WASHINGTON— A special panel has recommended that all taxicabs in the nation’s capital should be painted red.

The panel appointed by the D.C. Taxicab Commission came out with its recommendation Wednesday. It noted that red is “strongly associated” with the city and is the color used by the city’s Circulator buses and its bicycle-sharing service.

Cabs in the district can be found in a wide variety of colors. A uniform color scheme was part of a package of reforms approved last year by the D.C. Council. But there’s been debate over what that color should be. Mayor Vincent Gray’s administration proposed a several multiple-color schemes that were not well-received by the public in a survey.

Gray told reporters Wednesday that he was concerned the all-red cabs would look like emergency vehicles.

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