I recommend going to Panama City, Panama, and finding out what life is like when those laws don't exist. Traffic is miserable, most taxis are in extremely poor

I recommend going to Panama City, Panama, and finding out what life is like when those laws don't exist. Traffic is miserable, most taxis are in extremely poor repair, the taxi drivers are making next to nothing, and half the time they will either not pick you up if you want to go across town, and/or overcharge you because you don't sound like a local. One of the bigger reasons for medallions is congestion control. For-hire private transportation provides a financial incentive to have more cars on the road. This system will only begin to self-correct after the point of gridlock (assuming that taxis lose money while in gridlock), or not at all (if they get paid to sit in traffic). If that sounds like a future you want, you can go down to Panama and enjoy it any time. If it's all the same to you though I'd prefer not to import third-world living conditions.