D.C. Unveils Citywide Cab Color Options

D.C. area residents will get their first look at the possible colors for the city's taxicabs. The city is proposing a uniform color scheme for the city's taxi fleets, and residents will get to choose which colors they like best.

D.C. Mayor Vincent Gray rolled out four of the possible color schemes — red/white, red/black, yellow/green and yellow/white — Monday at Verizon Center. The four cabs will remain on display there and residents will be able to vote for their favorite.

Unlike New York City's taxis that are all solid yellow, the options that'll be considered in D.C. are multi-color patterns of yellow and green, red and gold, or burgundy red and black.

After Gray unveiled them at a news conference inside the Verizon Center, he was asked how those colors were picked. "I don't know, just a group decision to say let's do something really funky," he laughs. "It's pretty distinctive, don't you think?"

Cabs in the District currently run the gamut, color-wise. The uniform scheme was part of a broad package of reforms approved this year. Credit card readers and GPS devices will also be required in all cabs as part of the reforms.

Those with strong opinions will also be able to vote on the D.C. Taxicab Commission's website, where other color options will also be displayed, as well as on Twitter, using the hashtag #voteDCTaxi. People can also vote in person at Verizon Center through Jan. 7.

Next year, the District's taxicab commission will take the public's choice into consideration when making a final decision. A new color scheme will be phased in over time, as cabbies will be required to adopt it when they replace their aging taxis, a process that will take several years.