Free taxis offered for holiday revelers
Sun photo/Jed Kirschbaum
One of the puzzling questions surrounding the whole issue of drunk driving is why more people who indulge in alcohol don't invest in the cost of a taxi to get themselves home. Even if it's a $50 or $60 ride, it's sure a lot cheaper than the costs of hiring a lawyer, paying a fine, mandatory alcohol education programs and all the other costs associated with a DUI bust.
This New Year's Day weekend, AAA Mid-Atlantic, Yellow Cab and the State Highway Administration are leaving Baltimore revelers no excuse for failing to take a taxi after celebratiing at a local watering hole. They're offering free taxi rides, up to a total of $50, to drinkers in Baltimore. (Passengers pay any balance over $50.)
The Tipsy? Taxi! program will be available on New Year’s Eve, New Year's Day and Saturday, Jan. 2, from midnight to 4:00 am. Rider must be at least 21 and have been drinking at a restaurant or bar in the city. Call 1-877-963-TAXI to schedule a taxi ride.
Some 110 wise imbibers took advantage of the program last New Year's Day weekend. The program, which is offered during the holiday weekends most associated with alcohol consumption, has provided an estimated 1,500 rides since it was first introduced. This year the program will be offered on St. Patrick's Day, the Fourth of July and Halloween.
Now if we could just add Cinco de Mayo and the Preakness.
Comments
To add the Preakness to the program would probably make Cab Companies lose money on the busiest day of their year.
Posted by: Tom S | December 31, 2009 10:34 AM
Except that its impossible to actually get one of these cabs - their line was busy from about 10pm to 3am.
Posted by: No Cabs | January 1, 2010 11:23 AM
I tried this last night and ended up listening to hold music for 1/2 an hour than waiting another 45 minutes for a Taxi that never came. It's a farce.
Posted by: double b | January 1, 2010 11:27 AM
SoberRide blows this lame program completely and totally out of the water. See these comments about it failing? Well, there you go.
Posted by: Justin..... | January 2, 2010 4:35 AM
The service doesn't work, they never pick up the phone. Maybe the writer should do some actually investigation on the matter.
Posted by: drunk richard | January 2, 2010 12:14 PM
Yeah, I agree with all these people. We were on hold with these bozos for 40 minutes. Then we saw a cab drive by the house, so we flagged it. This thing gets all sorts of press each time it's offered, but nobody really bothers to look into how terrible it actually is... fail on the Balto media's part.
Posted by: andrew | January 4, 2010 9:51 AM