District taxis are likely to start charging higher rates as early as April 21.
Cabs are set to charge $2.16 per mile instead of the current $1.50, but for a few weeks riders won’t know if they’re getting into a cab charging the new rate or the old rate.
DC Taxicab Commission Chairman Ron Linton said the new rates are likely to win commission approval next week following months of wrangling among cab drivers, hotel and restaurant advocates, and the commission.
“Barring some bureaucratic stumble, we should see it go into effect on [April 21],” Linton said. “There’s nothing to indicate that it won’t be.”
Even if the new rates kick in on time, it’s likely to take until May for all of the District’s cabs to start charging the higher fees. It will take that long for all of the cabs to have their meters recalibrated, Linton said. In the meantime, passengers flagging down cabs won’t be able to tell which cabs have the new rates and which don’t.
The new rules raise the per-mile cost but eliminate some additional fees, such as the $1 fuel surcharge. Other charges, like the 50 cents for each bag placed in a cab trunk, will remain.
Cab drivers who pressed for the increase said the hike wasn’t enough, particularly with gas prices still on the rise.
“It would be a nice interim fare increase, but any fare increase we certainly need,” said Larry Frankel, chairman of the Dominion of Cab Drivers. “If gas prices go up to $5 per gallon, then the fare increase would not be appropriate whatsoever.”
But citizen groups and hotel and restaurant representatives argued this year that cabs should not be able to charge higher fares until they’ve undergone the sweeping reforms promised by Mayor Vincent Gray’s administration.
The reform bill, currently moving through the D.C. Council, would require all cabs to take credit cards, use GPS guidance and have panic buttons for passengers who feel endangered. But it could be until December before the bill is signed into law, officials said.
