Debate Over D.C. Cab Fares Revs Up

Analysis Awaited On Zones, Meters

Supporters of the D.C. zone-fare system say fares could rise with the installation of meters, which would keep running while a cab is idling in traffic. (By Lois Raimondo -- The Washington Post)

It was 1956, and President Dwight D. Eisenhower was gearing up for a second term. Movie star Grace Kelly married Prince Rainier III of Monaco. And D.C. cabdriver William J. Wright testified before Congress about the reasons the District's zone-fare system was preferable to the meters used in cabs in every other major American city.

Fifty years later, Wright is preparing to defend the status quo again as the District's taxicab debate resumes: Should the city keep the confusing but time-honored zones or switch to meters and a future that some say could bring big changes to the local taxicab industry?

Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) favors the switch to meters, and he and his staff are awaiting the results of the District's first comparative study of meters and zones. During the eight-month project, which was completed this month, about two dozen D.C. cabs were outfitted with test meters, and fares were calculated for each trip using both methods.

"We needed real-time data, hard data," said D.C. Taxicab Commission Chairman Causton A. Toney, who expects an analysis of the information in about a month. "It was clear that before any move could be made to change the system, it was important to be able to tell both drivers and the riding public what the impact would be."

A series of public hearings on the issue will begin this summer.

But the opposition already is primed for battle. Wright, now 83, is saying the same things he said in 1956 and periodically over the years when officials attempted to change to meters: Cabdrivers will not stand for it.

"We're going to fight it again," said Wright, who heads a drivers organization called the Taxicab Industry Group. "The zone system is a good system, and I'll tell you why: People in Washington, D.C., they know what the fare is because the zones don't change -- I don't care how much traffic you're in."

Taxis and their often confounding fares are an enduring -- if not always endearing -- feature of the nation's capital. Since 1933, when Congress banned meters in D.C. cabs, drivers have used the zones, concentric circles emanating from the downtown area, to determine fares. This can lead to some cockeyed prices: It is possible to travel from the eastern edge of Georgetown, 22nd Street NW, to the U.S. Capitol for the single-zone flat rate of $6.50, but a shorter trip that happens to cross a couple of zones can jump into double digits.

Visitors to the city find the zones either quirky or outrageous.

"It's one of the nicest things about D.C., a flat rate," Kevin Blackburn of Oakland, Calif., a banker who makes monthly trips to Washington, said as he stood in a taxi queue at a downtown hotel. "If they went with the meters, I would have to adjust, but it's certainly an easy way for somebody traveling around town. Most trips are between $7 and $9 with tips."

But John Alexander, a first-time D.C. visitor from Laguna Beach, Calif., who was in town for a Chorus America national conference, quickly soured on the zones. Like many residents who oppose the system, he suspects there is plenty of room for a driver to cheat.

"Last night, I had to go to a dinner, and the cab that brought me back charged me twice as much as the cab that took me there," he said as he waited for another taxi outside his downtown hotel. Well, maybe not quite twice as much, he amended, but $12 vs. $19.50.