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Cabbies Stiffed by Credit Cards Payment delays add fuel to fight against D.C. requirements Washington D.C.’s effort to modernize its taxi fleet has hit yet another snag: Some drivers say they are not being paid for thousands of dollars in fares paid by credit card. Cesar Beltethon, who drives for Rock Creek Taxicab Company, said he had to wait several weeks to receive $1,000 in fares. He has since been paid but remains uneasy. “Trouble,” said Beltethon, who has driven a cab for more than
20 years. “We always have trouble.” The issue is the latest in a series of frustrations cabbies say they’ve encountered as the District has moved to make its taxi fleet more user-friendly and competitive. Drivers say the city’s new requirements, which include the installation of credit-card readers, larger
91%
The amount of D.C.’s 6,500 taxis that have had credit-card readers installed, according to the D.C. Taxicab Commission. Drivers who haven’t met the deadline risk having their cars impounded.
and brighter dome lights and a new red-and-gray color scheme, are too costly and are coming too quickly. Officials at Hitch, the payment-processing company that the affected drivers use, say they are working to resolve the creditcard payment issue. But they maintain the problems aren’t all their
20%
The estimated amount of cab fares that the commission expects to be paid using credit cards during the first year of requirements. Figures for the amount of fares paid so far by credit are not yet available. (T WP)
hat fault. CEO David Miller said that ed some payments have been delayed ad because the company received bad ng information from drivers including mainaccurate bank account information or routing numbers. ces Hitch, which provides services to roughly 1,600 of the estimated 6,100 D.C. cabs that have installed the new readers, is one of eight companies cab drivers may contract with to provide credit-card processing services. Miller said the company has made changes in hopes of preventing future delays in payment. “We believe this will all shake out in the next week or two,” he said. LORI ARATANI (THE WASHINGTON POST)
NO INJURIES
Metrobus in Flames An off-duty Metrobus caught fire early Monday morning. The incident occurred around 1:30 a.m., along New York Avenue NE between Bladensburg Road and South Dakota Avenue, just outside of Metro’s Bladensburg bus division. No one was injured. Investigators are searching for a cause. (THE WASHINGTON POST )
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