Poll Center: Fenty's Taxi Meter Decision

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SO WILL THERE BE A D.C. TAXI STRIKE? Maybe.

On Wednesday, D.C. Mayor Adrian Fenty decided to scrap the District's decades-old zone-based taxicab fare calculating system in favor of time-and-distance meters, which are common in most large cities.

Some D.C. cab drivers say their livelihood is threatened and vow to strike in two weeks in an attempt to push for Fenty's decision to be reversed, as The Post's Sue Anne Pressley Montes and Yolanda Woodlee report.

William Wright of the Taxicab Industry Group tells The Post that the drivers' fight is not over: "We're going to find a way to get this overturned. If we have to go to every single member of the Senate and the House, we're going to do that."

But as this writer reported on Wednesday, some cabbies want meters, saying that the zone system is prone to corruption at the hands of deceitful drivers who can dictate fares and squeeze a couple extra bucks out of passengers unfamiliar with zone quirks. Although a recent Zogby survey showed that the vast majority of D.C. cab riders want reform, there is some unease with time-and-distance meters, which drivers can manipulate by taking roundabout or particularly traffic-laden routes to increase fares.

What do you think? For today's Poll Center question, we ask: Will you be more likely to take a cab in D.C. once the zone system is phased out? Go vote (and comment) here and see how your fellow commuters weighed in, station by station, line by line.

» "D.C. Cabs Told to Switch From Zone Fares to Meters" [WaPo]
» "Around D.C., Mixed Reactions to Meter Decision" [Free Ride/Express]

Photo of the Union Station taxi queue by Michael Williamson/The Washington Post