No really, I am not exaggerating. DCist wrote about this yesterday and I got this far in their post
“Passengers want meters installed in D.C. taxis and they’re telling us they want the meters to be based on the existing zone system,†said Solomon Tesfaye with the Coalition in a statement.
Before subjecting poor Tom Bridge to my stream-of-consciousness in instant messenger that amounted up to “lies lying liar LIAR LIAR you pinnochio motherfucker do you TYPE with that long nose NOBODY wants zones NOBODY NOBODY NOBODY except you cabbies and the thirteen zone ninjas who love that crap.”
Once I settled down to my normal level of froth I actually checked out the petition which manages to be even more retarded and full of lies.
We do not support the time and distance meters since fares are totally unpredictable
I don’t know how much more predictable than X DOLLARS PER MILE computed by an odometer reading can be.
are more susceptible to over-charging riders
I had to pause for laughter here. Proponents of the zone-make-it-up-when-you-get-there system are concerned about over-charging riders? Not to mention, the certified box that reads off on odometer is going to be prone to over-charge… how? Odometers are accurate within about 1% of their reading, so to potentially get hit with an extra $0.25 for another 1/6th of a mile you’d have to get your cabbie to take you 60 miles.
Or we could compare the likelyhood of a cabbie taking a roundabout way and being undetected to the chances of a cabbie quoting the wrong zone fare to a patron. I know which one I’ll place my bet on being more commonplace.
and will likely unfairly victimize riders in the poorest outskirt neighborhoods, through higher prices and less taxi availability.
Somehow magically, putting a meter in a cab is going to make it less likely to hang out in poor neighborhoods. Because we all know how easy it currently is to find a cab in some of the less desirable neighborhoods now, right?
Why is anyone listening to these clowns anymore?
This post appeared in its original form at DC Metblogs
Well I used to say something in my profile about not quite being a “tinker, tailor, soldier, or spy” but Tom stole that for our about us page, so I guess I’ll have to find another way to express that I am a man of many interests.
Hmm, guess I just did.
My tastes run the gamut from sophomoric to Shakespeare and in my “professional” life I’ve sold things, served beer, written software, and carried heavy objects… sometimes at the same place. It’s that range of loves and activities that makes it so easy for me to love DC – we’ve got it all.
