Alex Massie Alex Massie

Department of Local Interest

Lots of talk about taxis in Washington DC and, more particularly the Mayor’s announcement that DC will switch to a meter system, abandoning the current fare tariff which is based upon a zone system that seems, frankly, arbitrary* in the extreme and unlike any other system I’ve encountered in any developed city anywhere in the world.

The prevailing view is that switching to meters is good news – especially for tourists who may be less likely to be ripped off by cabbies claiming they’ve crossed three zones rather than two etc etc. Too bad for tourists if you ask me; voters get ripped off in Washington all the time and, as Capra and any number of film-makers have demonstrated, the city’s no place for callow idealists. Welcome to DC: Where We’re Always Ready to Pay to Play. As Truman said, If you want a friend in this town, get a dog.

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