Proposed Age of Taxicab

Effective ______________, , no vehicle that is more than five (5) model years old (or has accumulated mileage in excess of three hundred thousand miles (300,000 mi.)) may be placed into service as a taxicab in the District of Columbia, whether owned, rented, or leased.
Further, effective December 31, 2012, the following 5-year schedule of vehicle removal from service will apply to all public vehicles for hire currently in service as a taxicab in the District of Columbia, whether owned, rented, or leased.  Any subsequent vehicles to be placed into service must meet the requirements of 
subsection 609.1.
5 YEAR REMOVAL PLAN 
Disposal Year        Age Policy       Model Year

      2013          1997 and older

      2014           2000 - 1998
      2015           2003 - 2001
      2016           2005 - 2004
      2017           2006
** Vehicles must go out of service on Dec 31st of the year listed.



These regulators are out of touch, asking drivers to have new vehicles (no older than five model years old), I wonder how many drivers could afford buying such an expensive vehicles. Five-year Removal plan may sound good for now, but what happens when drivers begin replacing their vehicles and continue to replace them when vehicles reach only 5 years old.
There is no way to justify these kinds of investments from drivers where their average income will be reduced with the new proposed taxi fare.