The September 1 deadline for all D.C. taxicabs to have credit card systems installed is rapidly approaching, and it looks like most of them won’t meet it.

The original deadline by which all 7,300 of the District’s taxicabs are required to offer credit card payments is exactly a month away. But many cabs just got a one-month break.

In this town, there are some things of which you just need visual proof, no matter how many times government agencies say such things are in progress.

The D.C. Taxicab Commission says that every last one of the city’s 7,300 cabs will definitely, officially, and totally for real start accepting credit card payments this summer.

D.C.’s taxicab fleet is still on track to be ready to accept credit card payments by September, Ron Linton, the chairman of the D.C. Taxicab Commission, said last Friday.

A D.C. official wants the city to allow residents to opt out of the installation of Pepco’s controversial new smart meters.

D.C. officials have been promising credit card payment options in taxicabs for months. But by summer it might actually happen.

D.C. taxicabs will have to offer credit card payment options by March 31. The choice of technology will be theirs, though.

A panel of D.C. judges overturned a $35 million contract that would bring smart meters to the city’s 6,500 cabs, meaning that paying with a credit card might still be a few months off.

A judge halted the installation of smart meters in D.C. taxicabs yesterday, possibly delaying a full roll-out of meters that accept credit cards and have GPS tracking and TV.