Mayor Vincent Gray wants to overhaul the District’s outdated taxi service and he wants the passengers to pay for it with a proposed fare surcharge, even as some city council members question whether the troubled D.C. Taxicab Commission could even handle the changes. Gray plans to ask the D.C. Council to establish a fund that will derive its revenue from a surcharge on each taxi trip, according to Ron Linton, the mayor’s nominee for chairman of the Taxicab Commission. The surcharge amount has not been determined, but Linton estimates the charge would save the city’s general fund up to $2 million per year.
At his confirmation hearing Tuesday, Linton outlined an eight-point plan he said had been approved by the mayor to improve the city’s cabs, including:
