A vote is set for Tuesday, led by the D.C. mayor’s hand-picked taxi commission chairman, that would nearly double cab fares for an industry that backed Vincent Gray’s mayoral bid and gave free rides to get his supporters to the polls. The proposal in front of the D.C. Taxicab Commission would raise the per-mile rate for cab rides from $1.50 to $2.75. In 2010, the industry lobbied hard for Gray. One cabbie wondered Monday why it took so long for Gray to keep his campaign promise.
“He was supposed to get us the fair increase,” said longtime cab driver Carolyn Robinson, who said she was one of the drivers the Gray campaign called for help during last year’s primary and general elections.
“All we wanted him to do was to follow the law — the D.C. code and Taxicab Commission Establishment Act — [and] he said he would,” Robinson said.
She said Gray met with drivers during his campaign and had pledged to make the taxi commission “look at” fares. The commission is required to review rates every two years, but per-mile rates had not been raised since 2006. Other surcharges, such as one for high gas prices, have since been added.
| Paying for political favors | |
| D.C. Councilman Jim Graham’s former chief of staff pleaded guilty last winter to taking bribes from members of the taxi industry. Ted G. Loza was accused of soliciting $30,000 in cash, trips, limousine rides and meals in exchange for pushing legislation that would benefit the taxi industry in a city that already boasts more cabs per resident than any other major U.S. city. Loza was arrested along with 38 others after a two-year investigation. Graham has denied any wrongdoing. | |
Commission Chairman Ron Linton was nominated by Gray this summer and tasked with rolling out the mayor’s eight-point plan to improve service from the city’s 7,300 cabs. The plan includes a fare hike, credit card machines installed in every cab and new fuel efficiency standards for cabs.
Linton did not immediately return a phone call Monday, but at his confirmation hearing in September he said the rate hike would exclude the elderly and lower-income passengers while providing “drivers and owners with high-enough income to make it worthwhile to provide [a premium] level of service.”
Still, Robinson said she and other veterans are disappointed it has taken nearly a year to address the rates even though Gray removed the $19 cap on city cab rides during his first month in office. The taxi industry sued the commission and Gray this fall to force a fare review.
Gray spokesman Pedro Ribeiro said the mayor is “revisiting the fare schedule to ensure it is fair to both drivers and consumers and in line with fares in other cities.”
But those opposed to the fare hike say it looks questionable.
“Certainly any politician is going to work to reward his supporters once they’re in office,” said Jack Jacobson, spokesman for DC Taxi Watch, which is asking for a consumer voice on the taxi commission. “I would hope that’s not the case here but it certainly looks that way.”
Jacques Patterson, a candidate for the Ward 8 council seat, said the fare hike will hurt residents east of the Anacostia River who rely on transit to get around — and whose support helped Gray win the election.
“In Wards 7 and 8, when you can drive them to the polls, that’s huge,” Patterson said. “That’s what gives [the taxi industry] that type of lobbying advantage.”
