Photo by Samer Farha

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.

The Taxicab Commission is expected to approve the rate increases at its meeting next week, effectively implementing a proposal that has angered drivers and riders alike:

“Barring some bureaucratic stumble, we should see it go into effect on [April 21],” Linton said. “There’s nothing to indicate that it won’t be.”

Even if the new rates kick in on time, it’s likely to take until May for all of the District’s cabs to start charging the higher fees. It will take that long for all of the cabs to have their meters recalibrated, Linton said. In the meantime, passengers flagging down cabs won’t be able to tell which cabs have the new rates and which don’t.

The fare increase proposal was initially introduced by the commission in December. Drivers claim they’ll lose money because a number of surcharges will be scrapped, while riders complain that they’ll simply be paying more for the same bad service they’ve had to endure for years. The Taxicab Commission has promised to move ahead with an ambitious modernization program that will include credit card readers, GPS tracking and a uniform cab color; Councilmember Mary Cheh (D-Ward 3) has similarly introduced legislation that would bring these features to the city’s 8,500 cabs. (More recently, the commission ordered all cabs to install panic buttons for riders by December.)

Under a proposed 2013 budget submitted recently by Mayor Vince Gray, riders would also pay a 50-cent surcharge on every ride to fund the operations of the commission.

In related news, yesterday the Post had a fascinating article on Leon Swain, the city’s taxicab commissioner under Mayor Adrian Fenty who worked with federal officials to crack down on corruption in the industry. It’s a must-read, especially given how trying the undercover work seems to have been on Swain.