Perhaps Mayor Adrian Fenty has already made up his mind on the great zone vs. meter debate, and he’s just waiting until tomorrow to announce his decision for dramatic effect. But we think the odds are pretty good that he’s still mulling it over as we type.

Wednesday, October 17 is the deadline imposed by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), who inserted the provision in legislation last fall that forces Fenty to either switch to time and distance meters, or marry himself to the zone system.

There’s been a lot of speculation over the last several days that Fenty is leaning toward the hybrid, GPS-enabled zone meters, which would keep the zone system intact but give customers clarity on their fares by displaying them at the end of the trip. The zone meters seem like a pretty good compromise between those who worry residents in Wards 7 and 8 will no longer be able to afford to take long trips into the center of the city to do shopping under a meter system, and those who are sick of arguing with cab drivers over wildly differing fares. Of course, the hybrid meters wouldn’t necessarily prevent a cab driver from unnecessarily crossing Florida Ave. in order to charge that extra zone, and theoretically, it would be even tougher to argue with a driver who had done that, since the fare would be displayed on the zone meter.

The cab drivers made their voices heard in a rally outside the Wilson Building last week. If you have strong feelings about the meter vs. zone issue, consider this comment thread to be your last chance to make your voice heard on the matter before the Mayor hands down his decision tomorrow. We promise to forward the resulting thread to the Mayor’s office at the end of the day.

Photo of a cab stuck in a sinkhole from over the summer by randomduck