District of Columbia taxi drivers on Tuesday urged the D.C. Council to continue to exempt current drivers from a requirement that they live in the city.
“Police officers, teachers and firefighters are not required to live in the District of Columbia. Why should taxi drivers be targeted?” said Abdul Kamus of the African Resource Center during a D.C. Council committee hearing.
Of more than 6,000 taxi drivers working in the city, more than 4,000 live outside D.C.
Taxi drivers testified that they have many reasons for wanting to live in neighboring states.
“We live outside of the District because of the cost of housing, education for our kids, quality of neighborhoods, and crime,” said Nathan Price, spokesman for the D.C. Professional Taxicab Drivers Association.
The Council passed emergency legislation in May grandfathering in existing out-of-state taxicab drivers.
The committee is considering a bill that would make the emergency legislation permanent.
Out-of-state drivers currently pay a $100 registration fee. Since June, the Department of Motor Vehicles has collected $51,600 in such payments. Council Member Jim Graham questioned whether that fee is high enough.
“How can we get taxi drivers to contribute more to the tax base of the District of Columbia?” asked Council Member Muriel Bowser.
In 2001, a D.C. law was passed prohibiting out-of-state residents from registering vehicles within the District, and in 2006, the Department of Motor Vehicles announced that this law, intended for the general public, would be applied to taxi drivers as well.
