Evening star., 1932-04-05
Describes Order as Primarily
Due to Chaotic Condi-
tionS in Capital.
CHANGE is EXPECTED
ABOUT FIRST OF JUNE
Public Utilities Board Chairman
Sends Report to Head of
House Committee.

Expenses of purchase and installa-
ton would force about 700 part-time
taxi drivers to quit work under an order
OF the Public Utilities Commission re-
quiring use of meters on cabs, Gen.
Mason M Patrick, commission chair
man, informed Chairman Norton of the
House District Committee in a letter
today.
The issuance of an order recurring
the cabs to install meters. Gen. Patrick
pointed out, was due primarily to cha
otto conditions which exist in Washing
ton due to the large number of cabs in
operation.
For months the commission has been
observing the operation of taxicabs in
washington" said Gen. Patrick, and
in October. 1881, it held a public hear
ing at which it went into all of its
phases.
Describes Chaotic Conditions.
ut is not too much to say that at
that time conditions were chaotic. The
PUBLIC, through the newspapers and
otherwise, was demanding that some
action be taken by those charged with
the duty of regulation. The owner of
any kind of motor car could and did
use 1t as a 'taxicab'; most of them we're
operating on zone rates which they
established themselves; there was no
uniformity Of the zone boundaries. The
commission and the police were re-
ceiving many complaints of over
charging, of refusal of the drivers to
take passengers when the trip was a
long one. Strangers, unfamiliar with
the city, were at the mercy of the taxi
drivers.
Certain so-called cab companies
were operating in the city, buying cars
for about S700 each, hiring them out to
the drivers at the rate, in general, of
aDout 81 per day. These companies
olsclaimed any responsibility for the
drivers, claimed that they were not en-
ployes or agents OF the companies and
were interested solely in collecting
their daily rental
The contract with the drivers pro-
Vlded that at the end of a year the
driver would be given title to the car,
Tor which, OF course, at the end of the
year, the company would have received
something more than twice what the
car had cost. On the other hand, the
drivers could retain only what they
earned in excess of the S4 daily rental
and to earn anything for themselves
were forced to work long hours, and
this was certainly not conducive of the
SNANSJ "a bAACA PdocC1SCIS.
Long Hours Revealed.
Information furnished the utilities
commission by taxi drivers in sworn
statements, Gen. Patrick said, showed
that of 359 making such statements, so
per cent had worked 10 hours or longer
and II per cent 13 hours or longer.
Ten of them, he declared, stated they
had worked for Is hours, four of them
for 18 hours and one for 20 hours.
1T is evident" Gen. Patrick said,
that these are long hours, and it is
a fair inference that drivers who are on
the streets for such lengths of time
cannot conduct their business with
safety to the public. AS a matter of
fact, in the year 1881 there were 1,75O
traffic accidents in which taxicabs were
involved.
1T is a well known fact that many Of
these taXicab operators are entirely un-
able to meet any claims for damages
which may be adjudged against them.
There is strong demand for and little
or no known opposition to pending leg
islation, which, if it becomes law, will
require them all to establish their
financial responsibility. Undoubtedly,
this will necessitate their charging
higher rates than at present to meet
this expense, and this also was In mind
when the commission fixed the fare to
be charged on the taxi meter basis"
The new rates are to be Is cents for
the first two miles or fraction thereof
and cents for each additional one
third Of mile
Gen. Patrick attached to his letter q
copy of the recent decision of Justice
Jesse G. Adkins of the District Supreme
Court affirming the right of the Utili-
ties Commission to compel cabs to in
stall meters.
Gen. Patrick said he believed the use
Of taxi meters and the charging of the
prescribed rate would benefit the indi-
vidual driver, whether he owns one or
more cabs. The meter, he said, can be
bought on the installment plan at an
average expense of 80 to so cents a day,
upon the type purchased. 1t
is probable, however, he said, that some
Of the drivers would not buy meters and
therefore cannot be allowed cooperate.
Gen. Patrick explained the order
would become effective about June /,
under present plans. He added the
Utilities Commission is charged by law
with the duty of regulating common
carriers by motor vehicles within the
District and faces the fact that any
utility which serves the public must be
regulated to assure that the service rem
dered is adequate, the charges reason
able, the rates properly renfunerative
and the public safety assured.