DC cabs
February 12, 2012 12:41 AM Subscribe
Washington-DC-filter: What is protocol for getting cabs back to Virginia (Arlington) from within the District late at night? What are my rights as a passenger? Am I being ethical?
So I live in Arlington. And as we all know (assuming we're all DC metro area locals here), getting a DC cab back to anywhere in NoVa is a real bitch for DC cab drivers, considering they aren't legally allowed to pick up fares back to DC in Arlington. So it's a big a waste of time and money for them.
This makes it a real bitch for people like me who live in NoVa who have stayed out past their metro curfew and missed the last train. More times than I can count, cab drivers have done the following:
- When I hail a cab and try to enter the cab, they have locked their car doors until I tell them my destination
- Upon telling them that I'm traveling to Arlington, they have sped off
- If I make it into the cab before telling them my destination they have tried to negotiate a flat rate once I tell them I'm going to Arlington
- They have asked me to leave the cab once I tell them I'm going to Arlington (I didn't - they begrudgingly drove me back and it was awkward)
As a matter of fact, if I take a cab back to Arlington it's almost always a tense and awkward situation - I really do feel bad that the driver will not get a fare coming back into the district, but then again, how the hell am I supposed to get home safely if I didn't make my train? I always tip well (20-30%, or usually rounding up and adding a few extra bucks) and make it clear from the beginning that I will tip well, but it never sways the drivers. They just REALLY don't want to go to Virginia. Ideally I would always make my train back but lets be real, sometimes it just doesn't happen.
So my questions are:
- What are my rights as a passenger? In the DC cab.gov website it says that they are obligated to take passengers anywhere within the DISTRICT, but it doesn't say anything about MD or VA. Are cabs allowed to deny me a ride back to VA?
- Are cabs in service allowed keep their doors locked and drive off if they are not satisfied with the destination?
- Are they allowed to negotiate a flat rate?
- If they do try to deny me a ride while I am inside the cab, what do I do? Can I threaten to call the police or file a complaint? Can I refuse to leave the cab? Am I obligated to leave if they ask me?
- Am I being a prick or breaking some unwritten cultural rule making drivers take me back to Virgnia? Am I sort of obligated to pay a little extra to go to VA in a cab? Or do these drivers need to just suck it up and do their job? Who is the bad guy here? It's a strange mix of empathy and anger that I feel - on one hand, I agree it sucks that they are losing a fare, but on the other hand...do your goddamned job and drive me home, how the hell else am I supposed to get home?!!
Like I said, ideally I'd always make the train but every once in a while I miss it. So any advice on how to get home to VA from DC via cabs is what I'm looking for, especially from area locals.
So I live in Arlington. And as we all know (assuming we're all DC metro area locals here), getting a DC cab back to anywhere in NoVa is a real bitch for DC cab drivers, considering they aren't legally allowed to pick up fares back to DC in Arlington. So it's a big a waste of time and money for them.
This makes it a real bitch for people like me who live in NoVa who have stayed out past their metro curfew and missed the last train. More times than I can count, cab drivers have done the following:
- When I hail a cab and try to enter the cab, they have locked their car doors until I tell them my destination
- Upon telling them that I'm traveling to Arlington, they have sped off
- If I make it into the cab before telling them my destination they have tried to negotiate a flat rate once I tell them I'm going to Arlington
- They have asked me to leave the cab once I tell them I'm going to Arlington (I didn't - they begrudgingly drove me back and it was awkward)
As a matter of fact, if I take a cab back to Arlington it's almost always a tense and awkward situation - I really do feel bad that the driver will not get a fare coming back into the district, but then again, how the hell am I supposed to get home safely if I didn't make my train? I always tip well (20-30%, or usually rounding up and adding a few extra bucks) and make it clear from the beginning that I will tip well, but it never sways the drivers. They just REALLY don't want to go to Virginia. Ideally I would always make my train back but lets be real, sometimes it just doesn't happen.
So my questions are:
- What are my rights as a passenger? In the DC cab.gov website it says that they are obligated to take passengers anywhere within the DISTRICT, but it doesn't say anything about MD or VA. Are cabs allowed to deny me a ride back to VA?
- Are cabs in service allowed keep their doors locked and drive off if they are not satisfied with the destination?
- Are they allowed to negotiate a flat rate?
- If they do try to deny me a ride while I am inside the cab, what do I do? Can I threaten to call the police or file a complaint? Can I refuse to leave the cab? Am I obligated to leave if they ask me?
- Am I being a prick or breaking some unwritten cultural rule making drivers take me back to Virgnia? Am I sort of obligated to pay a little extra to go to VA in a cab? Or do these drivers need to just suck it up and do their job? Who is the bad guy here? It's a strange mix of empathy and anger that I feel - on one hand, I agree it sucks that they are losing a fare, but on the other hand...do your goddamned job and drive me home, how the hell else am I supposed to get home?!!
Like I said, ideally I'd always make the train but every once in a while I miss it. So any advice on how to get home to VA from DC via cabs is what I'm looking for, especially from area locals.
Not in DC, but in a similar situation I have called the taxi companies in my hometown asking if they had any cabs in the larger city I was visiting that had dropped anyone off or were enroute and if I could get a ride back with them. I figure it is a win for the driver who otherwise would have an empty cab that is not allowed to pick up passengers with in the city limits.
posted by saucysault at 2:21 AM on February 12, 2012 [3 favorites]
posted by saucysault at 2:21 AM on February 12, 2012 [3 favorites]
YOU are entirely within your rights, ethically and legally. THEY are most emphatically NOT, whether it's the locking you out until they hear your destination, telling you to get back out of their cab, or trying to negotiate a flat fee: as you note, this is after all what their job is about. Also, I would suggest you do NOT *promise* any tip up front, let alone your usual generous one.
Cabbies who refuse to carry you because of your destination are just begging to be reported to the DC Cab Comission.
posted by easily confused at 3:28 AM on February 12, 2012 [2 favorites]
Cabbies who refuse to carry you because of your destination are just begging to be reported to the DC Cab Comission.
posted by easily confused at 3:28 AM on February 12, 2012 [2 favorites]
Have you tried calling an Arlington based cab? I've called Red Top to pick me up at home (in the District) and go to National a few times. It worked well.
Also, I haven't tried uber, but I've heard good things.
posted by Xalf at 3:45 AM on February 12, 2012 [2 favorites]
Also, I haven't tried uber, but I've heard good things.
posted by Xalf at 3:45 AM on February 12, 2012 [2 favorites]
Long shot, but is it possible to get one cab to one of the chain hotels in downtown Arlington (that is, would they be happier to go to a hotel where they can get a fare back to DC), and then get another cab to where you live?
posted by carter at 4:00 AM on February 12, 2012
posted by carter at 4:00 AM on February 12, 2012
//get one cab to one of the chain hotels in downtown Arlington//
That probably isn't a bad idea during the day, but at 2 AM I doubt there are fares to be had going from the hotel in Arlington back to DC, so it's not going to do anything for the cabbie.
posted by COD at 6:26 AM on February 12, 2012
That probably isn't a bad idea during the day, but at 2 AM I doubt there are fares to be had going from the hotel in Arlington back to DC, so it's not going to do anything for the cabbie.
posted by COD at 6:26 AM on February 12, 2012
Out-of-jurisdiction fare rules are one of the most carefully negotiated issues between taxi commissions and taxi owners. Abiding by those rules isn't a "big waste of time and money for them." They are compensated for it by their monopoly over street hails in the District. Insist on your rights and don't overpay to exercise them.
posted by MattD at 6:58 AM on February 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by MattD at 6:58 AM on February 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
I don't know Arlington from a hole in the ground, but my wife lived in DC for 9 years, and she says you should call Red Top to come and get you. When she needed to get from home in DC to the airport in VA, she called Red Top (VA cab company) to fetch her, and it was never a problem.
posted by jon1270 at 6:59 AM on February 12, 2012
posted by jon1270 at 6:59 AM on February 12, 2012
Just wanted to pop by and empathize - when I lived in DC, I lived in SE and had the same thing happen to me multiple times. As soon as the word "Southeast" came out of my mouth, the cab disappeared.
I never had any luck convincing a cabbie that just really didn't want to drive down there. I even pointed out that refusing me was illegal numerous times. They didn't care. Here's hoping you have better luck than I ever did.
posted by brynna at 9:21 AM on February 12, 2012
I never had any luck convincing a cabbie that just really didn't want to drive down there. I even pointed out that refusing me was illegal numerous times. They didn't care. Here's hoping you have better luck than I ever did.
posted by brynna at 9:21 AM on February 12, 2012
I've had this happen many times at the cab stand across from my old office in NW. It was in front of a hotel, so I guess they were waiting for the $75+ fares out to IAD or something. I've taken photos of them, told them I will be reporting them (and followed through) and nothing's happened. Your rights as a taxi passenger, such as they are, appear to be entirely irrelevant as far as my experience shows.
The most successful approach that I've found was to say "a big tip if you're quick" or something along those lines.
Where in Arlington though? I am just barely across the river, so that might have something to do with it.
The advice to use Red Top is good. They are an excellent taxi service and I use them whenever I can. Also, using RideCharge to get a cab can be very helpful. They simply can't ditch you when they find out your destination because there is a digital record of them being dispatched to your location. This is probably also true of cabs you call, but a complaint to RideCharge that might put them in bad standing with them, and they make a ton of money for taxi companies, is probably more meaningful than a complaint to their dispatcher.
posted by feloniousmonk at 9:29 AM on February 12, 2012
The most successful approach that I've found was to say "a big tip if you're quick" or something along those lines.
Where in Arlington though? I am just barely across the river, so that might have something to do with it.
The advice to use Red Top is good. They are an excellent taxi service and I use them whenever I can. Also, using RideCharge to get a cab can be very helpful. They simply can't ditch you when they find out your destination because there is a digital record of them being dispatched to your location. This is probably also true of cabs you call, but a complaint to RideCharge that might put them in bad standing with them, and they make a ton of money for taxi companies, is probably more meaningful than a complaint to their dispatcher.
posted by feloniousmonk at 9:29 AM on February 12, 2012
I live down in Springfield, and have run into your predicament MANY times. My only solution has been to take Metro to Pentagon City and cab it from there.
If if they WERE required to accept you as a fare, there's not much in your favor in regards to enforcement.
The only suggestion I'd give is don't HAIL a cab... call a cab service so they dispatch someone to you, knowing ahead of time what your destination is going to be.
posted by matty at 9:40 AM on February 12, 2012
If if they WERE required to accept you as a fare, there's not much in your favor in regards to enforcement.
The only suggestion I'd give is don't HAIL a cab... call a cab service so they dispatch someone to you, knowing ahead of time what your destination is going to be.
posted by matty at 9:40 AM on February 12, 2012
I live in DC (a neighborhood that's not the greatest) and cabs often drive off if I mention that's where I'm going. I will no longer say where I'm going until I'm inside the cab - I pretend that I don't hear them or that I don't speak great English (spouting off some French helps) and then when I'm in I give directions. But honestly, some have flat-out refused to take me there. I take a picture of the cab or their license and them and yell at them a bit but really it doesn't work. And calling cabs to get me places has never worked - they just don't show up.
Anyway - you are well within your rights to be taken to Virginia (the rate goes up! you're even paying extra!) and you should not feel bad. I try and have some sympathy for cab drivers, as it is a dangerous, tiring, and low-paid profession, but that means I should tip well and be considerate, not, you know, hold them to the law.
posted by quadrilaterals at 10:23 AM on February 12, 2012
Anyway - you are well within your rights to be taken to Virginia (the rate goes up! you're even paying extra!) and you should not feel bad. I try and have some sympathy for cab drivers, as it is a dangerous, tiring, and low-paid profession, but that means I should tip well and be considerate, not, you know, hold them to the law.
posted by quadrilaterals at 10:23 AM on February 12, 2012
Did this probably at least 30 times back in 2004-2006. What I did: tell the cabbie where I'm going (Arlington) and set a price (usually $30)-- before I even got in the cab. Usually get a cab within 3 tries.
posted by sandmanwv at 11:27 AM on February 12, 2012
posted by sandmanwv at 11:27 AM on February 12, 2012
Been there. Red Top (love them!), Econo Cab (if they still exist) or Uber are the way to go here.
posted by semacd at 11:53 AM on February 12, 2012
posted by semacd at 11:53 AM on February 12, 2012
Yeah, now that I'm thinking about it I had a couple different cab companies programmed into my phone, organized by region -- like DC Taxis -- NAME, MD Taxi -- NAME, VA Taxi -- NAME.
The good thing about calling a cab is that dispatch starts recognizing your number/voice/name and you get way better service because dispatch can describe you to the driver (so no one will steal your cab) and they know where you're going and can get you a driver that's down for that.
posted by spunweb at 2:26 PM on February 12, 2012
The good thing about calling a cab is that dispatch starts recognizing your number/voice/name and you get way better service because dispatch can describe you to the driver (so no one will steal your cab) and they know where you're going and can get you a driver that's down for that.
posted by spunweb at 2:26 PM on February 12, 2012
Interesting...I live in MD and I've been told by taxi drivers that they only drive within the district. Didn't know they weren't supposed to say that. It was so annoying when I first moved here because I'm less than 2 miles into MD.
posted by fromageball at 3:04 PM on February 12, 2012
posted by fromageball at 3:04 PM on February 12, 2012
I'm not in DC, but I am in another city with a similar problem. I've had good luck with the Taxi Magic app. You can book the trip on your iPhone, usually track the cab on the way, and pay from your phone itself. Taxi drivers are insanely annoying in this city (don't show up after being dispatched, regularly refuse to take credit cards, even if I've told the dispatcher I don't have cash, tried to add on "extra passenger" prices for a kid, drive like raging lunatics, drive while texting or eating, etc.) This app has actually worked well for me to solve some of those problems.
I'm assuming that ZipCar isn't a solution here because it's too suburban or you've been drinking, but it actually worked well in this situation for a friend in another city.
posted by barnone at 5:07 PM on February 12, 2012
I'm assuming that ZipCar isn't a solution here because it's too suburban or you've been drinking, but it actually worked well in this situation for a friend in another city.
posted by barnone at 5:07 PM on February 12, 2012
Red Top was my first answer, but my second answer is, you may have better luck downtown in DC if you walk into a hotel like you are staying there, wait five minutes in the lobby fiddling with your phone, and then head out and have the door guy hail you a cab. (Tip him two bucks!) Doormen have relationships with regular cabbies at their hotels, and the cabbies won't want to endanger those relationships because it's reliable money.
posted by juniperesque at 6:23 PM on February 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
posted by juniperesque at 6:23 PM on February 12, 2012 [1 favorite]
Bear in mind that the margin on being a taxi driver in DC is not great. In the taxi I got from IAD to Arlington I happened to chat to the driver about the business model. He pays the taxi company $160 a day for the cab, so needs to make that each day before he is in profit. Some days are good, but on bad days he can end up making a loss.
I still think you are perfectly justified to insist on your rights and make them take you home, as long as you tip well, as you say you do. You may want to mention that upfront.
posted by w0mbat at 11:44 PM on February 12, 2012
I still think you are perfectly justified to insist on your rights and make them take you home, as long as you tip well, as you say you do. You may want to mention that upfront.
posted by w0mbat at 11:44 PM on February 12, 2012
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B) They can't refuse a fare, except for a few limited reasons (being outside of DC isn't one of them).
posted by empath at 2:10 AM on February 12, 2012