Some travelers experienced the frustration of longer waits for cabs Wednesday as a number of the D.C.’s taxi drivers joined a Halloween strike to protest the city’s move to metered fares.

The strike's objective, according to William J. Wright of the Taxicab Industry Group, was to send a message to Mayor Adrian Fenty, who decided on Oct. 17 to switch from a zone-based fare system to a metered system based on time and distance.

Wegen Tadesse of the Ethiopian Ethio-American United Cab Owner Association estimated that about 97 percent of D.C.’s 7,500 drivers joined in the strike.

“I have to feed my family. ... How can the mayor make an one-sided decision like this without asking the people in the business?” Tadesse said.

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Roy D. Spooner, general manager of Yellow Cab Co. of D.C., said most drivers affiliated with his company seemed to be taking part in the strike.

Fenty ordered the change in response to federal legislation requiring meters, though the legislation included an option for Fenty to opt out.

“Our decision to switch to meters was made after hearing from the residents that they wanted a clear and transparent fare system,” Fenty said in a statement released Wednesday evening. “We’ll continue to move forward to present our draft regulations for public comment and hope this will be a productive process.”

At Union Station, the line for taxis reached several dozen people as morning trains from New York City and other points arrived. During the evening rush at the station, dispatchers Sam Kelsey and Elvis Narce reported waits for cabs had increased from the usual two or three minutes to 10 to 20 minutes, but lines of people waiting for cabs were short. Police were called in to the station to shoo away cab drivers not licensed to operate in D.C.

Wondwossen Kidane, a doormen at Capital Hilton Hotel on 16th Street, started working at 6:30 a.m. He hadn’t seen more than 10 cabs before 11:30 a.m. “If it weren't for the strike, you'd see a hundred cabs on this street,” Kidane said.

Kashmir Hill and The Associated Press contributed to this story.