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The difference between IPv4 addresses and taxi medallions is that IPv4 addresses are a finite resource and taxi medallions are an outright scam.
by sgjohnson 3y ago
The difference between IPv4 addresses and taxi medallions is that IPv4 addresses are a finite resource and taxi medallions are an outright scam.
- Retric 3y agoMedallions cover various externalities. You need to go back before they where introduced and see why almost every major city added them.
- sgjohnson 3y agoCounterargument: virtually no Uber has a medallion.
- nunuvit 3y agoMedallions artificially restricted supply so that drivers could reliably earn a living. Does Uber achieve that goal?
- josephcsible 3y agoBut medallions don't actually do that, because all of the extra revenue that drivers get due to the limited supply, and then some, gets paid out as rent for the medallion.
- nunuvit 3y agoHow can you have extra revenue if you're not earning a living?
- josephcsible 3y agoI'm saying the increase in pay due to medallions restricting the supply of drivers is less than the decrease in pay due to having to make payments to keep the medallion, so they'd be able to earn even more of a living without that system.
- nunuvit 3y agoI agree with you that it sucks, and I don't see any disagreement with what I said. Again, the medallion only goes as far as ensuring that all drivers get a sustainable wage. Ride share has driver attrition because they don't. Whether it's a fair system is a different question.
- josephcsible 3y ago> Again, the medallion only goes as far as ensuring that all drivers get a sustainable wage. I'm saying that no, it doesn't do that. Taxi drivers are staying afloat despite medallions, not because of them.
- nunuvit 3y agoThe purpose of the medallion is to create a guild. In practice, the coexistence of ride-sharing defeats that purpose, subjecting all drivers to the risk of unlivable wages, and penalizing guild members with dues.
- josephcsible 3y agoEven before Uber and Lyft existed, taxi medallions didn't accomplish their goal.
- Retric 3y agoTaxi medallions drastically reduced the number of Taxi on city streets which was the primary reason they where introduced. Overtime the system was intended to do various things like hold drivers accountable which it very much did, as well as various things it failed at.
- nunuvit 3y agoBecause of the cost? You're really making me guess at your reasoning.
- 3y ago
- Qwertious 3y agoUber drivers aren't strictly speaking taxi drivers, in that they don't actively drive around looking for fares but instead wait for users to contact them via app - in other words, they're pull-based and not push-based. Medallions were a response to the push-based taxi market, which was 100% necessary as smartphones didn't exist in the 1930s.
- Xelbair 3y agoThe core issue is that they are unnecessary now.
- colonwqbang 3y agoWhat kind of externalities do you mean? The Wikipedia page is completely silent and I didn't find anything with a quick googling.