Photo by PoPville flickr user Clif Burns
“Dear PoPville,
I was on a very delayed flight into DCA on Sunday evening (Monday morning). By the time everyone on the plane had retrieved luggage, it was around 2:15 am and everyone on the plane needed a cab. When my turn came, I offered to share with the woman behind me as I was going to Columbia Heights and she was going to Shaw, so it wasn’t terribly out of the way to drop her off first. The total on the meter at that point was $17 and I was going to make some change for her, because the ride from Shaw to Columbia Heights is shorter but at that point the driver said we both had to pay $20, because “that’s how it’s done” from DCA. Is this correct? I would have had to pay $20 had I been on my own because that’s generally the cost to Columbia Heights from DCA, but it seems like if I had been with a friend then it would have been two separate metered fares rather than both of us handing over $20 off-meter. Does anyone know the protocol in this situation? I just would like to know my passenger rights.
*Meant to add there was a cab shortage and the cab guys at DCA were asking people to share.”