Taxi Meters? Yes. Now the Hard Part.

Mayor Adrian Fenty has finally brought 21^st century Washington, DC firmly into the 20^th century by mandating use of meters in the city’s taxicabs.

The District of Columbia first planned this move in the 1930s but Congress imposed a quaint zone sytem so members and staffers could have cheap rides to the office from their segregated neighborhoods. Housing patterns changed but Congress still tacked a taxi zone rider to every annual DC funding bill until now.

DC will soon have taxi meters like every other major city in the world. Now comes the hard part.

Ladies and Gentlemen, please regard Exhibits A and B (above). In every other city on Earth, Exhibit A (rooftop taxi light ON) means the cab is empty, available for hire; Exhibit B (rooftop taxi light OFF) means the cab is occupied or off-duty, unavailable for hire.

In the District of Columbia, A means “cab occupied;” B means “cab available.”

I imagine this unique rule or custom was developed by our city’s sportsmen, eager for greater challenges in hailing cabs on dark night-time streets. Other possible explanations violate city regulations and common courtesy and I simply refuse to consider them.

It is time for this peculiar practice to change. Please urge our elected and appointed officials to bring Washington’s taxi light rules into congruence with those of other cities and simple logic. Do not let them complicate things with any “Off Duty,” “Out to Lunch” or “Talking to My Homeboys on My Cell Phone” lights.

“On” for “available;” “Off for “occupied.” Simple.