The Alexandria City Council adopted several changes to the city’s taxicab rules over the weekend but dropped plans to require cabbies to be polite.
The council rejected the rule on cabbie behavior before voting 6-1 to adopt new amendments restricting a cab company’s ability to grow or shrink its business based on the company’s compliance with a dispatch quota set by the city.
The behavior rule originally would have required cabbies to be polite to any city official or member of the public even if they are not passengers in the cab. That language was modified at the request of Mayor Bill Euille so that it applied only when cabbies were on duty or dealing with hack officers with the Alexandria Police Department and officials in the city’s finance office, according to deputy city attorney Chris Spera.
Vice Mayor Kerry Donley pushed for adoption of the amendment, but the council, acting on Euille’s recommendation, rejected it.
“I think that’s overkill on the part of the city, trying to manage the employees of a business,” Euille said.
The council did adopt a rule change intended to ensure that city cab drivers serve mainly city residents by requiring each driver to take a minimum of two dispatch calls a day. The rule now allows a portion of that quota to be met by “documented city trips.” Those trips include passengers picked up at taxi stands, Metro stations and airports as well as trips arranged between cabbies and their regular customers.
Cab companies can no longer be put out of business for failing to meet the quota, but they can be prevented from expanding.
The council also rejected an amendment that would have required the city’s taxis to accept credit cards. Cabbies argued against the rule on religious grounds. Muslim and Jewish law forbid charging interest in some instances.
