Evening star., 1946-06-21
Cab Call Service
Held Dependent
On Higher Rate
Drivers Declare
They Lose Money
On l0-Cent Charge

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taxicab call service only if the
hackers are allowed to increase
fares, but the public would be will
Ing to absorb the extra cost to get
the service, taxicab company Off
Gals and drivers indicated today.
They participated In conversa-
tions with civic leaders during
hearing before the Public Utilities
Commission on the question of
whether the hackers should be al
lowed to raise the current extra
charge of 10 cents for call service
to Is cents.
The hearing, called at the insti-
CATION of the Federation of Cit
izens' Associations, was marked by
heated debate which developed the
fact that although taxi call serv-
Ice here exists on paper, the vast
majority of hackers are not answer
ing calls because they feel it costs
them money.
Settle on 25-Cent Charge.
Those testifying before the PUG
agreed generally that the only way
to rectify the situation was to grant
an additional charge, and the 25-
cent figure met with almost univer-
sal approval. =,
John H. Connaughton, chairman
OF the Federation's Committee on
Public Utilities, summed up the at
titude Of the taxi-riding citizens
present by charging that the pres
ent lack of call service amounts toI
q "semistrike attitude" on the part
OF the hackers. He said that al
though he did not believe that
adding 10 or Is cents to the present.
call charge would solve the problem,
he would not be violently opposed"
to 25-cent charge.
Describing existing call service as
a "Mt-or- miss. proposition which
doesn't fill the bill at ALL" Mr.. Con-
naughton emphasized that in ask
Ing for the hearing the citizens
group had not intended to fix any
definite call rate increase, but was
interested in getting those involved
together to work out some means of
giving Washington taxicab call
service, particularly in the outlying
communities.
Few Able to Respond.
Pointing out that only the Yellow,
Diamond and Combined taxicab
companies here are equipped to fur
nish call service, John Royer, presi-
dent of the Combined and Premier
companies, called attention to the
fact that these concerns together
muster only about $500 of the city'sI
7,000-odd taXicabs.
Mr.. Roy9r asserted that 25 cents
as a call charge would be very
helpful" in bettering the service, but
expressed doubt that the service
would ever again meet prewar stand
ards. He told the commission, how
ever, that the concerns he repre-
sents are sincerely interested" in
bettering the service, adding that
they were planning to install addi-
tional call boxes and would apply
tomorrow for permission to install
two-way radios in some of the
cabs as another means of making
them available for calls.
E. Erwin Dollar, chairman of the
Taxicab Advisory Council, declared
that the "only solution to providing
better call service lay in giving the
driver extra compensation" The
council, which Mr.. Dollar described
as representing a majority of local
taxicab companies. has arrived at
the conclusion that hackers do not
answer calls because there is
enough pickup business to keep
them profitably occupied"
Public Confidence Lost.
He agreed under questioning by
Peoples Counsel James w. Lauder
dale that the public is reluctant to
call for a cab because it has lost
confidence in the service.
This drew from PUG Chairman
James H. Flanagan the observation
that the public had acquired the
impression that taxicab call service
had been abolished during the war
Emphasizing the untruth of this
impression, he attributed it's ex-
istence to the fact that taxi drivers
generally have refused to render
call service and to lay the omission
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