Photo by philliefan99
Just 40 minutes after the D.C. Taxicab Commission authorizing cabbies to apply a $1 surcharge for every passenger after the first for rides during the Washington Nationals’ upcoming playoff games, the agency rescinded the order following an outpouring of negative reaction, including from Mayor Vince Gray.
The commission had ordered that the surcharge would apply beginning 4 p.m. on game days for all rides across the city, regardless of whether Nationals Park would be a pick-up or drop-off point. But after the DCTC announced the move in a news release, it was only a matter of moments before recipients of the notice began trying to parse it over Twitter. The reaction was not warm.
“The expected crowds attending the Nats’ playoff games will create a significant demand on the DC public vehicle-for-hire industry,” Ron Linton, the DCTC’s chairman, said in the release.
But as people wondered why even rides unrelated to Nationals games would be affected, Linton got word from Gray telling him to reverse course.
“The mayor made it known to Chairman Linton that he thought the surcharge was ill-advised,” Gray spokesman Pedro Ribeiro wrote in an email.
And though the surcharge died a quick death, the taxi commission did announce several other guidelines for livery operations during the baseball postseason:
1. Drop-offs are allowed on both sides of Van Street SE on the south side of M Street SE; no taxicabs are allowed to stop on South Capitol Street.
2. Pick-ups are restricted to designated taxi stands manned by starters. The line will form on the north side of the unit block of M Street, SE extending east; no taxicabs are allowed to pick-up on the south side of M Street, SE, Half Street, SE or Potomac Avenue, SE.
3. Limousines will drop-off at the Stadium Entrance on Potomac Avenue, SE between Half Street, SE and South Capitol Street. Limousines will be required to wait either west of South Capitol Street or north of M Street, SE in legally-designated parking areas; no cruising will be allowed.
Though D.C.’s taxi fleet will certainly be stretched during the Nationals’ playoff run, it will charge its normal rates. Customers of the on-demand sedan service Uber, however, might encounter higher rates than usual as the company expects nightly sellout crowds to increase the demand on its network of luxury town cars.
Rachel Holt, the general manager of Uber’s D.C. office, said the potential “surge pricing” would draw more sedan drivers toward Nationals Park when cars-for-hire are at a premium. “Surge only kicks in when total system utilization is above a very high threshold, and while i can’t say we will get there for sure, I do think its likely immediately following the games,” she said.
