Some D.C Taxi Rides Just as Confusing with Meters
It's been exactly one month since the city switched all of its taxi cabs over to time and distance meters, and we've spent that month asking every driver and frequent taxi passenger we've run across what their experiences have been. The vast majority of drivers we've spoken to agree that within the city, fares by and large even out to be about the same -- some are a little more, some are a little less, but none are so different that it might put them out of business. Compliance with installing meters ended up going fairly smoothly, amazingly enough, and overall the new system is working pretty well.
One driver we spoke to said he's found that long trips out to Virginia now cost a lot less -- a fact he was very worried about, especially for things like trips to Dulles Airport. He estimated fares to Dulles now run at least $20 less than they used to. If you've taken a taxi from the District to Dulles in the last month, we'd love to hear from you in comments to find out if you found this to be true.
But there is one area that drivers and passengers agree continues to be a source of confusion and mistrust similar to what things were like under the zone system: group cab rides.
In other major cities with taxis that use meters (Philadelphia, New York, etc.), if two friends share a cab headed in the same direction but request separate stops, the meter starts when they enter the cab together and continues to run on the same fare after the first person exits. The second passenger is responsible for the full fare at the end of the ride, so it's up to them to collect money from their friend who they dropped off. This sort of system encourages people to share cabs who are heading in the same direction. But that's not the way the new meter system works in the District of Columbia.
Photo by Terecico
The way D.C.'s meter rules are written, when two people enter the same cab and ask for two stops, the driver is supposed to turn the meter off when the first person exits, charge them for the full fare up to that point, and then restart the meter with a brand new $3 drop fee before embarking on the second leg of the trip. The driver is also currently entitled to charge a $1 emergency gas surcharge for both segments.
To add to the confusion, normally when two people ride in the same cab, the driver is allowed to charge an additional passenger fee of $1.50. D.C. Taxicab Commission Chairman Leon Swain tells DCist that drivers are not supposed to charge that additional fee if they have agreed to make two stops and charge two different fares, but according to passengers we've spoken to, many drivers are charging it anyway.
The additional passenger fee trouble for groups of more than two can be even worse: Say three people share a cab, with one of them getting out at the first stop, and two getting out at the second. The driver is legally allowed to charge a $3 drop free and a $1 gas surcharge for the first leg of the trip, and then a $3 drop fee, a $1 gas surcharge, and an extra passenger fee of $1.50 for the second leg. But confused drivers may end up charging the additional passenger fee for the first leg of the trip, or they may charge two additional passenger fees, with the result that sharing a metered cab home with a friend or two at the end of the night can be just as confusing, if not more so, than the zone system. In many cases, it may be cheaper for a group to split up into separate cabs, even if their destinations are relatively close together.
When Mayor Adrian Fenty and D.C. Taxicab Commission Chairman Leon Swain first announced that the city had decided to make the switch to meters, they said they were doing so because they wanted the system to be more transparent, for residents to no longer worry they were being cheated, and that it didn't make sense that the D.C. taxi system was unlike any other. The rules for group rides as they are written continue the tradition of the District's old zone system by charging separate base fares and additional fees for each leg of a group trip. Confused passengers have for the last month found themselves once again arguing with D.C. taxi drivers over whether these kinds of fares are fair and legal.
We just got off the phone with Swain, who told us the Taxicab Commission has heard about these issues and that they "are looking at them." Swain emphasized that the meter regulations are very new, and that the commission understood from the beginning that changes might end up being necessary.
"We knew we had to go back and do some tweaking," Swain said. "We've gone from horse and buggies to space ships, as far I'm concerned, in 30 days."
Whether changes to group taxi ride rules will come about is up to the nine-member Commission.
When asked whether he thought allowing stopping and starting the meter over again for a group splitting a cab meant that the District's taxi system continues to be unlike any other city, Swain said no.
"Believe it or not, there are some other cities (that work that way)."
Which cities are those? Swain said he'd have to get back to us, so we'll make sure to update when he does.