the mayor and MPD doing their part, here's a definite way for the consumer to retaliate...no tips until the strike is over.
"Those cabbies are going to be so sorry they've pissed off the German tourists. They're not all smiles and sunshine, you know."
Oooh, the Germans are mad at me. I'm so scared! Oooh, the Germans! Uh oh, the Germans are going to get me!
@monkeyrotica: but they come from the land of chocolate!
Beer, goat boy. They come from the land of beer. And well-engineered fine automobiles.
I've seen way more VA and MD cabs on the streets, as well as several cabbies simply ignoring fares even when their cars are empty.
Sure it's easy to fall back on the "use the bus people" but that's also not exactly practical all the time either. The bus doesn't always go where you're going, or doesn't always get you there in a timely fashion. Don't get me wrong. I love me some bus and ride it often, but this morning I was late and am sick and standing out in the cold waiting for the unreliable 42 was not my first option, although that's what I ended up doing...
"This is their job, they have the right to make decisions about it."
Sure--they can decide to quit if they don't want to work within the regulations our elected officials set forth.
Spare me the pro-labor BS. DC cabbies are a racket not a union. They refuse rides based on race and geography, consistently overcharge, and drive dangerously in poorly maintained and unclean vehicles.
Hey, don't knock the 42! I love love love that bus line (although don't tell the 42, but I've been cheating on it with the S buses in the mornings because, let's face it, they're faster).
i think it's funny folks feel that all the cabbie honking is any different from most other days. come on now. dc cabbies honk at anything and everything whether "on strike" or not
DC Cabbies don't want meters because they won't be able to shelter cash from the IRS anymore. Period. Pro-labor doesn't mean pro-tax cheat.
Most owner-drivers don't live in DC anyway but their rattle-trap hacks won't pass taxi inspection in the states where they live.
Honking in hospital or school zones? Blocking intersections? Fill up the impound lots with the cabs of the guilty. There won't political blowback -- those guys can't vote here anyway.
Here's another reason why I am in favor of meters: I went from Union Station to National on Tuesday at 3:30. I was charged $17. The cabbie charged me an extra $2 for my small carry-on suitcase (which I put into and took out of the trunk myself) and an extra $1 for rush hour, even though it was not yet 4 pm when we arrived at National.
When I asked him to recalculate the fee, he said it was correct, even though it was based on him saying so.
Bring on the meters!
I agree with the don't tip policy until they end the strike. sure we have great public transportation, but sometimes you're in a rush.