Thursday, October 18, 2007

DC Cabs switch to meters

Today's Washington Post reports that Some D.C. Taxi Drivers Call for Strike on Halloween because the mayor of DC has made a decision that cab drivers in Washington, DC must use meters. I am assuming that this can be enforced. We just returned from a visit to Kuala Lumpur where even though meters are required, they are routinely ignored and would be riders have to haggle for a mutually acceptable rate. (We had read about this on websites like Tripadvisor and Yahoo.) Apparently there are a lot of horror stories. Fortunately for us, of the few times we rode the cab, only once did we have to haggle. It was most annoying! The driver who haggled with us claimed that the meter rates were way too low. The taxi stand outside KL Suria at the Petronas Twin Towers is reportedly the place where none of the taxi drivers will use the meter. There must be a lack of enforcement (or corruption of enforcement officers to look the other way) there that hopefully will not exist in Washington.

No comments: