The disaster of Taxi cab regulations in NYC, so few cabs that the medallions are $1m and the impact on service really shows
I was in NYC yesterday to give a talk, and I had to get a taxi cab twice. Once to go to the Grand Hyatt (traveling from 7th Ave & 28th St. to 109 E 42nd St, about 1.3 miles) and then another mile trip. On the first leg of the trip, I flagged down several cabs, but I was told that the drivers were unwilling to travel to the hotel. They wanted to go someplace else. If I had said one of the airports, they would have been happy, but that isn't where I wanted to go. On the second leg of the trip, it took 40 minutes waiting for a cab. Now this second trip was at 5 PM, so I wasn't too surprised, but I had a big box of books and it was raining. I have never previously run into so many cab drivers who simply refuse to take a ride because they apparently know that they can shop around until they get a bigger fare.
Yet, there are so few cabs that taxi medallions are now over $1 million each. Can't they have enough cabs so that the price of medallions would only be at, say, $500,000?
Yet, there are so few cabs that taxi medallions are now over $1 million each. Can't they have enough cabs so that the price of medallions would only be at, say, $500,000?
Labels: Regulation
posted by John Lott at 3:23 AM
4 Comments:
Bring on Uber!
Look into Uber or Lyft.
Standard taxis are my absolute last resort these days.
It's the same old story: the proponents of regulation (the medallion owners) are intensely interested in what happens, while you and me only suffer small amounts (can you quantify how much your taxi experience cost you, vis a vis a world where taxis would be plentiful?), so we are, unless we are John Lott, not interested. So, the medallion owners win. Of course.
It really is interesting to think about all the different kind of things that go into having a great taxi service. That being said, it does sound a little silly that someone is actually not willing to take someone down the road because they want to make more money. I personally think that being able to have a great customer service experience can go a long way with helping your clientele. Thank you for sharing your story. http://www.aaagreencab.com/taxi-service-rocklin.html
Post a Comment
<< Home