From L-R: Pete Harman, Pete Tucker, Carolyn Robinson
LISTEN TO THE VOICE OF DC CAB DRIVERS
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“It’s just amazing to me that a lot of people that are not involved [with the taxicab industry] can sit and decide on rules and regulations that pertain to the drivers, and the drivers never have a seat at the table,” said Carolyn Robinson, a fourth generation Washingtonian who has driven a taxicab for 36 years and is affiliated with DC Professional Taxicab Drivers Association & Small Business Association of DC Taxicab Drivers.
Robinson was a guest on “The Voice of DC Cab Drivers,” which airs Sunday evenings from 7-8:00 p.m. on WUST 1120 AM. The show is sponsored by the Dominion of Cab Drivers.
Last month, the “Professional Taxicab Standards and Medallion Establishment Act of 2011” was introduced by Councilmembers Harry Thomas (Ward 5), Michael Brown (At large) and Marion Barry (Ward 8), and was co-sponsored by Yvette Alexander (Ward 7).
D.C.’s taxicab industry is unique in that it has many independent owner-operators, small companies and associations. The introduction of medallions could quickly lead to a consolidation of the market, as has happened in city after city.
Even John Ray, the former councilmember and leading medallion mouthpiece, said, “If you’re asking me, ‘Do I believe down the road that most of the medallions are going to be owned by companies?’ My answer would be ‘yes.'”
Larry Frankel, chairman of both the Dominion of Cab Drivers and the Small Business Association of DC Taxicab Drivers, said, “The introduction of this is an attack on our small businesses… This is almost a violent attack on us. It separates us by age. It separates us by race and ethnicity.”