Save the taxis
Michael A. Wedge
Friday, August 17, 2007
I AM WRITING in response to the threat of taking taxi tickets away from poor and disabled persons.
I have congestive heart failure and chronic obstructive pulmonary disease and I’ll not be able to walk across town from my house on East 12th Avenue by Dillon’s to Newman hospital, especially if I get sick at night and have to go to the emergency room.
If it’s during the day, I could ride the L-Cat or get a ride with someone else. But it seems like I never get sick during the daytime. The last three times I went to the emergency room, it was between midnight and 3 a.m.
I saw the article in the paper the other night and was happy to hear that DZ Cab would let us ride for $4, instead of $5. (Editor’s note: The city’s latest proposed budget would raise the taxi coupon price to riders to $3; the city would contribute $1.)
But I know that even at $4 at trip, I would have to make a lot fewer trips and they would be trips to the doctors and pharmacies.