There were noticeably fewer taxis on the downtown streets of Washington on Wednesday between 5 and 10 p.m. I guess the cab drivers managed to get more than a few of their brothers and sisters to participate in their strike.

But I have to wonder to what end?

Yes, the strike was to show cabbies’ displeasure with Mayor Adrian Fenty’s decision to do away with the zone system in favor of time and distance meters, but isn’t it a little late?

Didn’t these drivers and their companies already let it be known that they didn’t like the idea? Is there some hidden threat that these drivers are going to quit their jobs once meters are in the cabs?

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This strike seems to show that there is some solidarity on the part of cab drivers in the District, but the action has been taken, and the mayor is not likely to suddenly change his mind because several hundred cabs took the night off. He’s not Tony Williams.

Maybe next time, when the City Council votes to demand cabs to be clean and in good repair and that drivers actually know where they are going, these drivers can stand on a street corner and hold their breath or threaten not to eat dinner.

SoberRide again a success

Despite the cab strike, the Washington Regional Alcohol Program (WRAP) reports that 280 people took advantage of its SoberRide program of free cab rides home for those who had too much to drink on Halloween. Further, it says that half of those rides were given within the District.

That means that almost 300 people who shouldn’t have been behind the wheel driving weren’t and that many potential wrecks were thwarted.

Congratulations and thank you to WRAP President Kurt Erickson, all the volunteers and all the sponsors, and especially to the cab drivers who worked as part of this program, for making our streets safer.

Planned Metro hikes are taxes

Howard wrote in with a great take on the mess involving the District’s desire to let suburban transit riders pay the lion’s share of the fare and fee increases:.

“Being a commuter who travels in from Shady Grove to D.C., I see the outrageous 20+% fare hikes for riders such as me as a de facto commuter tax.

“I think the Metro representatives from D.C. have been instructed by D.C. government officials to refuse any fare hike plan that has any fair hike for bus riders because they (D.C. officials and Metro Board members) know bus riders reside primarily in the District.”

Howard has nailed it.

This is the latest attempt by the District to install a commuter tax. I just wish I had thought of it earlier.

steve@sprawlandcrawl.com