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Taxi medallions are hellishly expensive. Most of the time, you have a loan to purchase your medallion, that you then spend a long, long time paying off. It's es
by cwyers 9y ago
Taxi medallions are hellishly expensive. Most of the time, you have a loan to purchase your medallion, that you then spend a long, long time paying off. It's essentially a form of indentured servitude. You can switch to Uber/Lyft. But you still have to pay off that loan for your medallion. And if Uber/Lyft aren't paying the same rate as driving a cab used to, you can find yourself without the money to pay your medallion loan and still make ends meet.
That said, I disagree with the headline blaming this on the gig economy. There's lots to blame the gig economy for, but this is pretty squarely showing the flaws in the old medallion system -- that you need a crippling amount of financial debt in your name to participate in the system.
- Domenic_S 9y agoI thought taxi companies owned the medallions -- hoarding them like gold coins -- and charged the driver what amounted to a "rental fee" for using them. IIRC it's unusual for a single driver to own their own medallion. I could be misremembering though.
- lambda 9y agoIn many cities there would be a mix. Some drivers would rent them from companies, some would own the medallion themselves.
- lazerpants 9y agoYou're both right. As the medallions increased astronomically in price, only larger groups of drivers or companies could afford to participate.
- noxToken 9y agoBasically. From Wikipedia[0]: > Over the years, many medallions once owned by individual drivers were sold to large taxi fleets. As of 2012, about 18% of all taxis were owner operated, while the rest were leased; this is a decline from the 29% ownership rate in 2006. [0]: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_New_York_City#Logistics https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_New_York_City#Logi...