So, there I was in New Orleans, minding my business, when suddenly I heard shouting about security cameras, credit card machines and aging vehicles.
Had District taxi drivers followed me?
Big Easy cabbies were battling their city council over two dozen laws that would dramatically impact the industry. Pushed by Mayor Mitch Landrieu, the legislature mandated among other things criminal background checks of drivers; two-way radios; and retention of records for two years rather than 90 days. It imposed a fee for reinspections and reduced to 11 years the allowable age of a vehicle beginning August 2012, seven years beginning 2014.
The reforms mimic those proposed for the District’s 6,500-fleet industry. Not unlike here, taxi drivers down south aren’t happy: “They claimed it was a democratic process,” Jonathan Ijoko, a New Orleans taxi driver, told me.
“We opposed almost all of the measures. But they passed them anyway; what’s democratic about that?” Ijoko continued, adding his car is 10 years old; he’ll have to replace it. “Just because D.C. and New York are doing things, it doesn’t mean we should.”
Ron Linton, chair of the District’s taxicab commission, told me there is a “growing attitude” in many cities to ensure the industry is “serving the needs of customers.”
District officials had linked a rate hike to industry reforms, including modernization of the fleet to ensure cars are not older than five years.
In New Orleans, Ijoko said he doesn’t favor a fare hike: “When we jumped from $3 to $3.50 [local residents] cried. If we go to $4, it’s going to hurt more than help.”
That logic has escaped District officials. A fare increase took effect last week, sans promised improvements.
“I wouldn’t call it a rate increase. I would call it a restoration,” Linton told me. “We simply restored the level of income drivers had under the [former] zone system.”
The city switched from zones to meters in 2007. Before then, folks caught cabs without a second thought; the prices were reasonable. The change slowed their roll — especially since they still have to deal with filthy cars and dangerous drivers. More than a half-dozen female passengers complained recently of being assaulted by operators.
The New Orleans City Council approved security cameras for driver safety. Linton has announced panic buttons will be installed in District cabs to protect riders.
“We hope to have credit card and smart meters in by the end of the year,” he continued. Modernization of cars will take five years. “If we did it in one year, we would eliminate 85 percent of the vehicles. We have to phase it in.”
Even before those old cars are taken off the street, Linton said taxi rates may increase — yet again.
Don’t you wish we could take a New Orleans taxi in D.C.?
Clarification: I recently described Savoy as the DC Public Schools’ only elementary-level integrated arts program. While Savoy has the city’s most in-depth elementary arts program, three other elementary schools are part of a Catalyst Arts Integration program.
Jonetta Rose Barras’ column appears on Monday and Wednesday. She can be reached at [email protected].
