Meter Time

Will a loss in court end cabbies' roadblocks to a better way of calculating fares?

THE CLOCK is ticking -- or should we say the meter's running? -- on the District's cabdrivers. They have until May 1 to install fare meters in their taxis. Anyone tempted to think that's not enough time should keep in mind that this interminable debate of zones vs. meters has been dragging on for 70 years now. Enough, already!

Indeed, that's the message to be gleaned from this week's D.C. Superior Court opinion affirming Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's authority to require the use of time-and-distance meters in all city cabs. Judge Brook Hedge recounted the decades of controversy as he ruled against the drivers seeking to keep the outmoded -- and decidedly not consumer-friendly -- system of zone pricing. The lawsuit was just the latest gambit of drivers who, over the years, have elevated whining to an art form in their quest to maintain zone fares. No doubt the coming days will see more legal stratagems, protests and strikes.

They've met their match, though, in the current mayor. Mr. Fenty has not let himself be bullied into placing the vested interests of some drivers over the larger public interest. That's not to suggest he's been hasty or unreasonable. Mr. Fenty, as Judge Hedge noted in his opinion, did his homework and listened to the arguments before opting for metered cabs. Even now -- having scored a victory in court -- Mr. Fenty is being fair and considerate in how the switch will be implemented. Drivers still face the May 1 deadline but violators will receive just a warning, and not a fine, through May 31. Drivers have known since the fall that this change was coming. It's time they accept reality -- and obey the law.