Good morning, D.C.

It’s been a very wet and soggy commute this morning.

If you drive in Virginia, please please PLEASE turn your headlights on if the rain is enough to keep your wipers on. “Daytime Running Lights” (those headlamps that are on when your car is in motion) isn’t the same thing - you need to have your parking lights on as well. Otherwise, you can’t SEE YOUR CAR in the gloom and gray. I sure don’t want someone to pancake my own nice sedan (hey, it’s my wife’s car!) and I would really like to not bump yours, either.

And if you don’t believe me, here’s what the VA Vehicular Code has to say:

§ 46.2-1030. When lights to be lighted; number of lights to be lighted at any time; use of warning lights.

A. Every vehicle in operation on a highway in the Commonwealth shall display lighted headlights and illuminating devices as required by this article (i) from sunset to sunrise, (ii) during any other time when, because of rain, smoke, fog, snow, sleet, insufficient light, or other unfavorable atmospheric conditions, visibility is reduced to a degree whereby persons or vehicles on the highway are not clearly discernible at a distance of 500 feet, and (iii) whenever windshield wipers are in use as a result of fog, rain, sleet, or snow. The provisions of this subsection, however, shall not apply to instances when windshield wipers are used intermittently in misting rain, sleet, or snow.

[…]

D. The failure to display lighted headlights and illuminating devices under the conditions set forth in clause (iii) of subsection A of this section shall not constitute negligence per se, nor shall violation of clause (iii) of subsection A of this section constitute a defense to any claim for personal injury or recovery of medical expenses for injuries sustained in a motor vehicle accident.

E. No demerit points shall be assessed for failure to display lighted headlights and illuminating devices during periods of fog, rain, sleet, or snow in violation of clause (iii) of subsection A of this section.

F. No citation for a violation of clause (iii) of subsection A of this section shall be issued unless the officer issuing such citation has cause to stop or arrest the driver of such motor vehicle for the violation of some other provision of this Code or local ordinance relating to the operation, ownership, or maintenance of a motor vehicle or any criminal statute.

(Much thanks to Vivian Paige’s blog for the info.)

So no, you won’t get pulled over for not having them on. But if a cop pulls you over for another violation, you’ll get it added as a citation, like failure to have your seatbelt on. So save yourself the aggrevation from safe drivers like myself - I reserve dirty looks for you people; do you really want that on your conscience? - and a possible accident in the future. Who needs higher insurance premiums when we’ve got these gas prices?

Gloom Returns, courtesy of Erik Charlton

We’ve talked about meters before. You know the struggle. Sen. Levin (D-MI) pushes for meters, and they magically appear on the Mayor’s agenda, much to the delight of many of the riders-to-be. There’s something fair about time-and-distance meters that seems lacking from the Zones system.

My friend Ian took the train back from New Jersey where he’d been holed up for work for a couple days, and caught a cab home from Union Station so he could take his final exam. Here’s where it gets good. The cab’s not metered. Or, at least, that’s how it started. Being in the cab awhile, Ian noticed that his cabbie did, in fact, have a meter installed, it just wasn’t on.

When he asked the cabbie what the deal was, the cabbie said, “I’m not turning it on ’til June 1st.”

If you run into this, feel free to submit a complaint to the DC Taxi Commission, as they’re operating in violation of the law. Don’t know how to complain? This article from the Taxi Commission has all of the details. Get the cab number, the cabbie’s name, and the license plate of the cab, and then write it all out. Used to be you had to send a physical letter, but now you can email your complaint to dctc3@dc.gov.

This reeks to me of some sort of graft problem. Like the originators of the project just hadn’t put some form of welfare in their initial proposal to run Metrorail tracks all the way out to Dulles Airport.

But, now that the final bribes and blowjobs have been given to the (in)appropriate people, US Department of Transportation is reversing its non-funding of the Dulles Rail Project. That means, if all the rest of the bribes and other corruption are properly completed on their schedule (included in Appendix B5 of the new plan), we should have a Metro link to IAD by approximately 2025.

Okay, more like 2015. Maybe. If we’re lucky.

Well, apparently, the District now owns 3 Czech-made streetcars. Sure, they’re still operating and living in the Czech Republic. The city, and its taxpayers, have forked over $10 million for a set of three streetcars back in 2005. The line still hasn’t been built yet. Designed to go from Bolling AFB to the Anacostia Metro, the tracks have never been laid. The city promises they’ll be looking into that, and an operator for this new system, this summer.

But those 3 streetcars are still running in the Czech Republic…

So, wait. We’re going to pay $10M for used streetcars? For real?

D.C. Mayor Fenty put the kibosh on any further extensions for cabbies working in the District to install meters. Bottom line? Those cabdrivers have to have meters installed by May 1 or face a $1,000 fine each time they pick up a fare.

Now, I know what you’re all thinking - “All those cabbies are going to have meters installed in a week? But there’s like, a ton of them and only a few installation garages!”

You’d be correct.

So there’s an extension - but it’s not called an extension. I call it “a bone” that’s been thrown to the cabdrivers. Basically, if they’re caught without a meter between May 1 and May 31, then they’ll get a warning. If no meter by June 1, all those warnings will convert to the monetary fine. After June 1, the fines are enforced. This gives them an extra four weeks to get metering devices installed.

All this because Fenty won the court ruling yesterday that upheld the city’s plan to require time-and-distance meters, as opposed to the eons-old zone-fare-customer-ripoff system.

Hey, it’s a good thing.

Although I really suspect cab customers are going to be out of luck snagging a metered cab in May; with the constant temper-tantrums the cabbies have been throwing over this changeover, it wouldn’t surprise me in the least to find many of them riding with dozens of warnings until June 1, in order to soak as many customers as possible.

Meantimes, the drivers are sending their lawyer to the D.C. Court of Appeals, in order to prevent scrapping the zone-ripoff system while the appeal is pending. We’ll see.

Cabs will be spot-checked in May and warnings handed out. Citizens can also report unmetered cabs. According to the press release put out by the mayor’s office, “Passengers who wish to file a complaint against an unmetered cab should obtain the taxicab driver’s name, company and license number and report it to the DC Taxicab Commission at (202) 645-6018 or dctc@dc.gov.”

I’ll stick to Metro and my own two feet until this mess is all over.

Cab stand at downtown Hyatt, courtesy of drewsaunders

There are just three weeks to go until the deadline for metered cabs, and the Examiner is reporting that most cabs haven’t received the new meters yet. Most are waiting on the ruling of the DC Superior Court as to whether or not Mayor Fenty had the authority to pass the law mandating time and distance meters. The suing parties insist that the authority regarding the billing methods of the taxi cabs in the District belongs to the Taxi Commission and not the Mayor and the City Council.

Strikes me as a good chance that DC might be very short on taxicabs if the court doesn’t rule soon. Even if the court does rule soon, what are the odds that the taxi shops around town have enough time to work their way through the backlog of procrastinating drivers?

I’m betting they’re fairly long. Which means we’ll either have a near total lack of cabs, or we’ll see more lawsuits and tickets and fights between cabbies and the police. And all because one Senator had some constituents taken for a ride by the DC cabbies…

I’d be sympathetic, except that I’ve been taken for a ride before, myself…

Marc Fisher took one for the team recently and tried out Greyhound’s new discount offerings designed to compete with the various Chinatown in name only bus services.

Now, I have complained to people in the past when Ticketmaster’s insane surcharges took up a sizable percentage of the face price of the ticket, but never once have they managed to match the 50% booking fee that Fisher was charged…. at $0.50.

Yep, a $1 ticket to NYC. Only one-way, but some time spent looking around the sidewalks in the big apple will likely yield you enough nickels for the $1.50 (with booking charge) to come back to our fair city. The promotional fares will probably peter out at some point, but with a at-the-door price of $20 it’s hard to complain. I suspect that in the near future you’re going to get molested by advertising, given that Fisher comments that there were three flat-screen tvs not currently in use, but if you tack $4 on to the price for earplugs even that can be a good deal.

Bargain, courtesy of sgrace

It was cold, but man was it worth it.

My friends and I who share a 20 game package all gathered in the upper level of the outfield seats tonight for the 3-0 exhibition win over the Baltimore Orioles. The whole stadium is such a massive improvement over the decrepit and dilapidated RFK Stadium

I was amazed, also by the efficient concessions (though they were out of hot chocolate by the fifth inning) and by the wide concourses and the comfy seats. I was not so pleased with my transit experience on the way in to Nationals Park. We had a bear of a time getting down to the new park amidst the Cherry Blossom and Kite Festival traffic. We got to Courthouse about 2:40, had to wait 10 minutes for a train that was packed to the gills. We waited 15 minutes for the next train, which made it as far as Foggy Bottom before some idiot held the doors open and caused the train to break down. Then, once we got to L’Enfant Plaza it was close to a 20 minute wait for a green line train.

I love that people are taking public transit this weekend, it’d just be nice if there was some for us to take.

Once we got to the stadium, though, I do have to say I was floored. There are parts of the stadium I am going to love and love and love and love (I refer, here, to the aforepictured clock, and other photos I took of it…) and the incredible high-def scoreboard that feels more like watching a game on TV (the good parts of course) and the ambience that makes me glad to be paying money for good experiences.

There’ll be more on the ballpark in the coming days, but for a moment, enjoy just some photos of baseball in the Springtime.

Local DC Media Maker Jill Foster got serenaded in a cab yesterday on the way to work. Hear the troubadour’s song here. Jill writes:

I got into a cab today where the driver says “Welcome to my karaoke cab miss.”

He then asked my name and began singing - as in sang with portable mic wearing a cowboy
hat - fun songs during the cab fare. I was cackling as he agreed to make a mobile
podcast right there via Utterz.com using my cell phone.

Does it get any better than this? Thanks, Jill, for sharing the joy!

If you paid a tax to have your car inspected, or for a rental car, or for selling your house, you’re getting it all back. The Supreme Court of Virginia decided that those taxes were unconstitutionally assessed and collected and should be returned to those who paid them. Here’s the skinny on what you’re getting back, when:

- If it was DMV-related, the DMV will be writing you a check (isn’t that a nice turn of events?) some time soon, but the schedule won’t be out until the first of April. This includes the 1% initial registration fee, as well as the $10 regional registration fee.

- If it was related to your house, the Clerks of the Circuit Courts will settle with the settlement agents within 60 days, who will then in turn refund anyone who paid the “congestion relief fee.”

- If it was a 2% vehicle rental tax, a 2% “transient occupancy tax” (I think that’s a hotel tax, it might be also applicable if you put up a hobo at any point and were taxed thereupon.) or a 5% sales tax on motor vehicle repair, or a $10 safety inspection fee, then your money is going to the Unclaimed Property Division of the Department of the Treasury. You can request refunds from them, but there’s a set of guidelines forthcoming on how that’s all going to work.

Sounds complicated? It’s probably intended to be that way, so that the State can keep your money because you won’t go through the hoops.