3 ms·

It will in countries that aren't completely bone-headed about it. I guess a good measure of how corrupt a particular political environment is will be how long

by swombat 14y ago

It will in countries that aren't completely bone-headed about it. I guess a good measure of how corrupt a particular political environment is will be how long it takes to give in to the overwhelming reasons (ecological, economical and social) to allow the true, very low cost of self-driving cars to have its impact on the taxi industry.

protomyth 14y ago
I would be curious which countries those are? Is their a 1st world country that doesn't license their cabs to provide an artificial scarcity? Heck, some cities actually mandate the brand of car that can be used for a cab.
- arethuza 14y ago
  As far as I can tell, my home town of Edinburgh only has license fees that have to be paid by black cab and private hire companies - about £2000 or so (additional fees to license drivers as well). I can't see any mention of any artificial restrictions on the number of taxis operating.
- michaelt 14y ago
  Clearly there are existing regulations that would have to be reformed - criminal record checks for self-driving cabs wouldn't make any sense, for example! What I think (and what I assume swombat means) is that these reforms will be made when self-driving cabs come on the market. After all, why wouldn't they? London is one place that doesn't have any limit or medallion system regulating the number of cab drivers - although they do have regulations regarding eyesight, criminal record and route-finding ability.
  - swombat 14y ago
    That is exactly what I meant. Some parts of the world don't have such silly laws. Arethuza mentions Edinburgh just has a £2k licence fee. That's a small part of the price and cost of operation of a car, particularly one that's self-driving and on the road 24/7. At normal cab rates, this would bring in shitloads of money. So people would start cutting the rates. And cutting more. Soon, a £40 cab ride will cost £20... then £10... then £4... When taking a cab for half an hour costs a couple of quid and the cab is there at the push of a button, you need a car even less (most Londoners already don't have cars). Once this transformation starts hitting, some cities with politically corrupt systems will still maintain their protectionist laws... but for how long? The ones that keep them longest are de-facto the most corrupt (at least in transport policy/laws).

by swombat 14y ago

protomyth 14y ago

I would be curious which countries those are? Is their a 1st world country that doesn't license their cabs to provide an artificial scarcity? Heck, some cities actually mandate the brand of car that can be used for a cab.

arethuza 14y ago
As far as I can tell, my home town of Edinburgh only has license fees that have to be paid by black cab and private hire companies - about £2000 or so (additional fees to license drivers as well). I can't see any mention of any artificial restrictions on the number of taxis operating.
michaelt 14y ago
Clearly there are existing regulations that would have to be reformed - criminal record checks for self-driving cabs wouldn't make any sense, for example! What I think (and what I assume swombat means) is that these reforms will be made when self-driving cabs come on the market. After all, why wouldn't they? London is one place that doesn't have any limit or medallion system regulating the number of cab drivers - although they do have regulations regarding eyesight, criminal record and route-finding ability.
- swombat 14y ago
  That is exactly what I meant. Some parts of the world don't have such silly laws. Arethuza mentions Edinburgh just has a £2k licence fee. That's a small part of the price and cost of operation of a car, particularly one that's self-driving and on the road 24/7. At normal cab rates, this would bring in shitloads of money. So people would start cutting the rates. And cutting more. Soon, a £40 cab ride will cost £20... then £10... then £4... When taking a cab for half an hour costs a couple of quid and the cab is there at the push of a button, you need a car even less (most Londoners already don't have cars). Once this transformation starts hitting, some cities with politically corrupt systems will still maintain their protectionist laws... but for how long? The ones that keep them longest are de-facto the most corrupt (at least in transport policy/laws).