How Will Meters Affect Your Ride?
Wondering just what it might cost you to ride in a DC cab after April 6? Check out the Washington Post's
Taxi Fare Estimator. According to the TFE, if I wanted a cab from work to my apartment, it would be about $1.25 more under the meter than zone. But if I took one from work to one of our main clients (which is my most common route), the zone fare would be $2.00 cheaper!
Now I would assume it would be more expensive for the long ride (capital hill area to upper NW), but to be $2 more expensive from capital hill area to downtown K Street?
According to the Estimator, I lose and drivers win both times.
So why do drivers hate the meters again?
New Poll - Meters in DC
April 6 is the date the mayor picked for meters in DC cabs. I've added a poll for input on the meters from passengers and drivers. Multiple answers are permitted in this poll.
Base rate to be $3, then 25 cents for each 1/6 of a mile, as well as 25 cents for each minute the cab is either stopped in traffic or moving slower than 10mph. Some drivers are talking strike again (they did one back over Halloween when the proposal was being chatted about). This time it'll be in early February.
William J. Wright, president of the Taxicab Industry Group, which organized the Halloween strike said drivers will be encouraged to strike one day a week, from 7 a.m. to 7 p.m. beginning Monday, Feb. 4 to protest the change. The strike will rotate through the days of the week -- the next week drivers will strike on a Tuesday, then a Wednesday, and so on -- until at least the start of baseball season, Wright said. The goal, he said, is to get the city to change its plan.
There are about 6,000 cabs in DC, and the drivers will all need to buy their own meters. It will be an interesting few months.
Last Poll
I asked what cabbies should be able to charge extra for - and the results were:
Waiting for passenger - 24
Snow - 12
More than 1 passenger - 11
Rush hour - 10
Ice - 8
Using the trunk - 7
Under the new meter rules, drivers won't be able to charge more for more passengers.
New Meters for DC - What They'll be Charging
- $3 base rate, including first 1/6 -mile.
- 25 cents for each additional 1/6 -mile.
- 25 cents for each minute stopped or traveling at less than 10 mph.
- No additional passenger surcharge.
- No rush-hour surcharge.
- Other surcharges remain (50 cents per bag after first piece, $2 for radio dispatch, $1 for high fuel prices, etc.).
- 25 percent surcharge during snow emergencies.
- Maximum fare of $18.90 plus applicable surcharges for trips starting and ending in the District.
Sitting and Waiting - Forever?
This just makes no sense to me. I had lunch today at Union Station (local train station). On the way out I noticed a huge line of cabs going up to the parking area. There were at least 20 that I could count. Now the line they're in goes to another part of the station, which means there were cabs lined up one after the other for the two blocks of the parking lot, plus the block on the other side, and half block waiting for riders.
I watched for 10 minutes and the line didn't move an inch.
Who sits and waits like that?
