Tuesday, November 6, 2007

TAXICAB FARES

D.C. Council member Jim Graham (D-Ward 1) will hold a public round-table discussion Thursday on Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's proposed fare rates and regulations for taxicab meters.

On Oct. 17, Fenty (D) announced his plan to switch the city's 6,000 cabs from the decades-old zone system to meters. Last week, he announced a proposed drop rate of $4 for the new system, the amount that registers as soon as a passenger gets into a cab. After that, the passenger would be charged 25 cents for every one-sixth of a mile, after the first sixth-of-a-mile traveled.

The proposed rate is higher than the rate in most U.S. cities. New York, for example, has a drop rate of $2.50.

The hearing will be held at 2 p.m. in the council chambers at the John A. Wilson Building, 1350 Pennsylvania Ave. NW.

-- Sue Anne Pressley Montes

U.S. Park Police yesterday found a stolen cruiser they realized was missing Sunday morning after someone apparently impersonating an officer transmitted an unfamiliar broadcast over the agency's radio system, authorities said.

Police found the 1998 Ford Crown Victoria, which had been in an auto shop for repairs, in good condition in Brentwood, Sgt. Robert Lachance said. No further details were immediately available. The incident remains under investigation, he said.

-- Delphine Schrank