When Mayor Adrian Fenty last semester issued a controversial order mandating taxicab drivers to switch from a zone-based system to a time-and-distance meter, we accepted his decision with reasonable qualifications.
As we outlined in a previous staff editorial, the new meter system provides much needed relief for our wallets, but the means by which the mayor procured that change were incredibly unfair to the cab drivers. We thus supported their strike on Halloween, their most profitable night of the year. They had just as much of a stake in the fare feud as we did, and they deserved to have their voices heard.
Imagine our disappointment when we learned that the mayor had processed another order without consulting the drivers. Lowering the base fare from $4 to $3 and decreasing the emergency-snow rate from double the fare to 25 percent, Fenty once again sacrificed the cab drivers' interests for our own.
While we certainly appreciate the financial relief, we don't accept Fenty's exclusion of the D.C. Taxicab Commission, not to mention the many drivers who rely on their now-reduced income to survive. And once again, The Eagle supports the drivers' decision to strike once a week, lasting from Feb. 4 until the beginning of baseball season.
We know such a strike might inconvenience D.C.'s most mobile - that's the point. In addition to voicing our support for the drivers, we implore AU students and D.C. residents to apply the same logic that motivated community support for the bus drivers' unionization efforts to the taxicab dilemma. The only fare any of us should be willing to accept is a fair one.
