let's see...

i've been talking about this issue for months. i've been asking cabbies what they think of the idea, i've been talking to friends about it. i've also been vocal about it on here when it's been discussed. what else....?

oh yeah...I LIVE IN ADAMS MORGAN. and i had no clue this was starting last weekend. so that gives you some impression of how well they got the word out. granted, i missed a couple days of DCist here and there and maybe i don't read the paper everyday. but if i missed it, then something's wrong.

sounds like this was a cluster. forget the taxi stand idea. go the other way with it. ONLY allow taxis on 18th between those hours, and forbid all other traffic. done and done.

This is such a moronic idea. Is there any place in the entire country where it's illegal to get into a cab on a public road that cabs can drive on? It's WAY too confusing.

The question is, what's the problem? 18th Street is congested? Err... so what? Just don't drive on it late Friday or Saturday if you don't want to deal with it.

If we REALLY feel this is a problem that must be solved, then shut it down to all traffic or only permit taxis as @Fenster says.

But creating a designated taxi stand area when the street is otherwise open for traffic will NEVER work and will never make sense to anyone who hasn't been there before. Like the vast majority of tourists.

And, you know, the airport.

just another example of how not reaching out to all the stakeholders can really come back to bite you in the ass.

It's interesting that the rule only applies to pick-ups. Why not drop-offs, too? If you limit drop-offs to the taxi stand areas, there'll be ample taxis there to service those waiting for cabs.

Plus, doesn't the drop-off take more time, with paying the fare and all, than a pick-up? A pick-up, you just get in and go... No money, no haggling.

One valid reason to care about congestion on 18th street is that people could take buses to/from Metro and around town and through Adams Morgan if the bus didn't crawl at 2 MPH for the one-mile stretch between U and Columbia. Better bus service => fewer cars => better bus service.

Now if they could only enforce a rule against cabs making u-turns...

I go out in Adams Morgan all the time, and this is the first I've heard of this taxi stand business. Sounds to me like someone screwed up big time.

Bests,

HCE

Someone screwed up=Jim Graham and the BID.... this has been so poorly advertised and promoted it's not even funny. Even some of the night time businesses weren't aware of the kick off night and the rules....

JG and the BID will blame DDOT for the lack of/size of signage, but when you get down to it, this is their baby and it's up to them to step up to the plate and take responsibility for it's unsuccessful debut...oh wait, I crack myself up.

NYC has several areas where it is technically illegal to hail a cab. I have seen inspectors (who in NYC are uniformed, armed, and have full arrest powers) enforce the rule around Penn Station and have seen NYPD officers enforce this rule at the St. George terminal of the Staten Island Ferry (where the problem has more to do with gypsy cabs). I also think are you not supposed to hail a cab on a designated "Through Street" although that rules seems more difficult to enforce.

The only way this works is if you ban hailing cabs not just on 18th but on all of the side streets within Adams Morgan. If not, then the whole idea will die on the vine.

ARGH

FARTHER up the street... not further...

"sounds like this was a cluster. forget the taxi stand idea. go the other way with it. ONLY allow taxis on 18th between those hours, and forbid all other traffic. done and done."

Agreed.

Or another solution is, don't go there on the weekends. It's terrible regardless of the traffic.

Taxi Stand. What a complicated system?! Hmmm.

I've often felt that AdMo on the Weekend is a social experiment gone wrong. Like the Island of Dr Moreau, or something.

I can't believe that our reader Kristen made it to the taxi stand before wanting to slug some one. I feel that way as soon as I arrive.

Have fun kidds!

what this city needs is Trikes like they have in the Phillipines to travel short distances.

This is absolutely the worst idea they've had in a while. As a resident of Adams Morgan, there isn't much they can do. This doesn't do anything to solve the problem of traffic. There's no place to put all of the cabs that come to Ad Mo.

If they insist on the cabs going to the stands, it's just going to force a line of cabs on Columbia or further down 18th. This will inevitably cause congestion in these areas where the was none from before.

Personally, there's going to be too many cars there no matter what. The increased amount of cars on 18th St have probably even saved a few lives. I can't even guess how many times I've seen people cross the street with out looking. Thank god the traffic was going by in a slow fashion. A few of these people would have been pancaked if they car was going any faster.

The taxi stand is a complete waste of time and will never solve any of the traffic programs. Other than the airport, where has this ever worked? Even there it's questionable.

Good lord. Unless you shut down 18th street to traffic, then won't there still be traffic as the cabs try to drive up to the taxi stand? And while they're en route, it will actually be more efficient to pick up someone and clear the area, rather than wait through a line of cabs to get to the front of a stand? This makes absolutely no sense at all. Even if everyone waiting for a cab was sober (HAH), no one would be able to play by the rules because there is no way of enforcing it other than ridiculous enforcement mechanisms that actually do more to slow traffic than speed it up. And all the people following the rule and waiting at the cab stand will be waiting for a long time while all the cabs pick up people on the street because they got sick of the cab cluster trying to make it to the stand. This is a terrible, stupid, dumb idea.

Anyone know if they've enlisted the help of the various drinking establishments/watering holes/clubs/cesspools on 18th street? Seems like a logical place to start the public education/outreach effort. Or was that too obvious?

I wasn't in Adams Morgan during the weekend, because I am not a masochist, but I was there during the week and I can report that Kokopooli's had posted over the urinals information regarding the taxi zone restrictions. So at least one business made at least a half-assed effort to get the word out.

This is the first I've heard of this and it just sounds ridiculous. If I were a cabby I would keep my sanity and avoid AdmamsMo altogether.

6th Street in Austin, TX shuts down after 11pm on weekends to all drivers...it's a drunken-street-walking paradise, kind of like spring break or something.

And really, how hard is it to walk a few extra blocks to catch a cab?