Evening star. [volume] (Washington, D.C.) 1854-1972, 1957-01-27
PROS AND CONS
BY HECTOR MCLEAN

Are Washington's ubiquitous taxi
cabs in for change of status?
There are many in the taxi busi-
ness who say that a change--in
the form of ceiling on the number
of cabs and replacement of the
zone fare by metered fare-is long
overdue.
OF course, those ideas have been
discussed for years. But this time
interest has reached the point
where the Board of Trade is study
ing the proposals and the. House
District Committee soon will receive
report which may lead to hear
tngs.
Views on the taxi industry's
health and what should be done
about it are nearly as varied as the
political views of the cab drivers.
The main contention seems to be.
however. that there should be
limit on the number of cabs in the
District. At the moment, some
$500 automobiles are licensed as
taxis and about 1000 drivers have
permits 10 operate them.
Critics Of the present set-up say
that the lack Of ceiling on the
number Of cabs, coupled with regu-
lated-but unmetered-fares is re-
sponsible for the fact that in the
District all drivers rent. own or
are buying their cabs. They are
subject to no employer control and
to minimum of control by fleet
owners or associations.
The Washington hacker drives
when he chooses. Often he works
part time to supplement- income
from regular jobs. Sometimes he
hacks only to and from work-just
enough to offset the cab rental and
provide himself with free TRANSPORT
tation. This independence, say the
critics, makes for unhealthy chaos.
1t is also charged that the lack
Of a cab ceiling results in intense
competition which overworks the
full-time driver to the point where.
by the end of a shift, his ability
to drive safely comes into question.
Congress in Control
The District Public Utilities Com
mission is forbidden by Congress
from even thinking about installing
a meter fare system in Washington.
There has been enough interest in
the idea, however. to prompt the
Board of Trade and House District
Committee studies.
Proponents of cab meters insist
that they provide the only fair
way to charge for the time and
mileage involved in transportation
tailored to the individual. They
claim that meters give feet oper-
ators an easy way to keep track
OF their business and would there
fore encourage return to the old
employer-employe relationship. The
operators. it is said, would be able
to combine salaries with a COM
mission or percentage ARRANGEMENT.
giving the drivers bigger income,
and everybody would be better
off,"
Opponents Of meters say the
present zone system provides fair
return for the driver and assures
him Of steady business. They
say Selfish interest groups" are
sponsoring the meters and that
the cost of q meter in a cab
between 5000 and $3O0-would put
up to 5000 men and women drivers
out Of the business.
One owner-driver opposed to
meters, has attacked them as 'the
legal right to overcharge." He con-
tends that of all forms Of trans
portation. only in the metered cab
is the passenger required to wait
until the end of his trip before he
learns the price. Many drivers fear
that this uncertainty about the
fare-with the possibility that a
traffic jam may send it sky high
win cause regular cab users to turn
to public transportation.
Washington, according to indus
try sources, Is the only large Amer.
lean city which does not use taxi
meters. Men in the business fatty
disagree on whether use Of meters