Evening star., 1941-11-15
Tuxicub Problem

cab industry at Fridays hearing be-
fore the Public Utilities Commission
on petition for increased fares
serves to direct attention anew to
the unsatisfactory conditions under
which the city's taxicab industry has
been functioning in recent years.
Commission officials undoubtedly
would be the last to subscribe to the
theory that the raise in fare from
twenty to thirty cents within zones
will cure all of the city's taxicab
troubles, for factors other than rates
are involved. One Of the major OBJ
stacles to fortnight efforts of the
commission to deal with such factors
as fares, taXicab congestion in the
downtown section Including cruiS-
ing and cab-stand parking) and
improvement of service in outlying
districts has been the failure of Con-
greSs to cooperate with District
authorities in the matter.
For example, utilities experts long
have realized that the existing zone
rate fare system is full of inequi-
tieS-a fact to which the District
Court pointed some years ago in
reluctantly upholding the zone plan.
Yet, when the court recommended
that the Public Utilities Commission
rh9nnn tho CnnprQSc
tached to the District appropriation
bill a rider specifically forbidding
the commission to order re-
turn to the meter plan. That pro-
hibition has been retained in all
subsequent appropriation bills, de-
spite the fact that local officials who
have studied the situation are con-
vlnced that the meter method of
measuring rates is fair to drivers
and customers alike. AS one of the
taXicab representative remarked at
the turbulent hearing Friday, the so
per cent zone fare increase Tempo
rarlly granted by the commission is
an arbitrary adjustment, at best. 1t
is assumed that the commissions S
final decision will be based solely on
facts and figures and will be un-
affected by such deplorable pressure
tactics as were used at the prelimi-
nary hearing.
1t seems obvious, moreover, that
the increased rates will attract more
drivers and thus will aggravate
rather than ameliorate one of the
long g-standing fundamental difficult
ties of the local taXicab situation,
which is the large number of taxi
cabs in Washington as compared
with the totals in other cities. Rec
ords at the District Building indicate
that this disparity has been only
slightly modified by the tremendous
growth in the city's population. Off
cialS point out that there are more
than 4,600 taXicabs here, which, they
estimate, is about lone for every 100
persons. The total is more than all
the taxicabs in Phila adelphia, Pitts
burgh and Chicago Jumped together
and multiplied by two, and the ratio
is far above that for any other city
in the country. While officials rec
ognize that Washington needs more
taxicabs than the average city of
comparable size, due to the large
number of visitors on business or
pleasure, they insist that a drastic
reduction in the total is needed to
eliminate destructive competition
and relieve traffic congestion in the
downtown district. This, in turn,
they believe, would result in speedier
and more efficient service.
Here, again, Congress has tied the
hands of the commission by failing
to grant it's requests in the past for
authority to 'freeze" the number of
taXicabs at the existing level and
thereafter to achieve a gradual re-
duction by declining to issue addi-
tlonal licenses or to reissue old ones.
1t is to be hoped that Congress will
reconsider this whole vexing prob
lem, with view to giving the Public
Utilities Commission adequate power
effectively to control the growth and
regulate the conduct of Washing
tons ailing taxicab industry.