DCist: National Airport Reinforces False Meter Deadline

guest33

Mon, 19 May 2008 22:28:21 -0500

Cab today had a meter but turned it off when I said "National Airport". He said he did not have to use it if leaving DC. He cited the $19 maximum fare and said something about it not working outside of DC due to some GPS thing. All this is total BS, I think. But anyone got any info on it? I go to the taxi commission website and guess what? NOTHING about what metered fares should be, when the meter should be used, or anything. Instead they still have the zone fare calculator. Thanks. I think I actually made out better in the end today. The poor guy really was fed some bad info. I paid $12.50. Not bad.

Hillman

Thu, 08 May 2008 16:40:56 -0500

Guest: Love the idea of your website. If it's really fleshed out maybe it could be sent to all our councilmembers as we gear up for a fight to get decent cabs in this town. Not sure that this counts, but my most recent cab story? I'm wandering the streets of the Hill last week, up to no good. A cab stops in the middle of a residential block. Turns off the cab in the middle of the street (no hazards, no nothing). Cabbie lazily saunters over to a freshly-planted treebox and proceeds to take a rather lengthy piss right in the treebox. Shakes his business for a suspiciously long time, then saunters back. As I was passing I asked him why he had to pee in someone's treebox. He told me there was nowhere nearby for him to pee. I pointed out the obvious - that he had a freaking cab at his disposal, which could surely take him to various places he could pee.

voteprime

Thu, 08 May 2008 10:33:05 -0500

Bethesdaist:The Fleet Feet t-shirt is a very nice touch.

Bethesdaist

Thu, 08 May 2008 10:00:53 -0500

Voterprime: hahaha, like Ash in Army of Darkness, but with a torch and a Fleet Feet tshirt.

guest33

Thu, 08 May 2008 09:59:54 -0500

Hillman is right on that one. There will be more good stuff on here soon but this is a teaser: http://craptasticcabsofdc.blogspot.com/ I have a fun cab story from last night. I'm on the Eastern end of Gtown where M hits Penn. I'm with a friend on crutches so we're hailing a cab to go over to Dupont. Quick ride. Normally two zones but with meters this should be the type of ride that is cheaper under the meter system. I start sticking my hand out and cabs start flying at us like crazy. The first guy pulls up, I see he has no meter, I say "I want a meter" and wave him off. He rolls window down furher and asks, "Where you going?!" I move back and another cab is coming up. Same conversation. Then another. This guy has the nerve to yell back "There are no meters yet in DC!" I say, "Yeah there are!" Right as I say that, the meter gods smiled down upon me and the nicest taxi driver pulls up with a meter, we get in, and drive off, glaring back at the lying SOB who tried to tell me there are no meters in DC. hahaha. To top it off, I had a great converstation about the meter with the cabbie. He told me how the Hill folks (including the guy who helped spur the change to meters, of course) are getting SCREWED with the meter. They take a lot of longer rides from the Hill to Gtown or to Downtown and used to get a pretty sweet one zone deal. Now those fares are up around $10 or more. My fare was $8.50 or something, including the $1.00 gas surcharge and $1.50 extra passenger surcharge. Still better than the zone. By a little. But not having to argue at the end of the ride = priceless.

Hillman

Thu, 08 May 2008 08:47:56 -0500

I believe that NYC is mandating that all cabs in NYC be hybrids by 2012. They are also mandating that all cabs take credit cards. You know, like an actual proactive city would do. But at least we do have one thing in common with NYC. We get their cabs. That is, we get the cabs that were used in NYC until they became so old and decrepit that NYC wouldn't allow their use anymore. Then they come to DC to run for another 20 years.

HCE

Wed, 07 May 2008 18:55:22 -0500

I'm fairly certain I saw cabs in the Hyatt line receiving written warnings this morning. I have to say that the one thing I will miss is the cheaper fares that turned up when you were nice to the guy driving you around. Under the "make up a fare" system I often came out ahead by being friendlier than your average DC area denizen.

voteprime

Wed, 07 May 2008 18:50:46 -0500

Bethesdaist: If a cab doesn't have a meter by then, set it on fire as a warning to other cabbies.I have this vision of Mayor Fenty standing in the middle of the road next to an overturned cab in flames, a torch in his hand, his shirt stained and in tatters (and maybe a broken Blackberry at his feet), shouting, "Let this be a lesson to all who try to defy The Fenty!"

cminus

Wed, 07 May 2008 16:21:56 -0500

welles, I'm pretty sure that wouldn't fly, legally speaking. If DC passed a law saying there could only be, say, 25 dermatologists, and that the government was going to select those dermatologists and any dermatologists not selected had to give up their jobs, I wouldn't want to be the schmuck stuck defending us in the resulting court case. In New York's case, the city issued each registered cab a medallion. Since there were too many cabs in New York at the time, and the medallions had a renewal fee, a number of medallions became uneconomical and were allowed to expire until increasing demand met reduced supply. (And then, from the point of view of the CATO Institutes of the world, things went to hell in a handbasket. But I digress.) We probably wouldn't get the same culling of cabs in DC, though, or at least not to the same extent. The Haas Act was passed in 1937, during the last peak of the Great Depression. Laid-off New Yorkers, desperate for any source of income, were going into business for themselves as cabdrivers. Most were working 20 hour days and still not making living wages. No matter how oversupplied you think the present-day DC cab market may be, it's modest next to Depression-era New York.

Disco Stu

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:31:57 -0500

Hey, say all you want about deadlines! I'm pissed about the REAL original deadline of Apr 1st! ;) Must say, I was all sorts of righteous about refusing any cab without a meter, until last night when it was after midnight and I was sleepy as hell! "drat, you Zones!!! You've won, this time, but I'll have the last laugh..."

JustJenny

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:28:01 -0500

(By "make them switch to hybrids" I'm not sure what I mean, because obviously it'd be a huge cost outlay, but if new cabs need to be bought they ought to be more energy-efficient than those Lincoln Continentals or whatever the current vogue is. Even a Honda Civic would be better.)

JustJenny

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:26:52 -0500

Wait, I don't want DC to have fewer cabs! I like being able to get a cab whenever I want (well, as long as I'm in Georgetown or Dupont). Can't we make them switch to hybrids or something, though?

welles

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:20:45 -0500

cminus: Naturally any medallion system would have to discount current taxi drivers and reward only on the grounds of merit and supply. DC currently is extremely over populated with cabs and that needs to be cut back to protect our roads and our city's carbon footprint.

Nate

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:11:29 -0500

If you want to refuse to patronize a cab because it doesn't have a meter, you absolutely have that right Welles. However, if you are genuinely cursing out and keying the cabs of drivers who are lagging behind in their installation, it makes you far more of an asshole than the cabbies you're complaining about.

cminus

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:09:19 -0500

Welles, the funny thing is, most cabbies want medallions even more than you do. Because, you know, medallion systems work by issuing medallions to current cabs and capping future supply, so current drivers would eventually get a huge windfall profit. Tens if not hundreds of thousands of dollars. (And I'm pretty sure that, if DC were to require medallions and not give every current driver a medallion, we would be subject to a barrage of restraint of trade lawsuits that would make the brouhaha over meters seems like a mere fooferaw. Maybe there's a way around it, but I'd be very, very careful.) Hillman, IIRC the gas surcharge is supposed to expire May 28. But we've heard that song before.

IMGoph

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:07:50 -0500

welles: a lot of us aren't fans of the cabs, but your propensity to call them roaches strikes me as a little harsh. no wait, a lot harsh. they're people. lay off the grover norquist-ing...

guest33

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:05:26 -0500

Hillman, yes, as I referenced in my post above, it's still an extra $1 even though the new drop rate should have reflected current costs to drive a cab. But alas... So the real drop rate is $4.00 and that will not be changing any time soon. The current gas surcharge expires soon, but I am certain they will extend it or do a new one.

cminus

Wed, 07 May 2008 15:02:09 -0500

RJ is basically right, although it's a little more complicated than that. DC, Arlington, Alexandria, Fairfax and Montgomery have mostly all signed agreements with each other that allow a cab registered in one of these jurisdictions to make a pickup in another of these jurisdictions, so long as the rider: 1. Called for the cab, instead of hailing it on the street or at a taxi stand. 2. Is going to the jurisdiction where the cab is registered. So, if you're in DC and going to Montgomery, you can call a Montgomery cab to come pick you up.

welles

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:59:47 -0500

Great. So the roaches get yet another pass. I have been cursing out, getting out, not tipping and keying the cabs of any taxis I see without meters. We must all do our part to get these roaches off our streets. Fenty: MEDALLIONS PLEASE.

Hillman

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:55:23 -0500

In the immortal words of Sally Field, 'you like me, you really like me.' Or at least my one comment... To clarify, is there a 'gas surcharge' in place come June 1 with the meters?

cminus

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:49:22 -0500

mofozzie, interstate cab fares and rules are set by the Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Commission, Metro's little-known sibling. They're also the guys who regulate commuter buses, van pools, and the like. With the exception of DC, regulating interstate cab fares is a pretty easy job. WMATC generally adopts the fare structure of the cab's home jurisdiction; they just want to make sure that jurisdictions don't structure their fares in such a way as to deliberately soak interstate travellers. With DC, WMATC created what "should" have been the District's meter fees, based upon their assessment of the industry's costs: $3.25 for the first half mile. $0.90 for each additional half mile. $5.50 for the first 15 minutes of waiting time. $6.25 for each additional 15 minutes of waiting time. All other surcharges the same as DC. Determination of mileage and waiting time was done by the cabbie's odometer and watch, which was clearly a recipe for trouble. However, as of May 1, WMATC has adopted the new meter regulations as the basis for interstate cab fares, so that should cease to be an issue soon.

guest number 10

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:30:01 -0500

i'll third that & seventh the other one. and i guess i'll just half something else, for the heck of it.

skeptic

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:28:17 -0500

I got in a cab today -- that had a meter -- and was told by the cabbie that he didn't have to turn the meter on until June 1. That was what the people who installed the meter told him. I asked him to please use the meter. He did. I don't mind waiting until June 1 -- but I see this as just one final effort by the DC cabs to rip off the public. It also means that if I see a cab without a meter on June 1, I am definitely reporting him. No excuses, no amnesty.

RJ

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:19:20 -0500

Mofozzie, I believe legally only DC cabs can service DC fares and VA cabs for VA fares. I have been at the taxi stand and the taxi wrangler was matching DC riders to DC cabs and VA riders to VA cab and was not allowing DC riders into VA cabs and visa versa.

loganmo

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:18:04 -0500

Mofozzie, I believe at National, the taxi stand guards require you to take a cab from the jurisdiction of your destination (e.g. they won't let a MOCO hack take a fare to Fairfax).

cminus

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:15:17 -0500

iAManugget, once a cab has a meter installed, even before June 1, it has to use it. The city is giving warnings for failure to have a meter installed; failure to use the meter is a different offense, although it also carries a fine of up to $1,000. If you find a cab not using a properly-installed meter, call the D.C. Taxicab Commission at 202-645-6018.

mofozzie

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:05:45 -0500

So, I have asked this before on here and not gotten an answer, but if you get in a cab at National, you are not in DC, so what meter regulation is there to follow? Does a DC cab have to follow DC rules no matter where it is? That certainly couldn't have been the case in the days of the zone system because the zones didn't extend outside the city. If a DC cab is in VA, what rules does it follow, and what happens when it crosses the river? I really don't understand what rules apply based on what jurisdiction you are in. In this region you could technically get in a cab in VA, drive through DC, and get out in MD, what are the fare rules for that trip? Does anyone know? I am not trying to take a position on any of this, I just really don't know and wonder if there are any rules in place.

IMGoph

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:04:28 -0500

i guess i sixth the comments then (hey, let's pile on!) if enforcement doesn't happen on june 1, then you have a story. until then...meh.

OldPosterKnownAsCranky

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:02:12 -0500

I fourth/fifth Hillman's comments. The May 1 wasn't a really real deadline, since there was no way cabs could all be outfitted with meters, and the Taxicab Commission wasn't ready for a major crackdown. So the cabbies get an additional couple of weeks. Big deal. Come June 1, however, it's gonna be a whole new ballgame.

iAManugget

Wed, 07 May 2008 14:01:41 -0500

what i am interested in knowing is this: just because they have a meter installed doesnt mean they are going to use it. who is going to enforce the actual use of these things? do we get out of the cab if he wont turn it on? i have already been in a couple of cabs with them installed and not even turned on. i get they are floating above the 1k fines, but what happens come june? cant wait to find out.

Bethesdaist

Wed, 07 May 2008 13:56:18 -0500

I'm willing to let the issue go for three weeks, but come June 1 I want to see the iron fist of justice come down like - well, like the iron fist of justice. If a cab doesn't have a meter by then, set it on fire as a warning to other cabbies.

monkeyrotica

Wed, 07 May 2008 13:52:46 -0500

Personally, I'm looking forward to a whole new era of taxi cab suckage.

guest33

Wed, 07 May 2008 13:51:35 -0500

I also agree, but I've already taken a few compliant cabs and want to comment on these meters. The $1.50 extra passenger charge is B.S. If they got rid of that, I'd be SO happy with the new meter. But I got into a cab with a buddy the other night... $3.00 shows up with one push of button. Next the add-ons... $1.00 for gas surcharge... okay... more buttons... $1.50 for extra passenger. So I'm already at $5.50 without moving an inch. Nice. I think the Hill crowd, some of whom pushed for this change to meters, is going to be very pissed off when a bunch of them hop in a cab across town in what used to be zone one and the fare quickly is way up over what it used to be. For most of us, it will be about the same I think. And at least I'll not have to argue at the end of the ride over how much I should pay.

DudeLooksLikeALady

Wed, 07 May 2008 13:51:12 -0500

I've simply decided not to use taxis until the meters are installed. Pretty easy for me, since I don't use them that much anyway, but if everybody took up a boycott it would probably be helpful. What gets me is the number of taxis I've seen driving around with what appear to be meter brackets and no installed meter. Presumably these tools have their meters but are simply flouting the law because they can get away with it.

Politburo

Wed, 07 May 2008 13:45:20 -0500

I'll just third what Hillman said...

TW

Wed, 07 May 2008 13:41:27 -0500

Amen Hillman, I was just about to post something to that effect. It's 3 weeks away! Let it go!

Hillman

Wed, 07 May 2008 13:37:36 -0500

I've been hating on DC cabs as much as the next guy for years now, but can we stop pissing and moaning about this May 1 vs June 1 deadline? It's three freaking weeks, and it has admittedly been very confusing for all parties. Can we just let it go already and celebrate the fact that June 1 is The First Step toward a DC cab experience that doesn't suck as much?