3 ms·

When you opt out shelling out the mandated by 240k € for the medallion, plus whatever it takes to pass the taxi driver exam, before you can even started to work

by brohee 13y ago

When you opt out shelling out the mandated by 240k € for the medallion, plus whatever it takes to pass the taxi driver exam, before you can even started to work, you can offer a lot better service... Anyone thinking Uber plays fair in this instance is deluded... Which doesn't mean the system doesn't need urgent reform...

imgabe 13y ago
Isn't the point of having an expensive medallion and driver exams that you have vetted drivers who can then offer superior service? If it's not accomplishing that and we're getting better service from the drivers who have found a loophole around, then what is the point of having that in the first place? Maybe just to create an artificially limited supply and line the pockets of the gatekeepers?
- brohee 13y ago
  There is likely no point anymore, pretty much everyone agrees about that. But how do you transition to a new system in a fair manner?
  - mikeash 13y ago
    It would be painfully expensive for the government, but I wonder if the best solution might just be to take the fair market value of the medallions at some recent point in time and then use that value to buy out all the existing owners. In NYC, medallions go for about a million bucks these days, and there are over 13,000. So this plan would cost the city $13 billion, or about 1/3rd of the city government's yearly budget. That's a huge amount of money, but not completely out of the question.
    - nknighthb 13y ago
      Turn each legacy medallion into a license and an interest-bearing municipal bond. Then start auctioning a limited number of new medallions each year with the understanding that the medallion system ends completely in, say, 20 or 30 years. The auctions will still raise a nontrivial amount of money, especially in the first few years, which can be used to help fund bond payments and/or repurchase some of the bonds outright.
  - imgabe 13y ago
    Not that I'm involved with Uber or speak for them in any way, but I think they'd be just as happy to have taxis in their app as black cars. I know they do where I live though not all the taxi companies participate. What's stopping the French cabs from taking dispatches from UberTaxi and offering a lower price than the black car service?
  - JeffL 13y ago
    Make a medallion required for 30 days out of this month, 29 days out of next month, 28 days out of the next month, etc, until in 30 months, medallions are not required at all.

by brohee 13y ago

imgabe 13y ago

Isn't the point of having an expensive medallion and driver exams that you have vetted drivers who can then offer superior service? If it's not accomplishing that and we're getting better service from the drivers who have found a loophole around, then what is the point of having that in the first place? Maybe just to create an artificially limited supply and line the pockets of the gatekeepers?

brohee 13y ago
There is likely no point anymore, pretty much everyone agrees about that. But how do you transition to a new system in a fair manner?
- mikeash 13y ago
  It would be painfully expensive for the government, but I wonder if the best solution might just be to take the fair market value of the medallions at some recent point in time and then use that value to buy out all the existing owners. In NYC, medallions go for about a million bucks these days, and there are over 13,000. So this plan would cost the city $13 billion, or about 1/3rd of the city government's yearly budget. That's a huge amount of money, but not completely out of the question.
  - nknighthb 13y ago
    Turn each legacy medallion into a license and an interest-bearing municipal bond. Then start auctioning a limited number of new medallions each year with the understanding that the medallion system ends completely in, say, 20 or 30 years. The auctions will still raise a nontrivial amount of money, especially in the first few years, which can be used to help fund bond payments and/or repurchase some of the bonds outright.
- imgabe 13y ago
  Not that I'm involved with Uber or speak for them in any way, but I think they'd be just as happy to have taxis in their app as black cars. I know they do where I live though not all the taxi companies participate. What's stopping the French cabs from taking dispatches from UberTaxi and offering a lower price than the black car service?
- JeffL 13y ago
  Make a medallion required for 30 days out of this month, 29 days out of next month, 28 days out of the next month, etc, until in 30 months, medallions are not required at all.