Taxicab

MOSCOW - Authorities in the former Soviet republic of Georgia said yesterday that they had discovered two boxes of highly radioactive material that officials said could have been used to make a "dirty bomb," as well as a container of nerve gas, in a taxicab in the capital, Tbilisi. The announcement appeared to underscore concerns about the vulnerability of the former Soviet Union's vast, crumbling nuclear infrastructure and chemical weapons arsenal to thieves and terrorists. Georgian officials said police were conducting a routine search of the cab on May 31 on the road to Tbilisi's main railway station when they found three boxes, two of which contained Cesium-137 and Strontium-90, both of which are by-products of nuclear fission.

Baltimore is a city, to use a popular catch phrase of urban planners, "in transition." Many of Baltimore's once-mighty industries are gone. The city has struggled with unemployment and a declining population. Baltimore, during the 1980s and 1990s, however, witnessed somewhat of a renaissance, spurred primarily by the development of the Inner Harbor and the opening of Oriole Park at Camden Yards.However, in the city's and the state's zeal to promote tourism, attract sports franchises and revitalize big business, Baltimore's proud history of local entrepreneurship and small enterprise has for the most part been overlooked.

A fuel surcharge that Anne Arundel County taxi drivers collect may soon be tied to the price of gasoline under a measure before the County Council tomorrow night. The Anne Arundel County Council will hold a public hearing tomorrow on emergency legislation that, if passed, would establish a sliding scale of gas surcharges that would change each April and October based on the average price of gas in Maryland. Annapolis passed a bill last year that instituted a range of gas surcharges on taxi passengers.

The cost of hailing a taxi at Baltimore-Washington International Airport is expected to rise soon to help offset the rapid rise of gasoline prices -- a business cost that cab companies say is cutting into profits and making it hard to keep drivers. BWI Airport Taxi -- the only taxi service licensed to pick up passengers at the airport -- and other Anne Arundel cab companies have asked for an increase of more than 20 percent. If approved, the cost of a 15-mile ride would jump from $19.90 to $24.55, assuming no heavy traffic slows the trip.

Forrest F. Gesswein, a decorated World War II veteran who owned a Parkville taxicab business, died of heart disease Sunday at his Parkville home. He was 89. Born in Baltimore, he was a 1937 Towson High School graduate. As a young man, he assisted his parents at their Parkville family restaurant. He handled the beer kegs and bought eggs from local farmers. As World War II approached, he enlisted in the Marines and was sent to the Pacific. He fought and was wounded at the Battle of Guadalcanal.

The Howard County Council approved last night a slight increase in taxicab fares and a transfer of funds to help buy 25 acres of land in Ellicott City for a new government office complex. The votes on both measures were unanimous, though western county Republican Allan H. Kittleman warned that he supported only the purchase of land, and is reserving judgment on what should be built on the acreage a half-mile from the county office complex. "It's important that we purchase this land," Kittleman said.

For those who have ridden with Baltimore cabbies who get lost in Little Italy, play the radio loud enough to wake the dead or spend a ride speaking on a cell phone, help is on the way. The city's nearly 2,000 taxi drivers will be taught and tested on basic knowledge of the city's culture, geography, economy and history, with an accent on making a good first impression on tourists. The mandatory training program unveiled yesterday is inspired not by Miss Manners but a state law that views cabdrivers as "hospitality professionals."

Pushed by rising prices for gasoline, insurance and repairs, taxicab fares will go up Friday in Baltimore City and Baltimore County for the first time in seven years, and Howard County isn't far behind. A five-mile ride will cost $10.15 in the city and Baltimore County, up about 20 percent from current rates of $8.50 in the city and $8.60 in the county, under a decision by the Maryland Public Service Commission. When city and county cab drivers got their last fare increase, in 1998, unleaded regular gas averaged $1.06 a gallon, according to government statistics.

LONDON -- With a map and a motorbike, Phil Barber pursues "The Knowledge."Like thousands of other would-be London taxi drivers, Barber is up before dawn, prowling the city, searching for streets and landmarks that must be memorized.Most nights, he sits in a smoke-filled classroom, reciting convoluted directions with other students, imagining himself as a taxi driver ferrying tourists and locals through a metropolis.To become a taxi driver, Barber must acquire "The Knowledge," the ability to learn and recite about 800 routes around one of the world's more confounding cities.

The state Public Utilities Commission will schedule a formal hearing on whether to make Uber Technologies, which lets Baltimore customers hail a town car by smart phone, abide by regulations that govern taxi companies. The app-driven startup company Uber entered the Baltimore market in January, raising the ire of local cab companies that said it was skirting state regulations. Century-old Yellow Cab filed a challenge with the commission, contending that Uber should not be allowed to operate here until it complies with the same safety and insurance regulations as traditional taxi and limo companies.