taxi

SoberRide to Offer Free Cab Rides Throughout the Holidays

By ARLnow.com

The regional SoberRide program will be offering free cab rides throughout the holidays.

From Friday, Dec. 14 to Tuesday, Jan. 1, SoberRide will be providing no-cost cab rides to those who call 1-800-200-TAXI from 10:00 p.m. to 6:00 a.m. Last December, more than 2,000 D.C. area residents used SoberRide in December, according to the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP).

In addition to the SoberRide program, WRAP and Red Top Cab recently unveiled a half-taxi, half-police cruiser that has been parked in Clarendon in an effort to deter drunk driving.

From a WRAP press release:

Combating that time of year classified by U.S. Government officials as one of the deadliest times on America’s roadways due to an increase in drunk driving, a local nonprofit organization announced today that free cab rides will be offered to would-be drunk drivers throughout Arlington County, Virginia during the winter holidays.

Offered by the nonprofit Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP), the annual Holiday SoberRide program will operate between 10:00 pm and 6:00 am each evening between Friday, December 14, 2012 and Tuesday, January 1, 2013 as a way to keep local roads safe from impaired drivers during this traditionally high-risk, holiday period.

During the evening hours, between December 14th and January 1st, Washington-metropolitan area residents celebrating with alcohol may call the toll-free SoberRide phone number 1–800–200–TAXI and be afforded a no-cost (up to $ 30 fare), safe way home. (AT&T wireless users can dial #WRAP for the same service.)

“Last December, over 2,000 (2,032) Greater Washington residents did the right thing and availed themselves of this lifesaving service rather than possibly driving home impaired,” said Kurt Gregory Erickson, WRAP’s President. “For SoberRide’s hours of operation during just last New Year’s Eve, such ridership (396) translated into the removal of a would-be drunk driver from our shared roadways every 72-seconds.”

SoberRide is offered in the: District of Columbia; throughout the Maryland counties of Montgomery and Prince George’s; and throughout the Northern Virginia counties of Arlington, Fairfax, (eastern) Loudoun and Prince William. In these areas, local taxicab companies will be providing this no-cost service to local residents age 21 and older who otherwise may have attempted to drive home after drinking.

Since 1993, WRAP’s SoberRide program has provided 55,851 free cab rides home to would-be drunk drivers in the Greater Washington area.

Sponsors of the 2012 Holiday SoberRide campaign include: Anheuser-Busch, AT&T, Diageo, GEICO, Giant, MillersCoors, Red Top Cab, Restaurant Association Metropolitan Washington, Volkswagen Group of America and the Washington Area New Automobile Dealers Association.

Participating taxicab companies include: Alexandria Yellow Cab; Barwood; Fairfax Yellow Cab; Loudoun Yellow Cab; Manassas Cab Company; Red Top Cab; Silver Cab of Prince George’s County; Yellow Cab of D.C.; and Yellow Cab of Prince William County.

Taxi Drivers Accuse County of Racism

By Katie Pyzyk

(Updated at 4:45 p.m.) Disgruntled Arlington cab drivers staged a protest on Monday (November 26), ahead of the County Board’s expected Tuesday vote on granting more taxi certificates. The drivers are accusing the county of racism.

Members of Arlington United Taxi Operators (AUTO) and Tenants and Workers United (TWU) took part in the protest, which was staged to highlight claims of unfair labor practices by Arlington cab companies and to show that drivers’ human rights had been violated based on their national origin.

ARLnow.com requested details regarding examples of human rights violations, but did not receive information about specific incidents. Instead, a TWU representative said the basics included “ad hoc firings, arbitrary changing of working conditions, and the fact that drivers are being bound to a single company.”

“Nearly every single cab driver is an immigrant in Arlington, most are from Africa,” added Wesley Aten, Interim Executive Director for Tenants and Workers United.

AUTO and TWU also issued a press release yesterday stating the intent of several drivers to speak out at last night’s County Board meeting. The release said, “It is a racist system that looks the other way as long as white customers and a white monopoly company benefit.”

The groups provided what they call “reasonable and fair suggested adjustments” to the county’s taxi code. In a joint memo to the Board members, AUTO and TWU wrote the following:

“It is not in the public’s best interest to expand the reach of an already dysfunctional taxicab system that makes cabdrivers part of the working poor… Arlington County has created a taxicab system which — among many other important flaws — forces many cabdrivers to work as many as 13 hours a day, 7 days a week just to make livable earnings because some cab companies use mandatory operating fees to take as much as $14,000 of each driver’s annual earnings for themselves.

The irony in all of this is that a work week that commonly exceeds 60 hours produces exhausted cabdrivers. In turn, tired drivers decrease rider safety.

Yet, despite these facts, under your direction the Board will not let cabdrivers and riders have a public conversation or debate over the existing structure of the industry. Your choice to silence the people on this very important issue is not in line with ‘the Arlington way’ and we are deeply disappointed that you have chosen to protect a system that forces nearly 800 cabdrivers to work for poverty-level earnings.”

They assert that County Board Chair Mary Hynes refused to adequately review their proposed amendments to the taxi code and would not hold a public hearing on practices within the taxi industry. Hynes refuted the claim at Tuesday’s Board meeting, saying the conversation has not ended.

“We are not willing to change the ordinance in the way in which you suggested we do it,” Hynes said. “While I absolutely agree we have not resolved the issues that you raise about how many hours people drive or the impacts of that, or any of that, nor do I think we should think those are off the table.”

Hynes said she met with the group of concerned drivers at least three times between April and October. She said other Board members also met with the drivers, indicating the drivers’ statements about not having access to Board members was inaccurate.

“There was no inability to talk to Board members, all of that happened,” Hynes said.

Hynes further elaborated in a written statement:

“Since AUTO submitted its proposed changes in July 2012 to the County’s taxi cab ordinance, County Board Members and County staff have held numerous meetings with AUTO leaders. After giving the proposal serious consideration, the County Board ultimately decided against a rewrite of the taxi ordinance. Although a vote to not move forward is not required, I decided to have the County Board discuss this decision in public and take a public vote, which we did in October. This request for ordinance changes is not unique. Every year, the County Board receives 10-20 requests from individuals and groups seeking various County ordinance changes. Moving forward on any one of these requests always requires three or more members’ support for the potential change.”

In addition to addressing the proposed changes to the county taxi code, the drivers’ groups requested that Board members deny a plan to allow 55 additional taxis to operate in Arlington, as recommended by county staff. Of particular discussion during Tuesday’s meeting was whether or not to approve certificates for Arlington-based start-up EV Taxicabs.

Last month, County Manager Barbara Donnellan recommended that EV receive permits to operate 40 cabs, which would be all-electric and include free WiFi and iPads for passenger use.

As the taxi discussion stretched in excess of two hours and the meeting inched toward 2:00 a.m., Board members decided to carry over the discussion and vote on taxi related items at the December meeting.

Transportation Commission Recommends Against All-Electric Cabs

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County’s Transportation Commission says an all-electric cab fleet is a good idea whose time hasn’t come quite yet. On Thursday the advisory body voted against County Manager Barbara Donnellan’s recommendation that the County Board grant operating licenses to a fleet of 40 electric taxicabs.

While the commission was supportive of the idea of more environmentally-friendly cabs in Arlington, it expressed doubts that the proposal — from Arlington-based startup EV Taxicabs — was feasible.

The company is proposing a taxi fleet of Nissan Leaf electric vehicles, each equipped with 4G WiFi hotspots and iPads for passenger use, plus a network of publicly-accessible electric vehicle chargers around Arlington. A commission member said it’s a good idea in theory, but in practice electric cabs — which would have a range of 60 to 105 miles on a single charge — could present a problem for passengers and drivers.

“The range offered by the Nissan Leaf simply doesn’t seem to be enough to effectively use it as a taxi… especially when you factor in runs to Dulles Airport, etc.” commission member Chris Slatt told ARLnow.com. “It’s one thing if your drivers has to stop for 3 minutes to put gas in their cab because you asked to be taken on a very long trip — it is quite another if your driver has to drive 5 miles across town and charge for 30 minutes for that same reason.”

Slatt said the commission was also “unconvinced” that EV Taxicabs could install electric vehicle chargers at apartment buildings, where many cab drivers live. Such chargers would allow drivers to charge their cabs overnight. The company also proposed installing fast “Level 3” chargers, but Nissan warns that fast charging could reduce the life of the car batteries to just a year or two — an expensive proposition for cab drivers, who would likely have to foot the bill for the replacement battery.

“EVs simply can’t match hybrids or standard cabs at this point when it comes to ‘getting people to their destination’ which is the whole point of a taxi,”  Slatt said. “Hopefully by the next time taxi certificates come around EVs will have matured to the point where our existing companies will be moving to them without us even needing to bring in a new company.”

In place of the electric cabs, Slatt said the commission recommended awarding additional operating licenses to EnviroCab, an all-hybrid cab company which currently has 50 licenses in Arlington, and to Friendly Cab, which has 27 traditional cabs and 7 hybrid cabs. The additional licenses would allow Friendly to begin dispatch service and would allow EnviroCab to reduce wait times during peak taxi demand period, Slatt said.

(EnviroCab recently announced plans to add one all-electric cab to its existing hybrid fleet.)

The County Board is set to consider the recommendations of Donnellan and the Transportation Commission at its Nov. 17 meeting.

ACPD, Red Top to Unveil Anti-Drunk Driving Vehicle

By ARLnow.com

Update on 10/29/12 — The press event has been postponed until after Election Day (Nov. 6) due to Hurricane Sandy.

Arlington County Police, the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) and Red Top Cab are preparing to reveal a secret weapon in the fight against drunk driving.

The weapon: a Ford Crown Victoria that’s half ACPD police car and half taxi. The vehicle — pictured here on the county property yard several weeks ago, in an unfinished state — will be parked strategically throughout the county and used to remind party-goers of two options for getting back home after a night of drinking: in the back of a taxi or, if they try to drive drunk, in the back of a police car.

The vehicle, which is still being retrofitted and decorated, will be officially unveiled just before noon outside Arlington police headquarters on Wednesday (Halloween). The unveiling will coincide with WRAP’s SoberRide program, which will offer anyone 21 and over in the greater D.C. area a free taxi ride home from 10:00 p.m. on Wednesday, Oct. 31 to 6:00 a.m. the next day. The SoberRide phone number is 1-800-200-TAXI.

SoberRide operates on high-risk holidays: Halloween, New Year’s Eve, St. Patrick’s Day and Independence Day. Halloween is a particularly dangerous time to drive: 40 percent of all U.S. traffic deaths during Halloween are caused by drunk drivers, according to WRAP.

While the Halloween holiday isn’t until Wednesday, the anti-drunk driving message also applies this weekend, which is prime time for Halloween parties and bar crawls.

 

Wreck Involving Taxi on Washington Boulevard

By ARLnow.com

A D.C. taxicab somehow went up a steep embankment, ran into and partially went over a guardrail on Washington Boulevard this afternoon.

The accident happened around 1:00 p.m. on the section of Washington Boulevard between I-395 and Columbia Pike. Initial reports suggest the taxi was heading northbound from I-395 to Washington Boulevard when it ran up an embankment and into the guardrail along the southbound lanes of Washington Boulevard.

It’s unclear how the accident happened, although initial reports suggest another vehicle might have been involved in the accident; that vehicle suffered only minor damage.

The driver of the Ford Crown Victoria cab was extricated by firefighters and taken to a local hospital, according to scanner traffic. Traffic on Washington Boulevard was backed up as crews worked to remove the cab from the guardrail.

 

Morning Notes

By ARLnow.com

Board Votes Against Taxi Driver Proposal — By a contentious vote of 3-2, the Arlington County Board last night voted against a proposal that would allow taxicab drivers to be issued taxi operating certificates on an individual basis. Currently, only taxi companies are granted certificates in Arlington. County Board Chair Mary Hynes, along with Jay Fisette and Libby Garvey, voted against the proposal, arguing that the current system is working well for riders. Chris Zimmerman and Walter Tejada took the side of a coalition of taxi drivers that has been pushing for a driver-based certificate system. [Sun Gazette]

Meetings for Noise Control Ordinance — Updated at 8:45 a.m. — The County Board last night voted unanimously to defer a scheduled hearing on a series of proposed changes to the county’s noise control ordinance. Instead, two public meetings will be held to discuss the changes, in advance of a Board vote on advertising and holding a public hearing on the revisions. The first meeting will be held on Tuesday, Nov. 13, from 6:00 to 9:30 p.m. at the 2012 Navy League Building (2300 Wilson Boulevard). The second will be held on Wednesday, Nov. 14, from 7:00 to 9:00 p.m. at the Shirlington Branch Library (4200 Campbell Street). [Arlington County]

Examiner Endorses Murray — The Washington Examiner has endorsed Republican Patrick Murray in the race for Virginia’s 8th District congressional seat. The paper lauded Murray’s military experience and said he “is clearly the better choice.” Earlier this month the Washington Post endorsed Murray’s opponent, long-time incumbent Rep. Jim Moran. [Washington Examiner]

All-Electric, WiFi-Enabled Cabs Get Nod from County Manager

By ARLnow.com

If the Arlington County Board goes along with a new set of recommendations from County Manager Barbara Donnellan, Arlington could soon be served by a fleet of 40 all-electric cabs equipped with 4G WiFi hotspots and iPads for passenger use.

As part of this year’s taxicab certificate allocation process, Donnellan is recommending that a total of 65 additional taxis be added to the county’s existing licensed fleet of 765 cabs. Among the companies receiving a recommended allocation from Donnellan is an Arlington-based upstart, EV Taxicabs.

The company is set to get permits to operate 40 cabs in Arlington under Donnellan’s recommendation. According to EV Taxicabs’ website and Facebook page, the cabs will be all-electric Nissan Leafs, a five-door hatchback that gets the equivalent of 99 miles per gallon.

In addition to being all-electric, the cabs will be equipped with a high-speed 4G WiFi hotspot and an Apple iPad, both for passenger use. The cabs will be dispatched using what’s described as a “state-of-the-art cloud-based dispatch solution… running on Samsung Galaxy 7 tablet.” Passengers will be able to book the cabs via smart phone or the company’s website.

In addition to the cabs, the company has pledged to install more than 50 electric vehicle chargers around Arlington.

Donnellan writes that based on a scale that considers various factors — including environmental impact, customer service, business feasibility and employee treatment — EV Taxicabs received the highest rating of any cab applicant. (Ten companies applied this year.)

Based on the rating system, EV Taxicab was rated the highest of all applicants. It will be installing a number of quick charge stations throughout the County that will be available to the general public as well as their drivers. This will encourage additional usage of zero emission vehicles, helping Arlington County to be a pioneer in this new technology.

The EV Taxicab applicant is a current Arlington County taxi driver. He is bringing his experience and wants to address and cooperate with County staff to improve the drivers’ profession. He proposes to provide training, two week annual vacation, health and fitness club membership, financial management training, customer service training, assistance with legal representation and is looking into providing life insurance for drivers. The EV Taxicab application impressed County staff through its use of technology and its apparent commitment to fair treatment for its drivers.

EV Taxicabs is not the only non-traditional cab company set to benefit from Donnellan’s recommendation. The “carbon-negative” EnviroCab company is set to receive 10 additional cab allocations. Separately, the company recently announced plans to add one all-electric Nissan Leaf to its current fleet of 49 hybrids.

Under the County Manager’s recommendations, Friendly Cab, Blue Top Cab and Red Top Cab will each be allowed to add five additional taxis to their fleet. The recommendations specify that Blue Top and Red Top are to add only wheelchair-accessible vehicles.

Donnellan’s recommendations will be considered by the County Board at its Nov. 17 meeting.

Taxi Driver Tased Outside Arlington National Cemetery

By ARLnow.com

A U.S. Park Police officer tased a taxi driver who “became disorderly” while waiting for a fare outside Arlington National Cemetery this morning.

The incident happened around 11:00 a.m. According to U.S. Park Police spokesman Sgt. Paul Brooks, an officer approached a cab that was waiting for a fare on Memorial Drive, near the cemetery, and asked to see the driver’s hack (taxi) license. The driver refused, became disorderly and exited his vehicle without being asked to do so, Brooks said. There was some sort of confrontation and the officer used a Taser to subdue the driver.

Medics from Arlington County responded to the scene to evaluate the driver, per standard procedure following a Taser deployment. The driver was arrested, but Brooks was unable to say what he was charged with.

No word yet on whether the taxi was from D.C., Arlington or another jurisdiction cab.

Arlington Police Help Wake Up Drunk Passenger in Ocean City Taxi

By ARLnow.com

Arlington County Police helped to wake up an intoxicated passenger in a taxi cab that had traveled all the way from Ocean City, Md. early Labor Day morning.

Police responded to the cab, which was parked on S. Joyce Street across from Pentagon Row, around 4:00 a.m. on Monday morning. They were told that the passenger was intoxicated and, following the 150+ mile drive from Ocean City to Arlington, the driver was not able to wake him up.

Police arrived on scene and assisted in waking up the man. Within a few minutes, the cab was on its way back to Ocean City.

Lauren Satchell, a manager for the cab company, Ocean City Taxi, said long distance rides like that one are not unheard of. In fact, she said the company handles one or two such requests per week. Recent destinations, according to one driver, included College Park, Md. and New York City.

“We go anywhere, as long as there’s money for the ride,” Satchell said. According to Satchell, passengers on such rides are required to make a $400 cash deposit prior to the trip. If there’s money left over at the end, it’s refunded. Another manager said the ride to Arlington would have likely cost around $350.

As for why passengers would travel such a far distance by cab, we’re told that the reasons vary, but usually involve some sort of emergency that requires them to get somewhere as soon as possible, or a situation that leaves them without transportation home.

“Usually, when someone goes from Ocean City to far away it’s because something happened, like they got pulled over and their license was suspended, or they come down with a friend and their friends left them,” Satchell said.

Satchell said she could not confirm why police were called on Monday, but did say that the company has a policy regarding unresponsive passengers.

“Legally we are not allowed to touch them to wake them up,” she said. “So if we can’t get them up by screaming, our procedure is to call the police department.”

County Staff Members Recommend Adding More Taxis

By Katie Pyzyk

For the first time in four years, the county is recommending an increase in the number of taxis on Arlington roads.

County staff members have been in an information gathering mode for evaluating how many taxi certificates to issue, a process that takes place every other year. Each taxi driver must have a certificate to legally operate in the county. Currently, there are 765 cabs in Arlington.

The county’s taxi regulation is designed to keep the cab industry competitive, as well as to ensure the satisfaction of residents using the transportation services.

“We regulate Arlington cabs so we know they’re safe and secure,” said the county’s Taxicab Industry Regulator, Angie de la Barrera. “Our ultimate goal is to protect the safety of the traveling public.”

Part of the evaluation involved an online resident survey, which was available from March through June. Information from the more than 1,000 responses was analyzed and included in the 2012 Taxicab Certificate Determination Report.

The county was pleased with the number of responses, according to de la Barrera, and also pleased that most customers expressed overall favorable views toward Arlington’s cabs. Thirty-six percent of respondents said cab service in the county is the same as in neighboring jurisdictions, and 56 percent said it’s better.

County staff suggest increasing the number of certificates by 5 to 7 percent, which would add up to between 40 and 55 cabs. This was based on various factors including a 4.2 percent increase in the county’s population, and an increase of 9.4 percent in the number of taxi trips at Reagan National Airport. There’s also been an increase in the number of tourists staying at Arlington hotels and requesting taxi service.

During the last review, in 2010, the county denied the requests for an additional 75 vehicles. GoGreen Cab, Inc., and EnviroCab, LLC, had both requested certificates, but the county felt the taxi industry was beyond saturation at that time due to a faltering economy. The report cited minimal population growth, lower tourism numbers and a decrease in passengers using cabs at the airport as reasons to deny the certificates.

According to de la Barrera, the last time additional taxi certificates were issued was in 2008, when 99 were added. That’s when EnviroCab first launched in Arlington, and received 50 of the new certificates. The remaining 49 were divided among the county’s other cab companies.

During the research process, county staff encountered numerous complaints about an inadequate number of taxis with handicap accessibility. Customers and businesses in need of one of the 27 wheelchair accessible cabs report regularly waiting from two to four hours if a reservation hadn’t been made in advance. Therefore, county staff members recommend granting certificates to five more accessible cabs, in addition to the suggested 40 to 55 other certificates.

The new report primarily focuses on determining whether or not the county needs more cabs, and why. A second report dealing with less pressing issues, such as customer preferences on hybrid cabs and paying with credit cards, is expected by the end of the summer.

Applications for additional taxi certificates will be accepted from now until September 1, and can be found on the Taxicab Regulation website. The County Board will view presentations from applicants, and is scheduled to vote on certificate approval on November 17. The board does not necessarily have to go along with the recommendations of county staff. For instance, board members could decide to grant fewer certificates than recommended, or none at all.

If approved, drivers should receive new taxi certificates by the new year.

Taxi Customers Asked to Fill Out Online Survey

By Katie Pyzyk

If you ride around Arlington in taxi cabs, the county wants to hear from you.

An online taxi survey has been set up to gather information about experiences with the cabs throughout Arlington. Residents, visitors and businesses are all encouraged to fill out the survey.

According to Richard Viola, the supervisor for the transportation planning section with Arlington’s Department of Environmental Services, the county is in the midst of re-evaluating how many taxi certificates to issue. It’s a process that takes place every other year, and cab drivers must have a certificate to operate in the county.

Viola says the survey will help to determine how well the current system is working, and whether the public is interested in expanding the number of taxis available throughout the county. It will also help to point out areas in need of more cabs, or certain times when more would be beneficial.

“We want to make sure the right number of cabs are on the street,” Viola said. “Putting too many on the street could be detrimental. You’ll see them waiting, circling and creating more traffic. It also hurts the cab drivers because they don’t have enough business and can’t make a living.”

There are currently 765 taxis throughout Arlington. So far, there has never been a decrease in the number of certificates issued; most years the number holds fairly steady.

The survey will be available through the middle of June. Soon after that, a summary with the results will be released.

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