April 25, 2008
Taxi Meter Injunction Denied
Via the Post, one more blow was dealt to District taxicab drivers who are still hoping to delay the implementation of time and distance meters in all city cabs. D.C. Superior Court Judge Brook Hedge has denied their request for an injunction to block the meter system from being put in place while they wait for their case to be heard by the D.C. Court of Appeals.
Of course, it's not over yet. The cab drivers will still get their appeal heard, but that likely won't happen until well after May 1, the date on which the city has said it will begin issuing warning tickets to drivers who operate without a time and distance meter. But since the $1,000 fines won't actually kick in until June 1, the month of May is shaping up to be a horror show of confusion for D.C. cab riders.
We're going to have some drivers who manage to get their meters installed by Thursday, but plenty of others who will surely hold out until the appeals case is heard. Those cab drivers who continue to operate under the zone system will technically be in violation of the law, but since they'll only be receiving warnings up until May 31, you can be sure they'll go ahead and try to pick up fares.
The question that remains then, is how customers plan to deal with the limbo period of the month of May. Answer our poll question, and feel free to expand your thoughts in the comments.
Photo by akkleis
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Can y'all post a fare calculator so that we can know how much it *should* cost?
Just do like I do: tie a bindle to a stick, dust off your thumb, make a cardboard sign that says "ANYWHERE" and hit the road. All you need is a pockeful of dreams, a song in your heart, and a rag soaked in chloroform.
Duct tape and a sap help, too!
Taking a cab in DC has always been a contentious activity. This month is going to get really intense.
http://craptasticcabsofdc.blogspot.com/
I want these meters now just because it will piss off the cabbies.
uman: here's what you're looking for—taxi fare estimator
UMan: This is a calculator on the Washington Post's website that can help you out.
Taxi Fare Estimator
I want to know what the 'other' options are.
I will put on my ruby slippers, tap them together three times, and wish my way to my destination.
I really doubt they can, UMan. It's not like the zone system, where in theory every trip between two identical points costs the same. (In theory. In theory, Communism works.) Fares for the new meters will depend upon the route taken, the amount of traffic, whether your cabbie is willing to run yellow lights, and any number of other considerations.
The Washington Post took a stab at setting up a fare estimation widget, but the fares they show are typically given within a $3 to $5 range. (At least for the trips I usually take. People who just make short hops may get more precise estimates.)
Sommer,
I think your understanding of the warnings is incorrect. If I remember correctly, as soon as they get a warning, they need to get the meter installed or face the $1000 per ride fine. I could be wrong, though.
I'm tired of this already, can't we just throw the cabbies in the Potomac?
PSUPaulie, here's what the statement from the mayor's office says:
After looking at the "Dance is the Answer" post, I've decided to jitterbug to all of my appointments.
A warning ticket "displaying" a $1,000 fine that they don't actually have to pay? Yeah, that'll scare them. Since it's not going to be enforced, why not make the penalty "displayed" on the ticket a million dollars, life in prison, or a beheading?
This is silly. Obviously, they're being granted the month, so why not just say it?
I have come full circle on the whole issue. At first I was totally pro zones. I like the system, like that tourists get screwed and hate that some jackass from Michigan stuck his nose in our business. Then I figured Fenty is for meters they must not be so bad, might save me a few bucks but I don't want to loose independent taxi operators. Then this argument was made to me and made me pro-meter: This isn't about regulation (the city isn't imposing a cab restriction like there is in NYC, or changing the fare (which is a separate topic), this is about tax collection. Under the zone system there is no accountability for the amount a driver brings in each day/year and since it is almost all cash based there is no way for the city to monitor and collect taxes. The drivers don't want to switch over because they don't want to pay their share of income taxes. With meters there will be a written trail of how much a driver brings in and therefore a record of what is owed to the city. If some store wasn't paying their sales tax there would be a backlash. The drivers need to pony up and pay their share like every other business in town. If a cabbie wants my money, he is going to abide by the law, drive a safe car and pay his taxes just like everyone else.
Wouldn't full circle mean that you're back to being pro-zones?
Today is a Pedantic Friday, isn't it? If not, nevermind.
Full diameter of the circle?
I love how people correct one another on DCist. It's so DC.
LAME!
@suances: I agree with you that a $1,000 "warning" is about as useful as a $1,000,000,000 one, but consider that it's theoretically possible those warnings could be used at some future point to throw the book at intransigent cabbies (unlikely given DC's poorly-functioning bureaucracy, but still theoretically possible).
That's to say...if a cabbie doesn't have a meter on June 1st and had racked up hundreds of warnings, maybe the city can haul that cabbie before an administrative judge who could mete out an appropriate punishment (e.g., license suspended, cab impounded, firing squad, etc.)?
If the warnings were for something not covered under the law, the cabbie would be able to claim they hadn't been properly warned.
i love how people call us lame for correcting people on dcist. it's so lame.
META!
Why is it that when someone is critical of anything, the target of that criticism is automatically labeled as being "so DC"?
So people in other cities don't correct each other? I'd say everyone else is just stupid then.