Another Zone Convert
I was a big fan of switching over to a metered system for D.C. cabs until recently, when I read about the effect meters would have on fares for Washington residents east of the river. I may grumble over paying $10 to travel a few blocks, but I don’t want my bargain to come in exchange for busting the wallet of a dog-tired swing-shift worker from Southeast. From what I can tell, most cabbies are opposed to any kind of meters because it would make it easier to track their income. Sorry, dudes.
It seemed like a great big depressing impasse until a saint of a cabbie picked me up at 4 a.m. this Sunday morning. First of all, the guy let me in without asking my destination. He also swung back around to scoop up a friend who would have been in for a dismal wait. We all got to talking about the great fare debate and he said the solution is simple: a zone meter. Sure, it won’t cut us poor journalists a break, but it will offer a measure of transparency. Which is really all I want. No more taking advantage of the constant influx of newbies. And the system wouldn’t mess with the affordable rates for D.C.’s working poor.
It wouldn’t, of course, solve the other problem: cabbies passing over anyone other than groups of white kids traveling a few blocks. Our driver did express disgust at the rampant discrimination but reminded us you can do something about it. A recent fare of his had gotten snubbed by a cab, wrote down its number and called the police. The driver had his vehicle towed. I was really surprised it was as easy as that. So get your pencils out next time you’re hailing a taxi.
14 Responses to “Another Zone Convert”
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August 20th, 2007 at 1:40 pm
[...] Another Zone ConvertWashington City Paper, DC - 8 minutesI may grumble over paying $10 to travel a few blocks, but I don?t want my bargain to come in exchange for busting the wallet of a dog-tired swing-shift … [...]
August 20th, 2007 at 1:47 pm
Meters? Why complain. Most women have them next to their beds.
August 20th, 2007 at 1:52 pm
I am curious as to the rationale behind the idea that we should endorse a fundamentally broken system for calculating cab fares, simply because (you believe) it subsidizes the working class. And it also makes a pretty broad generalization - that the working class all live in Anacostia. What about all the ones that live elsewhere? Apparently their cab ride isn’t as important.
Bottom line is call a tax a tax - and using a messed up fare system as a way to pay for what amounts to a social program (subsidized cab rides for the poor who live in Anacostia) is twisted. I don’t think it was intended for this purpose, and by the same token I think this is a bad reason to keep the system.
August 20th, 2007 at 2:00 pm
We should go to meters. Period.
There’s no reason why a five minute cab ride should cost $10.
August 20th, 2007 at 2:57 pm
I don’t understand how a zone meter would work. What would it do - make a loud “cha ching!” noise each time we crossed in and out and back in to a new zone?
August 20th, 2007 at 3:09 pm
GPS.
August 20th, 2007 at 3:59 pm
Meters, and more cabs on the street.
August 20th, 2007 at 4:16 pm
Taxis are expensive for routine use to and from work. I’ll take them in an extraordinary circumstance- if late to something important or if work pays- but, other than that, it’s a costly self-indulgence.
August 20th, 2007 at 4:40 pm
Trips of equal distance via cab should cost approximately the same, which is not the case under the current zone system. For instance, it costs me $14, including tip and surcharges, to go from Fox and Hounds to my house in McLean Gardens. But if I were traveling a longer distance to, say, Capitol Hill, it would cost less. That’s absurd.
August 21st, 2007 at 10:28 am
Zones or meters? That’s simple. On shorter trips one is better off on a motoroller, a moped, a bicycle, one’s feet or, in Angela’s particular case, probably a tricycle. For longer trips around town, the way to go is taxi. The zone system, therefore, makes greater sense.
“Easier to track their income” argument is utter foolishness. Whatever for?? Tax the rich, not the poor. Being a cabbie is grueling, stressful and perilous as it is.
Now, discrimination. That’s a big one. It’s quite convenient to disapprove of discrimination and bubble with indignation every time a cab “snubs” a bunch of hoodlums or someone appearing to be up to no good otherwise. If you are not a driver, that is. Mark that ‘not’, Angela. You have nothing to loose. Cabbie has.
And, btw, snitching in general and on taxi driver in particular is remarkably uncool.
August 22nd, 2007 at 12:22 am
Taxi discrimination? Can we talk about something more important? Like saving me 3 bucks on a cab ride?
August 22nd, 2007 at 12:18 pm
Filing a complaint with the taxicab commission over discrimination doesn’t necessarily mean anything will happen. I filed a complaint after a driver refused to take a friend, a black woman, from Mt. Pleasant Street to the Woodner Apartments one night — he had stopped because he saw me and my girlfriend, both white, and then when we told him our friend was the fare, he drove off.
I wrote down his plate number, cab company and cab number, but the commission replied to my complaint saying the driver told them he wasn’t working that night, and therefore they were dropping it.
August 23rd, 2007 at 11:50 pm
Matt 9: Why should cab trips of equal distance have approximately equal price? Two omelets, both prepared with four large eggs, need not cost the same. That is, if one omelet also contains one cup onion, one cup peppers, half a cup of ham, and eight slices of bacon, chopped — and is seasoned to taste. My point, Matt 9, is that you have chosen an arbitrary characteristic of the ride on which to base the price. Perhaps the end-points of the journey dictate the value as much as the distance.
November 13th, 2007 at 1:39 pm
Zones give riders the most protection from poor route choice, unexpected road construction, long lights and from not being sure how much a ride will cost. A zone system is the best way to give taxi drivers the incentive to take the fastest way between two points. However, until GPS technology became available and cost effective, the time and distance metering was all that was possible for meter systems. We in DC have the opportunity to leapfrog past other cities to have the best designed meter system. Lets not get trapped into using an old system of time/distance that creates uncertainty and makes poor taxi route choices more profitable.
Also, making the zone map more readable (e.g. North/South should be up/down, not on an angle and show more street, not just the border streets). In addition using the Zone map will allow people to have a Google map system that shows the cost of any ride in DC–what city will be able to match that!.
Daniel