How can you tell if that D.C. taxicab is charging new, higher rates? Look for a red sticker.
Seeing Red: Is That D.C. Taxicab Charging New Rates?
Taxicab Fare Increase Could Take Effect This Month
An increase in taxicab fares that would see riders pay $2.16 per mile instead of the current rate of $1.50 per mile could take effect as soon as the end of this month, reports the Examiner.
Uber CEO Says Company Is Playing By the Rules
Uber's CEO responds to D.C. Taxicab Commission Chairman Ron Linton's charges that the luxury sedan-hailing app is operating illegally in Washington.
Cheh Schedules Hearing on Taxi Reform Bill
Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) will hold a hearing January 30 on a bill that would overhaul the way the city's taxicabs operate.
Did Uber Overdo It on New Year's Eve?
The luxury cab service Uber raised its rates significantly on New Year's, much to the frustration of some customers who did not expect the company's "surge pricing."
Cheh Opens Taxi Questions to the Masses
If the District's taxicabs are to be all the same color, what color should they be? Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) wants to hear from you.
Taxicab Overhaul That Has Drivers Mad Is Introduced to D.C. Council
Ward 3 Councilwoman Mary Cheh introduced this morning a bill overhauling the city's taxicab regulations that has sparked outrage among the city's cab drivers. At a press conference yesterday, Mayor Vince Gray defended legislation that would significantly alter the way taxis in the District do business.
Need a Fancy Ride? Whip Out Your Smartphone
Just in time for taxi rates to shoot up, D.C. is getting a new livery service of sorts with Uber, a smartphone app that will hail you one of the city's luxury sedans instead of a dingy old cab.
The Sunday Morning Post
Good morning, Washington. There’s quite a bit of gray in the forecast for the next few days -- meteorological and otherwise. Clouds will increase over the District with a chance of showers in the suburbs this afternoon, and this morning Mike Allen reports that the bipartisan deficit supercommittee will declare failure Monday.
D.C. Cab Fares Are Affordable (As Long As You Don't Add In All The Surcharges)
Hey, did you realize that taxicab fares "longer than two miles in Washington are the cheapest fares among 40 major U.S. cities"?
SoberRide To Provide Free Cab Rides This Weekend
Halloween weekend is coming up, and if you're anything like me, you probably still have no earthly idea what to wear for a costume. But at least you won't have to worry about having a pocket free to carry cash for a ride home.
Taxicab Riders, Unite!
As we recently reported, taxicabs in the District may eventually get better, but those improvements may well come at the expense of a surcharge on every fare paid. As that debate moves forward, taxicab drivers will certainly have a say -- but many riders won't. One group seeks to change that.
Cabbie Takes Hours to Drive MetroAccess Customer 20 Miles
We've heard of a Bridge to Nowhere. But a MetroAccess ride to Nowhere? That's a new one.
Those Taxicab Improvements Are Gonna Cost You
Want credit card payment options? Environmentally friendly cabs? A cab driver that can tell you about the city's historic sites? These are all parts of an eight-point improvement plan for the District's taxicabs laid out by Mayor Vince Gray, but they won't be free.
Gray to Appoint Cabbies To Taxi Commission, Lawsuit Still On For Now
During yesterday's mayoral press conference -- and at some point between the questioning of his choice to chair the Board of Elections and Ethics and the media uproar over the decision "filtering" of the D.C. Fire and EMS Twitter feed -- Vince Gray announced that he would appoint four new members to the D.C. Taxicab Commission, including two cab drivers.
Cab Driver Associations Suing Mayor, Taxi Commission Chair
The relationship between the District government and taxicab drivers has always been strained. But now, that relationship will be the subject of a lawsuit.
Open Meetings, Now With Fewer Arrests!
Mayor Vince Gray's office passed along a press release this afternoon announcing that the D.C. Taxicab Commission would be moving its monthly meetings to the Old Council Chambers located in the One Judiciary Square Building at 441 4th Street, NW.
Gray Expected To Name New Taxicab Commission Chair
The Post has it on good authority that Mayor Vince Gray is expected to name Ron Linton, a political consultant with 45 years of experience working with the District and federal governments, as the new permanent chairman of the D.C. Taxicab Commission.
New Pedicab Regs Will Require Riders to Wear Seatbelts
The subject of pedicabs was a hot one this weekend, after a pedicab driver was tased by a U.S. Park Police officer. That incident also sparked a wider discussion regarding the regulation of the vehicles -- today, Mayor Vince Gray announced that the District Department of Transportation would begin doing just that in the very near future.
Ted Loza Sentenced To Eight Months In Prison
Ted Loza, a former aide to D.C. Councilmember Jim Graham who pled guilty to a federal charge of accepting an illegal gratuity in February, was sentenced to eight months in prison this afternoon.
Taxicab Commission Chair Leon Swain Gets The Pink Slip
Mayor Vince Gray has reportedly relieved Leon Swain Jr. of his duties as chairman of the D.C. Taxicab Commission.
Taxicab Fuel Surcharge Takes Effect Today
Planning to hop in a cab inside the District today? Better bring an extra buck -- D.C. cabbies will be tacking on an extra dollar in fuel surcharge to fares beginning today.
The Sunday Morning Post
Good morning, Washington. No, your blurry eyes from last night's drinking are not deceived, there is a small dusting of snow on the ground. It's mostly sticking to rooftops of buildings and cars from my vantage point in the District, but southern and western suburbs have gotten up to an inch or two. Seems like the sun today will melt most of it.
Taxi Commission Has "Begun The Process" Of Repealing Fare Cap
On this day last year, former mayor Adrian Fenty decided that he didn't have to follow the D.C. Council's financial directive to repeal the $19 maximum fare on taxi rides beginning and ending inside the District of Columbia. Fenty cited a legal opinion rendered by then-attorney general Peter Nickles, which stated that Congress "delivered to Fenty dictatorial control of the taxicab industry." The then-mayor upholding the cap on fares inside the city was one way he could flex his muscle -- but now with both Fenty and Nickles out of the way, Mayor Vince Gray appears dead set on reversing the policy and, potentially, nudging the District back towards non-metered cabs.
Ted Loza Plea Hearing Scheduled For Today
Ted Loza, former chief of staff to Ward 1 Councilmember Jim Graham, is reportedly scheduled to appear in court for a plea hearing this afternoon. The hearing will be held at 3 p.m.
SoberRide Saved For July 4th
SoberRide, the program which offers free, dispatched taxi rides to people who have had too much to drink around the holidays, has been saved from a budget crisis just in time for Independence Day. News Channel 8 reports that several donors -- ranging from big corporations like MillerCoors and GEICO to individuals -- chipped in to fill a $31,000 gap in the Washington Regional Alcohol Program's fiscal budget which had threatened the viability of increasingly-popular initiative.
Six Degrees of Tab Dump
Every Sunday afternoon, I usually end up with a bunch of links that either didn't have the juice or specifics to run on their own, or simply don't merit much commentary outside of the facts presented. Often times, these stories melt together into a blur of little factoids that I barely remember come Monday morning. I find this annoying. Here's an attempt to rectify the situation.
This weekend: let's connect Washington Wizards forward Antawn Jamison to an evaluation of taxi cab reform and Mayor Fenty's administration, in six easy, Kevin Bacon-less steps!
Wheelchair Accessible Taxis To Arrive in D.C. Next Month
So says the AP, adding that currently, those in wheelchairs are out of luck when it comes to finding a cab within the confines of the District, taking their chances (and what I'm sure is a sizable hit to their wallets) by calling suburban cab companies who have appropriately-outfitted taxis to come pick them up. By January, a full fleet of 20 Toyota minivans will be deployed by D.C. taxi cab concerns as part of a $1.2 million pilot program. This is great and all; but while it may be a bit naive on the part of yours truly, this news should probably be filed under "just what the hell took so long to implement this?" Of course, this being D.C., we're really going to have to work hard to find some free space in that particular file drawer.
D.C. Police Seek Single Suspect in String of Crimes
D.C. police today released a pair of photos and a composite sketch of a man they believe to be responsible for a bevy of crimes across the city in the last month. Among the crimes police are attributing to this one guy are the robberies and/or car jackings of six different taxi cab drivers in the month of September alone, plus the Sept. 22 armed robbery of the Lowest Price Gas Station in the 2800 block of 12th Street NE.
Taxicab Bribery Case Involved a Death Threat
A creepy new development today in the ongoing federal investigation into allegations of widespread bribery attempts inside the D.C. taxicab industry, courtesy the Post's Del Quentin Wilber: court documents released today detail how one of the 39 men charged in the bribery ring, Yitbarek Syume, allegedly threatened to murder FBI informant Abdulaziz Kamus when his name surfaced in media reports shortly after the investigation became public.
The papers reveal that Yitbarek Syume met with an undercover FBI agent and an informant on the day after the top staffer of a prominent D.C. Council member was arrested on bribery charges. The three men discussed the high-profile arrest and how to avoid detection of their scheme, which funneled more than $300,000 to a D.C. government official, prosecutors wrote in court papers, citing a surreptitious recording of the meeting.The key quote from Syume cited by the Post: promising the two men that Kamus would be "permanently eliminated." Yikes.

