Falling gas prices cut DC cab costs as fuel charge expires

Falling energy prices mean it will cost a little less to lobby on energy in the Beltway.

The District of Columbia Taxicab Commission announced Friday that the $1 per trip surcharge imposed almost 16 months ago will expire at midnight Wednesday, making it a tad cheaper for lobbyists of all stripes to zip around to meetings.

The fee was imposed in early March 2011 when the average regular gasoline price in the Capital was $3.45 a gallon. It was extended three times thereafter, including on March 6 of this year, when the average cost was $3.85 per gallon, the commission said.

Prices remain higher than when the fee was imposed last year, though the commission noted projected declines during the summer. The current average D.C. price is $3.66 per gallon, according to the commission.

“The Commission will continue to monitor the cost of gasoline throughout the summer and fall and should conditions change it will consider appropriate action,” Commission Chairman Ron M. Linton said in a statement Friday.

The declines in the District reflect falling average prices nationwide. The average nationwide cost for regular gasoline is about $3.51 per gallon, according to AAA, well below the peak of almost $4 per gallon earlier this year.

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