DC Hack Inspector Strikes Again!
How’s that for a sight never seen before: A DC Hack Inspector giving a taxi driver a ticket.
Yeah, I didn’t know we had hack inspectors either, definitely not by the way DC taxi drivers try to cheat us every damn trip or gouge the tourists mercilessly. But we do.
Six even, apparently. I talked with D.C. Walters, Hack Inspector, for a good 30 minutes on his job and the city’s taxi system. Here’s a few tips I learned:
- If you think you’ve been cheated, and its 9-5 M-F, call the Taxi Commission Hotline – they’ll send a hack inspector to investigate.
- If you’re think the ride is too much other times, cal the cops. They’ll care, I’m sure.
- There are supposed to be a dozen hack inspectors, but due to past budget cuts, there are only six now.
- The Taxi Cab Commission is supposed to increase the number of hack inspectors to 16.. soon
- DC hack inspectors have no comment on the zone system, no matter how hard you try to get them to come out for or against it.
- Taxis can get tickets from hack inspectors for sitting at a designated taxi stand – if its rush hour and there are no standing/no parking signs
Oh, just in case you’re in need, Inspector Walters can be reached on 202.210.7465 during normal business hours.
It’s nice to see someone on the job since other bloggers have caught D.C. employees being a little less than effective (the famous shot of a Metro worker eating on a Metro train, a copy taking a joy ride on top of a cruiser and another showing a police car chasing a Krispy Kreme donut truck.)
Finally! The answer to my prayers. I’m taking down that number – ‘cos I’m tired of feeling butt-reamed by a cabbie who doesn’t play straight.
One night I asked at least 5 cabbies how much it was to take me from there (Mass Ave & 18th St, NW) to Courthouse in Arlington. It was a different answer for each one – none came close to the cost I paid for the last time I got a ride there. AND everyone I asked, I asked to see their chart and none had one.
Too bad I didn’t have the patience to take down their cab numbers or I would have reported them to the commission. My understanding is that they should have that rate card on them all the time. Only once, did a cabbie pull one out and that’s when I discovered that there was such a thing.
Watch out DC Commission! You’re gonna start getting more calls on your Hotline from me!
There is no chart for DC-VA cab rides, you pay per mile if traveling from DC to NoVA. So there shouldn’t be a pre-arranged fixed cost either.
Rates are here:
http://dctaxi.dc.gov/dctaxi/frames.asp?doc=/dctaxi/lib/dctaxi/wmataintersaterates.pdf