This morning a large group of taxicab drivers caravaned slowly down 16th St. NW and circled around Freedom Plaza, honking their horns and creating a large traffic jam all around the downtown area. NBC4 reports that police closed Pennsylvania Avenue for a brief time, but that the closure may not have been related to the taxi protest – a motorcade was spotted in the area.

The Post has a brief story up now as well. It quotes organizers from a group called the Coalition of Cab Drivers, Companies and Associations of Washington, D.C. as saying they chose not to alert the public of their plan ahead of time because they feel the media is not giving them favorable coverage in their fight against Mayor Fenty’s decision to switch all D.C. cabs to time and distance meters.

“This is not about jobs and money,” he said. “It’s all about the service, how it’s going to be impacted when we go to meters. Nobody’s listening to this story.”

Price said that in other large U.S. cities, where there are far fewer taxis working for a few large companies, taxi service does not extend to neighborhoods, as it does in the District. He and other coalition leaders say that moving to meters will eliminate the independent-business aspect of D.C.’s cab service and will run many current drivers out of business.

The story says the strike began at 6 a.m. this morning and is planned to last 24 hours, until 6 a.m. tomorrow. But DCist just took a walk from Thomas Circle down to Freedom Plaza, and we spotted dozens of working D.C. cabs with fares inside their vehicles on the way. So while the striking drivers certainly created a lot of noise and traffic problems this morning, by no means are all taxis observing this 24-hour strike. Still, you’ll want to factor in the strike to your Valentine’s evening plans. Taxis may be hard to find tonight.

Photo by Oblivious Dude