Death and Taxis

Recently eaten: peruvian rotisserie chicken
Recent annoyance: people on the bus who refuse to sit down in a vacated seat on a crowded bus when sitting down would free up more room

So, the DC cabbies have decided to strike because the Mayor is forcing them to put meters in their cabs. The Mayor is keeping cabbies from bilking riders out of exorbitant cab fares in this weird zone-fare system and the cabbies are gonna strike? Well, screw you cabbies. I know your job sucks and you provide a valuable service, but providing reasonable fares keeps you from getting stiffed and prevents those drunken disputes about where the zone line was. Suck it up.

Cabbie strike looms in D.C.
District businesses are bracing for a 24-hour taxi strike threatened on Halloween, a high-volume day for cabs, in what drivers say might be the first in a series of strikes to protest Mayor Adrian M. Fenty's recent decision to switch from zones to meters.

Tourism officials said out-of-town visitors will be inconvenienced, although many hotels plan to provide limos and shuttles, and bar owners are concerned about the effect on business if customers are not sure of a taxi ride home.

It is unclear how many drivers will participate.

Organizers said more than half the city's estimated 7,500 drivers will be on strike from 6 a.m. tomorrow to 6 a.m. Thursday. Their claims were difficult to gauge, however, because there have been no mass meetings on a strike, and drivers, most of them independent contractors, are represented by several organizations.

Spreading the message through leaflets and word of mouth, organizers contend that there are enough angry drivers to bring taxi service in much of the city to a standstill.

"We just want to say to the mayor that we are in complete disagreement with him and that we are opposed to time-and-distance meters," said William J. Wright, president of the Taxicab Industry Group, who is leading the strike. "We're going to do everything we can to overturn this decision."

The last time District cabdrivers went on strike, it was for 12 hours Nov. 17, 2004. They were upset by legislation proposed by then-Mayor Anthony A. Williams (D) to revamp taxi regulation.