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WTOP's Adam Tuss and Kristi King did what I wish I had been able to do today: they went out and rode in a bunch of cabs, both to see how many they found that had meters installed, and to get a few real-life comparisons on price differences.
They came back with some hardly surprising numbers, but hard numbers nonetheless:
- It took them seven cabs and 25 minutes to find a taxi with a meter.
- In Union Station's busy taxi stand line this morning, they only found three taxis with meters (out of how many, WTOP!?)
- They took a round-trip cab ride from Wisconsin and Idaho Avenues NW to Dupont Circle, one with a zone fare and one with metered fare. The metered fare was $2.50 cheaper.
You've got to love that quote from the cabbie who got paid the lower fare, too. As though the 7,000 cab drivers in this city deserve to make more than drivers in any other city, and the rest of us city residents should have to foot the bill. Also, the attitude that some drivers believe the "real deadline" is June 1, reported by David Nakamura, is about what we'd expect.
Takeways from WTOP's experiment? If you're considering taking a stand against taxi drivers who refuse to comply with the law, you're in for adding a significant chunk of time to your trip while trying to find a metered cab. But if you find one, you could end up saving a not inconsequential chunk of change. Is $2.50 worth 25 minutes of your time? Probably not. But hopefully, as we progress into the month of May, that waiting time will shrink as more and more taxis get their meters installed.
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how many physical altercations are we going to have between cabbies and passengers before the 1st of june rolls around? i won't be surprised to see a few...
then again, most people in this town don't read the blogs, don't pay attention to the news. they might not even realize that there are going to be meters in the taxis until they step into one that has them.
You know, I was in favor of the zone/gps compromise originally, but after the actions of the cabbies and their ridiculous comments, I am now in favor of the meters. And the "environmentally friendly" argument that some of the cabbies are making for the zone system is beyond pathetic.
1 roundtrip ride? that's it?
Is there a gas surcharge? The Post story makes it seem like there is? It should be a $3 drop, $1.50 for each additional rider (bs i say!), and $.25 for distance after the first 1/6 of a mile correct?
I took this from: http://citizenatlas.dc.gov/atlasapps/taxifare.aspx
Note: As of May 1, 2008, District of Columbia taxis have installed and begun using time and distance based meters. Until June 1, 2008 some cabs may be in transition and not have meters available. Those cabs will continue to use the zone fare system. This web site will be taken down on June 1. For more information, please go to http://dctaxi.dc.gov.
Damn, I knew things were getting bad in the whole global economy/food crisis/energy costs (wow, two slashes, could be a Metro stop) area, but I didn't realize the change in fares also included a change to British Pounds! We are sooooo fucked!
Well, I hate to be an antagonist, but I don't see many taxi drivers spending their time reading this blog.
I don't mind that comment by the driver. It's standard for people to bring the family into everything. Taxi drivers used to make a lot of money, by all accounts, but not these days, and quite many that I have talked to have second jobs. Think about it for a second. Do you work one job for 12 hours then another just to make ends meet? Or do you get your money by direct deposit in big multiples of $1000? And don't BS about being in school or an intern or volunteering at a blog. That's with the future in mind.
Cabs in DC were and are cheap. Wait till gas is $10 a gallon like it is in Europe, then take a taxi. Sometimes, you guys just come across like everything should cost $1 flat rate and damn the consequences for the people who actually provide the service. There will be less cabs on the road in a years time. Then moan when you have to wait twice as long for one.
Not that meters are a bad idea as such....
#1 reason it will cost them money
-trips from dc to close in VA or MD will be charged by distance and not some imaginary made-up formula!
yeah, I'm almost looking forward to taking a cab because i know that no matter how hard they try, if they have a meter they cant rip me off. suckers.
I've been taking an informal poll of the cabs I see driving around town, and it looks like less than 1 in 10 actually have meters. So, that shows you the true honesty of DC cabbies....basically they will break the law until the very last minute, and continue ripping people off as long as they can.
I feel bad for those cabbies who are being honest and have installed meters. I wish MPD would set up a 10-officer task force to start giving cabbies "warning" tickets every time they get caught over the next month. As a minimum it would get the dishonest crooks off the roads temporarily and keep a record of habitual offenders.
If the cabbies break the law can we? Why not just hop out of a cab that doesn't have a meter and just not pay? Is that stooping too low?
The cabbies will have their last zoned hurrah this month. After the Memorial Day tourist rush, it's over for them and the zone system.
As this month progresses, I wouldn't be shocked to see cabbies driving around with meters installed but not working. Unless, of course, the trip would result in a higher fare. Then no doubt the meter would magically start working.
I can see the city not wanting to spend a lot of time and effort going around fining drivers this month, but they would go a long way towards encouraging compliance with the new rules if they made it a requirement that you have a meter installed before you could pick people up in the taxi line at Union Station or National.
"Do you work one job for 12 hours then another just to make ends meet? Or do you get your money by direct deposit in big multiples of $1000?"
So why should the gods smile on cab drivers, and not, say, McDonalds cashiers?
Posted by: guest number 10
yeah, I'm almost looking forward to taking a cab because i know that no matter how hard they try, if they have a meter they cant rip me off. suckers.
See, a lot of people feel more safe with meters because they don't know that you can cheat, but it's easy to cheat with a meter. You can either get a rigged meter, or you open the hood, make a couple snips, and your odometer suddenly moves faster. It's actually much harder to cheat with the zone system if you know the zone bounds.
"So why should the gods smile on cab drivers, and not, say, McDonalds cashiers?"
Sure, but are the gods smiling on anyone who serves the great American public? Taxis were not a rip-off before, they shouldn't be cheap. How much money do you think taxi drivers make! If you're worried about $9.50 or $11 taxi fares, wake up, you're a cheapskate- take the effing bus.
"da baklavologist"
Ummmm, WRONG. Dont speak unless you know what youre talking about. There is no "snip" to make an odometer faster, sorry to disappoint you.
ooooooooookay!