Taxi Strike Tomorrow

Thoughts that came to me while standing on the corner of M & Wisconsin on my way home from work:

1. 6 cabs just turned right from westbound M onto northbound Wisconsin. Several more waiting in queue as the light turned red.
Would a taxi strike ease a little congestion in the district? It could actually make traffic better.

2. Wouldn't a strike be more effective if it was from Halloween until a) the drivers got what they wanted b) they realized they wouldn't make enough money not driving and gave in?

3. This is from earlier... Can you call a VA/MD cab to pick you up in DC? Then the strike could be sort of moot on Halloween. Also - sober ride is operating 1 (800) 200-TAXI, so there is that option.

Oh well. I've been in two DC cabs over the past two days. The first one was from AMorg/Mt Pleasant to Rosslyn on my way home late Saturday night - $13.25 - It was a realistic price and I tipped up to $15. Even though the driver almost killed someone on Roosevelt Bridge. But he didn't. So I tipped him...
The second was from Rosslyn to the Kennedy Center to get to the ADL concert last night. (Yes, I know, did we really need to take a cab... Ehh.) Actually, more on that - it is $16 to park at Kennedy Center and we figured about equal to take 2 cabs, granted we caught their shuttle to metro on the way home. ::rambles:: The cab that picked us up in Rosslyn was a DC cab, which I'm pretty sure they're not supposed to do... Then he went the wrong way... Then the trip cost us $10. For about 2 miles. That man did not get tipped.

YES! Good work Mayor Fenty

Hehehe! Here's to Fenty giving a big fuck you to the taxi cab commission aholes...

And yes, I am a Virginian so I am especially happy that I wont have to bargain cab fares anymore.

Meters vs. Zones vs. Meters vs. Zones vs....

In 1996, the commission voted to require meters in all cabs by 1998. The decision was made after a city-financed study concluded that the zone system charged too much for short trips and not enough for long ones. The meters were never installed.
Read article here

Well, my personal opinion is that we need real meters, I just don't understand why DC keeps trying to be different and "individual." As the nation's capital shouldn't it set a bar for the rest of the country? Isn't that why they have such a great educational system? Oh... Wait...

I have in the back of my head something we studied in econ (of law maybe) about whether the cab driver is better off cheating & wasting time to get a higher fare or taking the quickest route.
Economics says: Quickest route - may be a lower fare but then you are able to start looking for a new passenger.
(If anyone has read this & has a reference for it I'd much appreciate the help.)

"I don't need to walk around in circles, walk around in circles, walk around in..." - Soul Coughing
(Listen here)