FOX 5’s Matt Ackland had the smart idea to ask D.C. Taxicab Commission Chairman Leon Swain whether falling gas prices will mean an end to the $1 gas surcharge we’ve all been paying for such a long time now.

The last time we wrote about the commission reinstating the gas surcharge was in May of this year, but Swain actually approved the most recent surcharge renewal on Sept. 29, extending it through January 31, 2009. This is by no means the first time the commission has quietly renewed the gas surcharge without doing a great job of letting residents know about it. They did the same thing when they first put this “emergency” surcharge in place in November of 2007, and then again in February of 2008.

Swain told FOX 5 that he still wants to wait and see what happens to gas prices, but that he could theoretically reconvene the Taxicab Commission to vote to remove the gas surcharge as early as next week. A couple of cab drivers interviewed for the story predictably argued that they still need the gas surcharge.

When the $1 gas surcharge we’re paying right now first began in late 2007 (there was a previous incarnation in 2005), average gas prices were around $3.13 per gallon. Average prices in the city today stand at $2.68, down significantly from prices over the summer that were well over $4. Barring a major refinery disaster, prices are expected to continue to drop over the next month.