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Taxi licensing has been around since before cars. The "medallion" system with tradable permits may be from depression era New York for all I know, but just abou
by vintermann 10y ago
Taxi licensing has been around since before cars. The "medallion" system with tradable permits may be from depression era New York for all I know, but just about every locale in the world has come to the conclusion that there needs to be a limited set of permits.
You can push the prices down a little with unlimited competition, but the few dollars you save aren't worth the indirect costs associated with taxi driver desperation: tax fraud, gouging, barely running cars, outright extortion, etc. (Of course, if the municipality decides to pad their coffers by auctioning the permissions/medallions, you get all that in addition to lower competition.)
- WillPostForFood 10y agohttp://www.nyc.gov/html/media/totweb/taxioftomorrow_history_regulationandprosperity.html http://www.nyc.gov/html/media/totweb/taxioftomorrow_history_... just about every locale in the world has come to the conclusion that there needs to be a limited set of permits. Any city that is allowing Uber or Lyft hasn't come to that conclusion, or is changing their mind. And so far, I don't see barely running cars, i see nicer cars, free water, price predictability.
- dragonwriter 10y ago> And so far, I don't see barely running cars, i see nicer cars, free water, price predictability. Because the new ride services are using VC money to subsidize operations cost to build marketshare. The experience you are reporting is essentially a massive marketing promotion, not a sustainable service.