Results tagged “taxicab”

The Post has a story today reporting the installation of touch-screen video credit card machines inside 200 area taxi cabs, the first we've heard of such devices being adopted by a local cab company. Granted, it's a Maryland cab company, Barwood Taxi, but we've gotta be willing to start somewhere, we suppose. By all accounts based on the experiences of other cities, like New York and Philadelphia, that have mandated credit card machines in taxis, the devices are a win-win for drivers and passengers alike. The self-use machines have a tendency to increase tipping, and drivers no longer have to carry around so much cash to make change, something any semi-regular D.C. taxi customer can tell you is often an issue inside this city.

At least five D.C. DMV inspectors have been fired for accepting small cash bribes from cab drivers looking to sail through the inspection process despite deficiencies in their vehicles. Johnson's got photos, presumably taken by honest DMV employees, of the interiors of several taxis where drivers leave between $20-$50 for inspectors, hoping they'll look the other way.

WTOP's Mark Segraves reported yesterday that Sober Ride, the free taxi service provided by the Washington Regional Alcohol Program on major holidays, will not operate on Inauguration Day. Can't say we're too surprised, given the fact that it's usually impossible to take advantage of the service on a Halloween or New Year's Eve, let alone on a day when the city is expecting upwards of 2 million visitors and almost half the city will be closed to vehicular traffic. It's going to be hard enough to find a regular taxi on January 20; we can't imagine anyone was expecting a free ride that day.

Thanks to the new meters, many of the complaints about cabs in D.C. have been erased: at least there's no debate about the fare. However, that doesn't mean it's all hunky-dory. The other day, I was taking a cab from Columbia Heights to downtown, and the cab was a disaster area.

On the list of nightmarish experiences city-dwelling women dread, this one is right near the top. WJLA reported last night that a Capitol Hill woman says she was sexually assaulted by a cab driver who was taking her home. Dawn Young said she hailed a normal looking cab at 8th and G SE on Saturday night, because she thought it would be safer than making the short walk home alone. The cab driver asked her to sit in the front seat, and then proceeded to pull into an alley and park next to a wall to prevent her from escaping. He locked the doors and then proceeded to sexually assault her. Thankfully, Young got away. The WJLA report doesn't say anything about whether she was able to provide a description of her attacker. Here's hoping this cab driver is caught without delay.