The D.C. Taxicab Commission is “seriously considering” getting rid of the District’s often-criticized zone system and switching to meters after more than 70 years of heated debate over the fare system.

Commission Chairman Causton Toney said the commission is awaiting the results of a groundbreaking six-month study to compare metered and zone rates for comparable trips before making official recommendations. The study, which ended last week and was paid for by the Mayor’s Office, will analyze an estimated 30,000 trip logs collected by 25 drivers to formulate a “revenue-neutral” meter fare should the zone system be replaced.

The study will give the District its first detailed description of ridership in the city’s 7,265 taxicabs, officials said.

Causton, who replaced ousted Commission Chair Lee Williams last May, said switching to meters could be just part of what he believes will be a major overhaul of the troubled system over the next five years.

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“We have a hugely broken system — a system broken at its core,” Toney told The Examiner.

The commission already has scheduled six community meetings in August to discuss the results of the study, being compiled by George Washington University, and to seek input on any future recommendations.

“It’s fair to say we will have solid recommendations in a few months,” he said. “Not days or years, but months.”

Critics such as 40-year veteran driver Billy Ray Edwards say the meter system will make trips into the city from poorer neighborhoods unaffordable for residents and only benefit businesspeople and tourists who take short rides though downtown. Proponents say meters would make trips to the city’s outlying areas more lucrative for drivers and simplify rates for riders.

Causton said the District has an extraordinary amount of complaints compared to other systems — mainly because of overcharging and refusing service to certain outlying areas. Fairfax County taxi services averages about 30 complaints per year on 1.8 million rides annually, officials said. Causton said the District, which averages an estimated 23 million rides, receives 30 complaints in a week.

“It’s not racism … that is causing these problems,” Causton said. “What it really boils down to is economics and the zones are at the root of it.”

Dante Scott, who served as project manager for the study through the Mayor’s Office, said the results of the study should by ready by the end of the month.

In the zone

» The Taxicab Commission is an independent agency that regulates, oversees and enforces laws for taxis.

» Congress banned meters in 1933 despite a city decision and a court ruling that said the zone system is illegal.

» The current system is nearly identical to the zones established then.

» A similar effort failed in 1996 when Congress didn’t fund a D.C. Council-approved plan to phase in meters over a two-year period.

mrupert@dcexaminer.com