Local
Fewer cabs likely on roads during inaugural celebration
By: Leah Fabel
Examiner Staff Writer
January 4, 2009
Those celebrating Barack Obama’s inauguration may find it hard to get a cab as most taxi drivers, citing standstill congestion, closed main streets and impatient passengers, are opting to stay home.
And even among those drivers who intend to brave the crowds, almost all are planning to avoid the daytime and downtown, hoping to take advantage of the evening partygoers in farther-out neighborhoods.
“This taxi will not be in the city,” said Robert Studevent, 86 years old and a 63-year veteran of the taxi trade. “You must think I’m really stupid.”
Even if the meter is running in deadlocked traffic, Studevent said, there won’t be enough getting from here to there to make money.
“The driver will get cursed out and the passengers will leave the cab sitting in the middle of traffic, and I wouldn’t blame them,” he said.
Like most cab drivers in the District, Studevent does not work with a dispatcher service, and would have no way of knowing which streets are busiest or unexpectedly shut down for the passage of a VIP. The big dispatch services, Taxi Transportation and Yellow Cab, work with fewer than 1,000 of the approximately 7,500 taxi cabs in the city.
“We’ll have our drivers out there, but we’ll be reporting back and forth so they can say, ‘I can only get you this street, or as far as that building,’ ” said Reginald Luckett, a driver and dispatch supervisor for Taxi Transportation. He added that extra operators will be on duty to handle the heavy passenger flow.
Though final street closings have not been announced, drivers know Pennsylvania Avenue will be closed, and are expecting 14th, 15th and H streets to be added to that list, at least for portions of the week. There has been talk among officials, too, of the temporary closing of bridges from D.C. into Virginia.
For the few drivers left on the packed streets, one perk could be the possibility of extra tips.
“They’re here for Obama, so all I’ll do is talk to them about Obama!” said Mesfin Mtg, a cabbie for 16 years.
But drivers such as Isaac Gidey and Kidane Gebretensa, parked outside of the Holiday Inn at 15th Street Northwest and Rhode Island Avenue, are less sure.
“We like to make money,” Gidey said.
“But that’s not the day to do it,” his friend added.
VIP transit business booked solid
Average folks may have trouble hailing a cab during the inaugural festivities, but don’t expect the Hollywood elite or high-powered politicians to do much walking.
“We’re booked,” said Raheel Kausar, managing director of Fairfax-based Luxury Sedan Service, a chauffeur rental for the stars. “Ten cars, four SUVs and two to three vans” will serve about 100 VIPs.
Hundreds more limousines and the like will be driving in from outside of the District, Kausar said, having already been contracted through out-of-state agents and company travel firms.
Kausar’s drivers have been through extensive background checks, and could need more clearance depending on the security level of their passengers, but his biggest concern is the unknowns.
“It could be something last-minute — they’ll suddenly not allow a 14-passenger van into the city, or some other security restriction we don’t know yet,” he said.
And if that’s the case, stars could be sighted trekking down Pennsylvania Avenue with everyone else.
And even among those drivers who intend to brave the crowds, almost all are planning to avoid the daytime and downtown, hoping to take advantage of the evening partygoers in farther-out neighborhoods.
“This taxi will not be in the city,” said Robert Studevent, 86 years old and a 63-year veteran of the taxi trade. “You must think I’m really stupid.”
Even if the meter is running in deadlocked traffic, Studevent said, there won’t be enough getting from here to there to make money.
“The driver will get cursed out and the passengers will leave the cab sitting in the middle of traffic, and I wouldn’t blame them,” he said.
Like most cab drivers in the District, Studevent does not work with a dispatcher service, and would have no way of knowing which streets are busiest or unexpectedly shut down for the passage of a VIP. The big dispatch services, Taxi Transportation and Yellow Cab, work with fewer than 1,000 of the approximately 7,500 taxi cabs in the city.
“We’ll have our drivers out there, but we’ll be reporting back and forth so they can say, ‘I can only get you this street, or as far as that building,’ ” said Reginald Luckett, a driver and dispatch supervisor for Taxi Transportation. He added that extra operators will be on duty to handle the heavy passenger flow.
Though final street closings have not been announced, drivers know Pennsylvania Avenue will be closed, and are expecting 14th, 15th and H streets to be added to that list, at least for portions of the week. There has been talk among officials, too, of the temporary closing of bridges from D.C. into Virginia.
For the few drivers left on the packed streets, one perk could be the possibility of extra tips.
“They’re here for Obama, so all I’ll do is talk to them about Obama!” said Mesfin Mtg, a cabbie for 16 years.
But drivers such as Isaac Gidey and Kidane Gebretensa, parked outside of the Holiday Inn at 15th Street Northwest and Rhode Island Avenue, are less sure.
“We like to make money,” Gidey said.
“But that’s not the day to do it,” his friend added.
VIP transit business booked solid
Average folks may have trouble hailing a cab during the inaugural festivities, but don’t expect the Hollywood elite or high-powered politicians to do much walking.
“We’re booked,” said Raheel Kausar, managing director of Fairfax-based Luxury Sedan Service, a chauffeur rental for the stars. “Ten cars, four SUVs and two to three vans” will serve about 100 VIPs.
Hundreds more limousines and the like will be driving in from outside of the District, Kausar said, having already been contracted through out-of-state agents and company travel firms.
Kausar’s drivers have been through extensive background checks, and could need more clearance depending on the security level of their passengers, but his biggest concern is the unknowns.
“It could be something last-minute — they’ll suddenly not allow a 14-passenger van into the city, or some other security restriction we don’t know yet,” he said.
And if that’s the case, stars could be sighted trekking down Pennsylvania Avenue with everyone else.
