Cheaper Fares, At What Cost?

We have all heard that the Mayor and City Council have ordered that DC cabs switch from the current, and quite frustrating, zone system to the meter system that is used successfully in cities throughout the world. But how soon will this ruling affect our everyday lives as city residents?
The mayor has said the meters will be operating by April, but many are doubting the city's ability to oversee a relatively quick transition on such a scale.

Under the meter system, the base fare will be three dollars. For most trips, the new fares will be cheaper, although there are exceptions as trips extend to the outer reaches of a second zone. Prices under the meter system also are subject to additional charges for heavier traffic, which can reach $2.00.

Cabbies have threatened rolling strikes starting in February to protest the change, but the more effective way to make their point would be to simply not install a meter. Given the number of small cab companies in D.C., the switch will be up to operators and operators alone. Fines will likely be handed out, but the city needs a way to encourage (or scare) the more independent and reluctant operators in order for the change to truly take effect. Fenty and company must also address cabbies' perception that that new prices could impact their ability to make a living, perhaps through an advertising or public relations campaign. Included in the effort to convince them meters are good for business could even be a tactful threat of fines.

Drivers must understand the effect on residents that widespread adoption of meters would have. Once it becomes known that most cabs have meters, drivers will pick up more fares because the average person will know that any cab they see probably has installed a meter, and thus will have a new willingness -- of a varying degree based on the individual -- to get in the cab.
However, if operators take advantage of lax regulation and delay the complete transition, the average resident would assume that the cabs they see still run on zones, and thus would be unwilling to pay a price they can finally say is actually illegal.
As a point of reference, my trip in to work, from Adams Morgan to Foggy Bottom, will drop from $8.80 to 5.50 should I take a cab with a meter rather than one charging by zones, according to the Washington Post's handy fare calculator.
Few believe the government will be able to deliver on the April promise, and for good reason, so let's, as the people whom the change is meant to benefit, ask any cabbies we encounter what they think of the switch to meters. Let them know what a pleasant change the price drop would be, and that we will become increasingly unwilling to pay zone rates anymore. Personally, I know I would take a cab about 15% of the time I currently walk or drive somewhere in the city should the meters become commonplace. However, I'm not sure cabbies understand just how beneficial this slight change in so many people would be to their livelihood.