I'm mainly with Tom Lee on the new, less maniacally complicated cab fares. I'd warn, though, that the existence of saner, more affordable cab cultures in other cities doesn't necessarily have a lot of relevance in this situation. Making trades give up deals they have is a pretty tricky proposition. Just as it's hard for labor to radically improve their compensation, it's hard for management -- or regulators -- to swiftly degrade it. Those protecting the status quo are always well armed, and in this case, the cabbies will have a lot of organizing tools to pressure Fenty to back down, starting with strikes. His saving grace is that DC residents so loathe the cab system and the drivers they sense to be constantly screwing them that they'll probably wait out a strike simply to exact some vengeance.
