I think Marc nails it.
But meters are coming, eventually, and now Fenty has scaled back the fares the city originally announced--and substantially so. Gone are the rush hour and additional passenger surcharges, and down, down come the initial fee and the snow emergency fee. If you're a cabbie in this town, the concept of meters was rough enough, given that they will likely diminish or eliminate Washington's grand tradition of owner-driven independent hacking in favor of the chain operations that dominate the suburban cab business. But now the proposed flag fare drops from $4 to $3 and the other pieces of the overall fare will substantially lower cabbies' income.
Check it out. The comments are rabid against him...I've never seen such venom directed towards a single group of people.
