3 ms·

I don't understand it. Why the constant drama around their every (lack of) license? Can't they just obtain ones just like the rest of driver services or do the

by zalew 14y ago

I don't understand it. Why the constant drama around their every (lack of) license? Can't they just obtain ones just like the rest of driver services or do the authorities owe them something?

Retric 14y ago
Livences often cost a lot of money. Enough that buying one can easily make there model unprofitable in many areas. Ex: In NYC there worth 750,000+ USD at 4% thasts 30,000 dollars plus added per taxi every year.
- zalew 14y ago
  "do the same as the competition but illegally so it's cheaper" as a business model is just begging for trouble. around here we have discount taxi-but-not-a-taxi who manage to skip the regulations, yeah, they're cheap, but it's not like they don't generate a lot of controversies. and it's not like one of them after 30hrs of driving without sleep didn't crash into my gf's car on the parking lot and fainted. transport regulations have their faults, but they are invented for a reason.
- dagw 14y ago
  In Sweden anybody can get a taxi license by passing a written and practical test and filing some paperwork. The whole processes costs less than $1000. To actually operate a taxi company you also need insurance and to meet certain capital requirements, but it's nothing that any serious company should have any problem meeting.
_pmf_ 14y ago
> Why the constant drama around their every (lack of) license? I don't know about Sweden, but here in Germany licenses are limited, i.e. there is no infinite amount of taxi license per city.
- zalew 14y ago
  in Poland we have a similar situation, but it's just a problem of increasing (or lifting) the cap, not deregulating everything.
- pathy 14y ago
  No limits on taxis as such in Sweden, there used to be but not anymore. However, you need to be licensed as a taxi company/driver and provide certain details on the cab, like price comparisons etc.
- mjn 14y ago
  Sweden deregulated its taxis in 1990. There is now no limit on the number of taxis (though drivers do have to pass an exam), and no restrictions on what they can charge. The deregulation did produce a big uptick in the # of taxis in Stockholm. There are now some complaints in the other direction about the deregulated prices, especially because some less scrupulous drivers are trying to deliberately trick tourists into paying outrageous prices. Prices have to be posted in windows, so of course no Swede or tourist paying attention would take a taxi that charges $200 for what would normally be a $20 trip. But you only have to trick a handful per day to make it a profitable scam. Just need to get some tourists who either don't realize that rates are unregulated in Stockholm, who didn't see the rate sticker, or who did but didn't mentally convert the SEK to something they understand. A bit on that: http://www.thelocal.se/16868/20090112/ http://www.thelocal.se/16868/20090112/

by zalew 14y ago

I don't understand it. Why the constant drama around their every (lack of) license? Can't they just obtain ones just like the rest of driver services or do the authorities owe them something?

Retric 14y ago

Livences often cost a lot of money. Enough that buying one can easily make there model unprofitable in many areas. Ex: In NYC there worth 750,000+ USD at 4% thasts 30,000 dollars plus added per taxi every year.

zalew 14y ago
"do the same as the competition but illegally so it's cheaper" as a business model is just begging for trouble. around here we have discount taxi-but-not-a-taxi who manage to skip the regulations, yeah, they're cheap, but it's not like they don't generate a lot of controversies. and it's not like one of them after 30hrs of driving without sleep didn't crash into my gf's car on the parking lot and fainted. transport regulations have their faults, but they are invented for a reason.
dagw 14y ago
In Sweden anybody can get a taxi license by passing a written and practical test and filing some paperwork. The whole processes costs less than $1000. To actually operate a taxi company you also need insurance and to meet certain capital requirements, but it's nothing that any serious company should have any problem meeting.

_pmf_ 14y ago

> Why the constant drama around their every (lack of) license? I don't know about Sweden, but here in Germany licenses are limited, i.e. there is no infinite amount of taxi license per city.

zalew 14y ago
in Poland we have a similar situation, but it's just a problem of increasing (or lifting) the cap, not deregulating everything.
pathy 14y ago
No limits on taxis as such in Sweden, there used to be but not anymore. However, you need to be licensed as a taxi company/driver and provide certain details on the cab, like price comparisons etc.
mjn 14y ago
Sweden deregulated its taxis in 1990. There is now no limit on the number of taxis (though drivers do have to pass an exam), and no restrictions on what they can charge. The deregulation did produce a big uptick in the # of taxis in Stockholm. There are now some complaints in the other direction about the deregulated prices, especially because some less scrupulous drivers are trying to deliberately trick tourists into paying outrageous prices. Prices have to be posted in windows, so of course no Swede or tourist paying attention would take a taxi that charges $200 for what would normally be a $20 trip. But you only have to trick a handful per day to make it a profitable scam. Just need to get some tourists who either don't realize that rates are unregulated in Stockholm, who didn't see the rate sticker, or who did but didn't mentally convert the SEK to something they understand. A bit on that: http://www.thelocal.se/16868/20090112/ http://www.thelocal.se/16868/20090112/