Goodbye taxi zones, Hello meters
May 1, 2008 at 9:34 amDC, Exteriors, Textures, buildings, cars, lights, roads
It’s May 1st, and taxis in the district are now required to have meters installed in them… and so the zone system is no more. I rarely ever use cabs in DC, so I am no authority on the subject, but to me the whole idea of zones seemed both archaic and confusing. Almost all other major cities rely on meters, and now it seems to make sense that DC is among them. If nothing else, I like being able to see the price of my ride on the little screen as it goes up. Much less of a chance of feeling confused by the cab drivers price quote at the end of the ride or arguments over zones, routes taken, and extra charges.
But as with any issue that involves change and money, there has been opposition from both riders and cabbies to either system. The drivers argue that they will be making much less $ with the new meters. The Washington Post even created a taxi fare estimator under the new and old systems, so you can calculate your routes to see if you will save money or have to fork over more. I guess in the next few weeks it will be interesting to see how many taxi cabs are complying with the new law. By June 1st, the city is supposed to start fining those cabs that are non-compliant — $1,000 bucks for no meter.
The main point here is that every taxi that passes will continue to HONK at me and every other pedestrian as they drive by, as if we are all simultaneously unaware of both their presence and our own needs for a taxi at that exact moment. uh- Hello! That’s why people put their hands up if they need to flag you down. One hand up and waving in your direction–I think that’s universal for “I need a taxi.” Walking down the sidewalk and not looking at you–well that’s just called being a live person with legs. The greatest comedian ever Mitch Hedberg said this best: “I think we should only get 3 honks a month on the car horn, because people honk the car horn too much… 3 honks, that’s the limit. And then someone cuts you off, you press your horn, nothing happens. You’re like, “crap, I wish I wouldn’t have seen Ricky on the sidewalk” “
And so the same would go for taxis, only 3 honks a months and the city would be a little quieter.
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May 1st, 2008 at 11:49 am
Zones, does seem pretty strange. Nice picture for the story. I like how the lights snake around.
May 1st, 2008 at 4:05 pm
Excellent post and great pic. I love the “three honks only” concept.
May 4th, 2008 at 10:58 am
Beautiful picture. Makes me want to go out and try some time exposure shots myself.
As for taxis, if they changed them here then it would likely be months until i found out what it was like i so rarely use them and am down to my last $20 after a night out which only gets me half way and a nice long walk though no one honks me when i am doing it!