Wednesday, August 13, 2008

Dear D.C. Cabbies (again)

As you may or may not recall, I think the taxi system in Washington, D.C. is a complete and total disaster. And one cog in this clusterfuck machine is, of course, the cab drivers themselves. I feel like they (the cabbies) don't understand exactly how the meters (or the meter system) works, and therefore they make it run a lot worse.

Example #1: Stopping at every light that looks like it might turn yellow sort of soon. Maybe. One plus of the zone system was that when you got in a cab, you got to your destination fast. Because they understood that more fares = more money. For some reason, with the time and distance meters cab drivers think the paradigm has changed. It hasn't.

Every time a cab driver picks up a fare, that's $4.00. The flag drop costs $3.00, and the gas surcharge is another $1. When you stop at the light, its 25 cents a minute. Using logic, one might think that the goal is to get to your destination as quick as possible to get another easy $4.00. Cab driver logic dictates otherwise.

Example #2: Inching forward at that red light you just stopped at. As far as I can remember, this never happened under the zone system. I don't really know why it happens now. For one, it wears out the brakes faster, and the transmission for that matter. For another, being a passenger, it's really annoying and provides a disincentive to tip well.

The only cab driver logic I can think of to justify this is that if the wheels are rolling, then it's increased distance on the meter. Here's the thing: it's not. The meter only calculates distance when the car is going 10 m.p.h or faster (hence why NYC cabbies drive so fast) so it's really not doing anything. Except annoying the shit out of me.

So in summation, cab drivers, please stop sucking so bad, because in the end you're only hurting yourselves.

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