D.C. taxicab drivers to rally Wednesday June 1 at 1:00 p.m. at Freedom Plaza (1350 Pennsylvania Ave, NW)
The District of Columbia’s taxicab drivers are under attack. May 27, The Small Business Association of DC Taxicab Drivers attempted to submit a petition signed by more than 900 licensed taxi drivers in opposition to the attempt to rewrite the legal framework that governs the taxicab industry (Title 31). The D.C. Taxicab Commission (DCTC) responded by pushing drivers out, locking the doors, contacting the police and calling the group “a mob.“
Also, several councilmembers recently sponsored legislation that would bring taxicab medallions to D.C. If passed, the medallion bill is likely to lead to the loss of more than 4,000 jobs, as well as “windfall profits for a small group of people; an overall decline in service with longer waits and higher fares; and a system open to corruption,” the Washington Post noted in an editorial.
The DCTC oversees the taxicab industry (but doesn’t have a single taxicab driver on it). Interim Chair Dena Reed has been less than driver-friendly. At the one public hearing held on the (her) proposed rewrite of Title 31, signs were posted on the DCTC walls that read, “NO TELEVISION CAMERAS. NO VIDEO TAPING. NO AUDIO TAPING.” And at the March DCTC meeting, then General Counsel Dena Reed attempted to ban Fox5 photojournalist Jason Smith from filming.
The attacks on drivers – many of whom hail from countries other than the U.S. – are at least partly due to xenophobia/racism. At a March 30 press conference Councilmember Marion Barry scolded drivers for protesting the medallion bill, which he co-introduced. “For those of you who are not from America, we welcome you, but we do things just little differently here,” said Barry. “We’re not going to make an ass of ourselves out here in public [by protesting]. Everybody get that?… Not in America [are] we doing that… We’re not going to look like fools out here.”