No Meter Extension For Cabbies ... Sort Of

Over at City Desk, Mike DeBonis is reporting early from the mayor's taxi meter presser that Fenty will not be extending the May 1 deadline for taxi drivers to have time and distance meters installed in their cabs. Barring further action by a judge to delay the deadline once again, the District's cab drivers will now have to scramble to get their meters installed by next Thursday, or face $1,000 fines each time they pick up a fare without a meter.

We'll have an update when we get the rest of the details of Fenty's plan, but there's a lot to think about here. What will happen if cabs can't meet the deadline? Who will be enforcing whether taxis are using meters, and how? And should the May 1 deadline stand and you end up getting in a taxi without a meter next Thursday, what are you supposed to do? Refuse to ride in it?

UPDATE 11:20 a.m.: The Post has a little more, and it turns out those $1,000 fines won't necessarily kick in until June 1, though drivers will be issued warning tickets if they're caught between May 1 and May 31. Fenty said taxi inspectors and the police department will be involved in spot checking cabs to look for meters.

So, between May 1 and May 31, should taxi passengers refuse to ride in cabs without meters? A press release sent out by the mayor's office indicates probably. It reads: "Passengers who wish to file a complaint against an unmetered cab should obtain the taxicab driver’s name, company and license number and report it to the DC Taxicab Commission at (202) 645-6018 or dctc@dc.gov." Good luck getting the name of a driver operating without a meter, but cab company and license plate number should be doable.

Photo by akkleis