Would it go something like this?  [too good to be true?]

In the not too distant future, you go to hail a cab. Almost immediately a black sedan, which is less than six years old or has fewer than 300,000 miles on it, pulls up. The driver, a conscientious, properly licensed small businessperson, happily takes you wherever you want (even to Southeast).

Sound good? Well, some think the proposed system to make this a reality is unrealistic.

But opponents of the bill present an alternate future:one in which a small group takes control of the taxi industry, squeezes out the little guy forever, and in the process, makes District riders pay more, wait longer (or forever, in some underserved parts of the city), and get crummier service than they did before the medallions came along to ruin a system that doesn’t really need a major overhaul.

The Washington City Paper explores both sides of the proposed medallion cab system.