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You don't need a government-sanctioned monopoly to get a taxi service. You need government regulations of existing taxi services to avoid the many problems tha

You don't need a government-sanctioned monopoly to get a taxi service. You need government regulations of existing taxi services to avoid the many problems that have been observed with unregulated taxi services, including but not limited to: -- drivers that jack tourists around -- drivers that don't know where they're going -- drivers that don't make enough to live on -- excessive numbers of empty taxis idling/cruising the streets, creating unnecessary congestion and pollution -- drivers that red-line particular areas of the city -- drivers that red-line particular ethnicities of passenger -- taxis as a public service: making sure everyone has access If your only analysis is the typical Hacker News mouth-breathing of "government BAD huh-huh", then I can't help you. But if you're actually trying to understand the problem, you should maybe consider why every city in the world has some sort of taxi regulation system.

kalleboo 12y ago
Sure, those can be valid reasons. None of that was in the argument I was replying to. That argument was "without a government-sanctioned monopoly you won't get a taxi service and people will start drunk driving." I'm from Sweden where the taxi market is mostly deregulated, with the only remaining regulations being in the interest of consumer protection - extended driver's license, approved taximeters and clearly displayed standardized pricing information. There are a few problems with tourists who don't understand the pricing information getting on taxis with rip-off rates, but aside from that it works well. There's a number of full time taxi drivers, and during busy periods (evenings weekends) there's a contingent of part timers who get in a car to skim off the lucrative periods and add capacity. From the discussions I've seen in "hey anyone tried becoming a taxi driver" threads in Swedish forums, it's a career you can make a living in. I've been in places with high levels of regulation (:cough: san francisco :cough:) where I've experienced half the points you take up, whereas I haven't experienced any of those in Sweden. As usual, it's more a case of "good regulation vs bad regulation" instead of the more typical political dichotomy of "no regulation vs lots of regulation".

kalleboo 12y ago

Sure, those can be valid reasons. None of that was in the argument I was replying to. That argument was "without a government-sanctioned monopoly you won't get a taxi service and people will start drunk driving." I'm from Sweden where the taxi market is mostly deregulated, with the only remaining regulations being in the interest of consumer protection - extended driver's license, approved taximeters and clearly displayed standardized pricing information. There are a few problems with tourists who don't understand the pricing information getting on taxis with rip-off rates, but aside from that it works well. There's a number of full time taxi drivers, and during busy periods (evenings weekends) there's a contingent of part timers who get in a car to skim off the lucrative periods and add capacity. From the discussions I've seen in "hey anyone tried becoming a taxi driver" threads in Swedish forums, it's a career you can make a living in. I've been in places with high levels of regulation (:cough: san francisco :cough:) where I've experienced half the points you take up, whereas I haven't experienced any of those in Sweden. As usual, it's more a case of "good regulation vs bad regulation" instead of the more typical political dichotomy of "no regulation vs lots of regulation".