We’re now two-thirds of the way through the month of May, with only 11 days left until the date by which Mayor Adrian Fenty has promised to begin fining D.C. taxicab drivers $1000 every time they are caught picking up a fare without a time and distance meter installed in their vehicles. We’ve definitely noticed more and more taxis with meters installed over the last week, many with those helpful “D.C. Certified Meter Taxicab” stickers in their windows (although, often while still displaying zone fare maps inside the cab).

But it comes as no real surprise that NBC4 is reporting that Yellow Cab, the District’s largest independent taxi company, has written a letter to the city indicating that only half of their fleet will be outfitted with meters by June 1. Apparently, only 150 of their order of 300 meters will be delivered to them by the manufacturer by then.

The last time we posted a frustrated screed about the delays of the implementation of the meter system, we got a lot of blowblack in the comments about an unwillingness to be patient and wait for June 1, as opposed to expecting D.C. cab drivers to comply with the May 1 law. Fair enough. But now we’re curious — if there are still potentially hundreds of cabs on D.C. streets after June 1 trying to operate without a meter, will you still espouse patience? Mayor Fenty, for his part, is holding firm to the June 1 deadline and appears to be unwilling to bend to Yellow Cab’s pleas for more time.

Photo by chip_py the photo guy