Injunction halts lower taxi mileage rates
A Baltimore Circuit Court judge has granted a group of Baltimore taxi drivers a temporary injunction to stop the state Public Service Commission from making lower mileage rates effective Sunday, a representative of the group said yesterday. Rates were set to decrease from $2.20 per mile to $1.65 March 1, an automatic adjustment based on a twice-annual review of gas prices in January and July. A flat rate from downtown hotels to BWI Marshall Airport would also decrease from $30 to $22. Two cab companies have petitioned the PSC, which regulates taxi rates in Baltimore, Baltimore County and Cumberland, to keep mileage rates the same. The court injunction will remain in place until commissioners hear the case March 25, said driver Goitom Gebre-Ab. Gas prices are down, but cab drivers say other expenses have increased, including insurance, association dues and maintenance. The current $2.20-per-mile rate has been in effect since September, an increase of 20 cents based on a July gas price assessment. He and other drivers said that other jurisdictions have recently increased rates, such as Anne Arundel County. Council members there recently approved increased mileage rates from $2 per mile to $2.50, said Anne Hatcher, chief of licensing in the county's Department of Licensing and Permits. That was the first increase since 2006, she said.
