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Taxi companies are against this kind of competition because of the licenses they had to pay in order to be authorized to take passengers. These start-up compani

by thamer 15y ago

Taxi companies are against this kind of competition because of the licenses they had to pay in order to be authorized to take passengers. These start-up companies operate without such a license. I believe the same charge was brought against UberCab. Taxi licenses are outrageously expensive. A driver in Paris told me his was 190,000 euros, and it can get even higher in touristic towns on the Mediterranean coast: http://www.licence-taxi.fr/prix-licence-de-taxi.php http://www.licence-taxi.fr/prix-licence-de-taxi.php

petercooper 15y ago
It wasn't explained in the video but I got the impression some sort of 'liberalization' of the licensing laws has occurred to make this possible. I did some Googling and found some discussions about licensing liberalization in France but no specific mentions of how/when it was implemented (if it ever was). It wouldn't surprise me if it were, though, since here in the UK getting a license isn't particularly tough (added: with some notable exceptions, see reply posts).. so maybe there's some EU harmonization going on in this regard.
- arethuza 15y ago
  "UK getting a license isn't particularly tough" What about "The Knowledge" required for London black cab drivers - which apparently takes between two and four years of study and exam attempts to pass: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/businessandpartners/taxisandprivatehire/1412.aspx http://www.tfl.gov.uk/businessandpartners/taxisandprivatehir... [Edit: I sometimes wish they had something like this in Edinburgh - I've had to tell taxi drivers here where to go a few times and the taxis here are very expensive compared to Glasgow and London].
  - petercooper 15y ago
    Good point. It's night and day between different areas. It's hard work to become a 'black cab' driver in central London, as you say. But just a few miles away in a different borough of London you can get a license with barely more than a criminal check and some other commonsense precautions (these are often called "minicabs" in London and can't call themselves "taxis" for a number of legal reasons). I used to do a lot of work for several south London cab firms and becoming a driver for them seemed pretty easy - you just had to do a certain amount of "account" work for free and you then got the lion's share of the remaining take. No "medallions" or crazy expenses beyond insurance and car maintenance.
    - arethuza 15y ago
      I'm pretty sure minicabs can't pick up passengers on the street, only black cabs can do that. Don't minicabs have to rely on bookings through a central office?
      - cabalamat 15y ago
        That's correct (or was when I lived in London). Of course, this law is widely ignored -- which is just as well if you want to get home at 3 am.
      - petercooper 15y ago
        My knowledge for outside of London is merely anecdotal as I never had any clients like that, but to the best of my knowledge, you're right for London. Outside of London, minicabs can use taxi ranks (in their area) and I'd be surprised if they couldn't be hailed in certain areas too (at least, I've seen it done in other large British cities).
barredo 15y ago
It's about 120-150k€ here in Madrid
dschobel 15y ago
You see the same thing in America. NYC and Chicago have taxi "medallions" (which are physical operating licenses affixed to the cars) and these are re-sold on secondary markets for well into the six figures since the supply is so limited. They are considered legitimate investment vehicles (pardon the pun) with all the typical market phenomena (speculation, etc). http://www.characterandwealth.com/public/253.cfm http://www.characterandwealth.com/public/253.cfm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_the_United_States#Chicago http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_the_United_States#C...

by thamer 15y ago

petercooper 15y ago

It wasn't explained in the video but I got the impression some sort of 'liberalization' of the licensing laws has occurred to make this possible. I did some Googling and found some discussions about licensing liberalization in France but no specific mentions of how/when it was implemented (if it ever was). It wouldn't surprise me if it were, though, since here in the UK getting a license isn't particularly tough (added: with some notable exceptions, see reply posts).. so maybe there's some EU harmonization going on in this regard.

arethuza 15y ago
"UK getting a license isn't particularly tough" What about "The Knowledge" required for London black cab drivers - which apparently takes between two and four years of study and exam attempts to pass: http://www.tfl.gov.uk/businessandpartners/taxisandprivatehire/1412.aspx http://www.tfl.gov.uk/businessandpartners/taxisandprivatehir... [Edit: I sometimes wish they had something like this in Edinburgh - I've had to tell taxi drivers here where to go a few times and the taxis here are very expensive compared to Glasgow and London].
- petercooper 15y ago
  Good point. It's night and day between different areas. It's hard work to become a 'black cab' driver in central London, as you say. But just a few miles away in a different borough of London you can get a license with barely more than a criminal check and some other commonsense precautions (these are often called "minicabs" in London and can't call themselves "taxis" for a number of legal reasons). I used to do a lot of work for several south London cab firms and becoming a driver for them seemed pretty easy - you just had to do a certain amount of "account" work for free and you then got the lion's share of the remaining take. No "medallions" or crazy expenses beyond insurance and car maintenance.
  - arethuza 15y ago
    I'm pretty sure minicabs can't pick up passengers on the street, only black cabs can do that. Don't minicabs have to rely on bookings through a central office?
    - cabalamat 15y ago
      That's correct (or was when I lived in London). Of course, this law is widely ignored -- which is just as well if you want to get home at 3 am.
    - petercooper 15y ago
      My knowledge for outside of London is merely anecdotal as I never had any clients like that, but to the best of my knowledge, you're right for London. Outside of London, minicabs can use taxi ranks (in their area) and I'd be surprised if they couldn't be hailed in certain areas too (at least, I've seen it done in other large British cities).

barredo 15y ago

It's about 120-150k€ here in Madrid

dschobel 15y ago

You see the same thing in America. NYC and Chicago have taxi "medallions" (which are physical operating licenses affixed to the cars) and these are re-sold on secondary markets for well into the six figures since the supply is so limited. They are considered legitimate investment vehicles (pardon the pun) with all the typical market phenomena (speculation, etc). http://www.characterandwealth.com/public/253.cfm http://www.characterandwealth.com/public/253.cfm http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_the_United_States#Chicago http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicabs_of_the_United_States#C...