Ok so within 48 hrs of learning about envirocab I was able to get some "front line" reporting of the envirocab experience. This is either because my brother loves me very much, because I have mastered the art of persuasion, or because its easier to just give my suggestions a try than listen to me argue and sigh. Or perhaps because he is also interested in being a good steward of the earth. Regardless, here's what came to pass. . .
My brother needed a cab to pick him up at my house, conveniently located in Arlington, and trek him to Union Station. I suggested envirocab and he obliged. On his return trip he decided to take one of the zillion cabs awaiting him at Union Station. Below is his compare and contrast of the two experiences:
"A Thursday afternoon cab ride in the envirocab went like this. I called the number and asked that the cab pick me up at your house at 4PM and take me to union station. The deal with them is that the trip has to originate or terminate in Arlington in order for them to come get you. Around 3:50, I got a call from the cab driver who was informing me he was on his way. I got in the cab, he had the A/C cranking, it smelled, but it was a new car, I think it was the cabbie that smelled. His name was Gebbeheyui Maskeratakal… the cab is $2.75, and 30 cents per 1/6th of a mile, and 30 cents per 48 seconds of waiting time. I’m not making that up, its 48 seconds. They have a pretty cool navigation system in the car that the cabbie explained to me, and near as I can tell, what he said was, when I called to get the cab, they sent him the address to get me and the destination through the system, so he can basically follow the directions to get me there. It tells you how much further and what not. A pretty nice system. So in closing on the envirocab, it was a newer car, a clean car, and a friendly nice driver with nav. The cab fare was $24.50 not including tip
On Saturday night I got into “World Cab” Lincoln town car from the late 80’s. I noticed on the window a sticker that said “Warning: Do not Slam the door” so I didn’t, I just closed it, but it popped back open, so I pulled it shut again, and it popped back open again, the cab began to depart the station and I said “ummm, the door is not shut” and so he said “you have to slam it.” I promise this is a true story. I said “ok, but the sticker says to not slam it” and he said, it won’t close otherwise. So I did and it stuck this time, I immediately put my seatbelt on... just in case. This cab was old, not really smelly, but the leather was torn and old, and it had no A/C, and no window controls, so I had to ask the cab driver to open my window. I noticed on his console it said “Dist. To Empty – 3” and I said, ummm you have enough gas to get there and he said “that’s not right, its about 10 miles off, so I’ll get you there, or at least close” I was like, ummm ok, well do you have a contingency if we run out of gas, clearly a rhetorical question cause he didn’t answer. At idle the car rumbled like we were doing 30mph off roading… We did get there, finally after 68403 speed humps, each of which I swore was going to cause the gas tank to fall out from under the car. The cab fare was $19.50 not including tip.
As fate would have it, another opportunity to test out envirocab came along Friday night when an out of town friend needed a cab to get back to my house from a local Arlington watering hole. Around 1:00am said friend dialed up environcab and requested a pick up. Unfortunately, envirocab wasn't going to be able to get to her for 25 min. In contrast there was a Red Top cab right in front of her available for immediate transport.
So, we've got a few questions answered:
1. envirocab seems to be a bit more expensive but safer, cleaner, and more likely to get you directly to your destination.
2. envirocab is licensed to take you anywhere in the Northern Va area so long as your trip originates or terminates in Arlington county - including National Airport.
3. envirocab does not seem to force you to listen to liberal news sources or bad hippi music
4. you're likely to have to wait for an envirocab at 2:00 on a Saturday so call ahead.
Clearly more research needs to be done and envirocab has a long way to go before it can reasonably compete with the other main cab companies in the area. However, I got it on good authority that Red Top is now replacing its retired cabs with hybrids. So, maybe all envirocab has to do is steal a little of the market share to spur on change. I'd call that a success. Of course given the conditions of my brother's World Cab one might wonder if cab companies ever actually retire old cabs.
In case you were wondering, I just went to pick up my weekly veggies and an envirocab was there dropping off one of my fellow CSA'ers.
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