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DISTRICT OF COLUMBIA TAXICAB COMMISSION
NOTICE OF FINAL RULEMAKING
The District of Columbia Taxicab Commission (“Commission”), pursuant to the authority set forth in Sections 8(c)(1), (19), 14, and 20a of the District of Columbia Taxicab Commission Establishment Act of 1985 (“Establishment Act”), effective March 25, 1986 (D.C. Law 6-97; D.C. Official Code §§ 50-307(c)(1), (19), 50-313, and 50-320 (2014 Repl.)), hereby gives notice of its intent to adopt amendments to Chapter 8 (Operation of Taxicabs) of Title 31 (Taxicabs and Public Vehicles for Hire) of the District of Columbia Municipal Regulations (DCMR).
The amendments to Chapter 8 raise the wait time rate in § 801.7(c)(1)(C) from the current amount of twenty five dollars ($25) per hour to thirty five dollars ($35) per hour to make it consistent with the other time-based taximeter rate (the hourly contract rate in § 801.7(b). The amendments also make grammar, style, and technical corrections.
The proposed rulemaking was adopted by the Commission on January 14, 2015 and published in the D.C. Register on March 6, 2015 at 62 DCR 002780. The Commission did not receive any comments during the comment period which expired on April 6, 2015. No substantial changes were required and no substantial changes have been made.
The Commission voted to adopt this rulemaking as final on April 8, 2015, and it will become effective upon publication in the D.C. Register.
CHAPTER 8, OPERATION OF PUBLIC VEHICLES FOR HIRE, of Title 31 DCMR, TAXICABS AND PUBLIC VEHICLES FOR HIRE, is amended as follows:
Section 801, PASSENGER RATES AND CHARGES, is amended to read as follows:
Subsection 801.7 is amended to read as follows:
801.7 Taxicab fares shall be as follows:
(a) Each taximeter fare shall consist only of the time and distance charges, and authorized additional charges provided in this subsection, as applicable.
(b) The hourly contract rate for a taxicab trip booked on a time basis by advance contract shall be thirty-five dollars ($35) for the first one (1) hour or fraction thereof, and eight dollars and seventy-five cents ($8.75) for each additional fifteen (15) minutes or fraction thereof, without regard to distance. No additional charges are authorized.
(c) Fare for trips booked by a street hail, a telephone dispatch or a digital dispatch by a DDS that does not process digital payments (in-vehicle payment only) shall be as follows:
(1) The time and distance charges that shall be automatically generated by the taximeter for a taxicab trip booked by a street hail, telephone dispatch, or digital dispatch by a DDS that does not process digital payments are established as follows:
(A) Three dollars and twenty-five cents ($3.25) for entry (drop rate) and the first one-eighth (1/8) of a mile;
(B) Twenty-seven cents ($0.27) for each one-eighth (1/8) of a mile after the first one-eighth (1/8) of a mile;
(C) Wait time shall be calculated as follows:
i. The rate is thirty five dollars ($35.00) per hour;
ii. Wait time begins five (5) minutes after the taxicab arrives at the place to which it was dispatched and no wait time shall be charged for premature response to a dispatch;
iii. Wait time shall also be charged for time consumed while the taxicab is stopped or slowed to a speed of less than ten (10) miles per hour for longer than sixty (60) seconds and for time consumed for delays or stopovers en route at the direction of the passenger; and
iv. Wait time shall be calculated in sixty (60) second increments and does not include time lost due to taxicab or operator inefficiency.
(2) The authorized additional charges which shall be included in the taximeter fare for a trip booked by a street hail, or a telephone dispatch, or a digital dispatch by a DDS that does not process digital payments are the following:
(A) A fee for telephone dispatch, if any, which shall be two dollars ($2.00);
(B) A taxicab passenger surcharge, which shall be twenty-five cents ($.25) (per trip, not per passenger);
(C) A charge for delivery service (messenger service and parcel pick-up and delivery), which shall be at the same rate as for a single passenger unless the vehicle is hired by the hour pursuant to § 801.4;
(D) An airport surcharge or toll paid by the taxicab operator, if any, which shall be charged in an amount equal to the amount paid by the operator;
(E) An additional passenger fee, if there is more than one (1) passenger, which shall be one dollar ($1.00) regardless of the number of additional passengers (the total fee shall not exceed one dollar ($1.00)); and
(F) A snow emergency fare when authorized under § 804.
(d) Fare for trips booked by digital dispatch and paid by digital payment shall be as follows:
(1) Time and distance charges. The time and distance charges for a taxicab trip booked by a digital dispatch are established as follows: zero dollars ($0) regardless of the amount displayed on the taximeter.
(2) Authorized additional charges. The additional charges which shall be included in the taximeter fare for a trip booked by a digital dispatch are the following: zero dollars ($0) regardless of the amount displayed on the taximeter.
(3) DDS charges. The only charges, if any, which may be assessed to the passenger for a trip paid by digital payment shall be those charges billed directly to the passenger by the DDS, which shall not be displayed on the taximeter except as permitted or required by an applicable provision of this title, and which shall adhere to the requirements of § 1402.11, in the same manner and to the same extent as if the taxicab were a sedan, including the requirement that the District be paid the passenger surcharge in the manner required by this title.
