Groups offering free taxi rides

Programs give partiers safe alternative to getting behind wheel over holidays

By Candace Sipos -- csipos@nvdaily.com

Intoxicated partiers will have a few options to keep them from getting behind the wheel of a car over the holiday weekend.

Two local taxi companies will provide free rides, paid for by the Chandler Law Group, which has nine branches across Virginia. For the past 22 years, the personal injury law firm has spent more than $1 million paying for about 90,000 cab rides home, according to a news release issued by the company.

The firm will pay the fare within a 10-mile radius of the city, and customers must pay per mile if they would like to be taken further. Locally, Winchester Taxi USA and Front Royal's Elwood's Cab Co. or Plaza Cab have been participating in the program for years.
Richard Keiber, dispatcher for Winchester Taxi USA, which has been a part of the Safe Ride Home program for more than a decade, said the company received about 100 calls from local residents who wanted to use the service last year.

Already this year, he has received about half of that amount of calls. The program runs from Dec. 20 at 6 p.m. until noon on Jan .1, he said.

"I think it has been a success," he said. "Each year, the numbers keep getting larger."

Peewee Williams, owner of Elwood Cab Co. and Plaza Cab, agreed. She anticipates more than the usual 250 to 300 calls this year.

She has been involved with the program for about six years, she said.

Local residents who find themselves in the Washington area also have another option -- SoberRide, a program created by the Washington Regional Alcohol Program that has provided more than 52,000 rides since 1993, according to President Kurt Gregory Erickson.

The program pays for the first $30 of any taxi trip out of the Washington Metro area, but the rider request transport further and pay the difference, he said. Taxis will go as far as Frederick and Clarke counties and Winchester.

Although the drivers don't check riders' IDs, riders are told upon requesting the ride that any falsification of age may result in them being charged for the trip.

The free or reduced rides are available from 10 p.m. until 6 a.m. starting Dec. 16 until Jan. 1. On New Year's Eve, the program will last for two hours past D.C.'s last call, Erickson noted. He encouraged people to call 1-800-200-TAXI or AT&T Wireless customers can dial #TAXI for the service.

Although AAA is offering TipsyTow and TipsyTaxi programs in some areas across the country, the local branch, AAA Mid-Atlantic, is only offering one -- TipsyTaxi -- and only in the Baltimore area.

Winchester Taxi USA can be reached at 662-1199, and Elwood's Cab Co. and Plaza Cab in Front Royal can be reached at 631-1306.