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CougarTim
There are more than a hundred taxi companies in Washington, DC, each with their own unique livery: http://app.dctaxi.dc.gov/taxilist.asp?page=1&search=
It's one thing I've always loved about the city, as well as the sheer variety of cars used as taxis. It made the city distinct from someplace like New York. Apparently, my love of variety puts me in the minority. I really don't think this uniformity is necessary, but I don't live in the District and don't use taxis anyway, so ultimately it's not my place to say.
Anyway, a taxi reform bill passed this summer has mandated that all DC taxis will wear a uniform color scheme. The exact scheme is still being debated, and I'm not sure when the change will be implemented, but the days of Washington's rainbow of taxis are coming to an end.
Some of the proposed schemes:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/mike-debonis/wp/2012/12/10/behold-your-potential-d-c-taxi-color-schemes/
There was also talk of limiting the age of taxis (removing old vehicles from service), but I don't know if that passed as well. You can still find cars like Caprices and Roadmasters (both out of production since 1996) as taxis in DC, but the average taxi rider apparently likes new cars. Philistines.
Attached is a picture I took in May of taxis at National Airport; the back three rows with the orange and the blue/white cars are Virginia taxis but the first three rows are DC taxis.
It's one thing I've always loved about the city, as well as the sheer variety of cars used as taxis. It made the city distinct from someplace like New York. Apparently, my love of variety puts me in the minority. I really don't think this uniformity is necessary, but I don't live in the District and don't use taxis anyway, so ultimately it's not my place to say.
Anyway, a taxi reform bill passed this summer has mandated that all DC taxis will wear a uniform color scheme. The exact scheme is still being debated, and I'm not sure when the change will be implemented, but the days of Washington's rainbow of taxis are coming to an end.
Some of the proposed schemes:
http://www.washingtonpost.com/blogs/mike-debonis/wp/2012/12/10/behold-your-potential-d-c-taxi-color-schemes/
There was also talk of limiting the age of taxis (removing old vehicles from service), but I don't know if that passed as well. You can still find cars like Caprices and Roadmasters (both out of production since 1996) as taxis in DC, but the average taxi rider apparently likes new cars. Philistines.
Attached is a picture I took in May of taxis at National Airport; the back three rows with the orange and the blue/white cars are Virginia taxis but the first three rows are DC taxis.