In New York City, the police bust jitney drivers all the time. Writing in the New York Times Magazine of August 10, 1997, John Tierney tells the story of an immigrant from Barbados who spent years trying to go the legal route and get a license to transport residents around the city in his van. His application included more than 900 supporting statements from riders, business groups, and church leaders. He was approved by the City Taxi and Limousine Commission and supported by Mayor Rudy Giuliani. But in the end, the city council did what it has done with almost every such request: it rejected his application. Now this outlaw entrepreneur and thousands just like him in the Big Apple dodge the cops every day as they earn a living and their customers’ approval.
I always find it interesting when people dismiss safety as a weak argument.
It's weak because there is no discernible reason, as to why there is less safety, involved with these things.
Safety has been the fall back argument for a lot of moronic things.
There are all sorts of good reasons to license cabs. In NY, licensed cabs are required to follow a lengthy set of rules for passengers, including posting their pictures and names, accepting credit cards, charging a particular rate, etc. The gypsy cabs (our version of jitneys) rarely follow those rules and often act in shady ways. I had to take a gypsy cab every day during one school year and it wasn't very pleasant. I didn't have much of a problem because I'm a guy who knew the route I wanted to take and how much I would pay, but they would have had no problem screwing over a tourist or being extra sketch to a single female.
If it was legal you would probably easily find a company that you trust and use their services.
I don't like the fact the governments don't allow taxis to compete. They all have to charge the same rates which is bull****. They should be able to charge whatever they want. Allow competition and bring prices down.
The bulk of these guys aren't companies, they're just dudes driving around in their own cars. If you're walking around late at night in an area without many yellow cabs, you don't want to wait 20 minutes to call some cab company and wait for them to pick you up.
I don't have a problem with this, but there are still good reasons to have some licensing procedures for cab drivers. It ensures that the drivers are qualified to be shuttling passengers around all day,
that they're not rapists/robbers, that they're accountable to someone, that they don't try to cheat you, etc.
I know that they aren't companies, but that's because they're illegal. If the service was legal you'd see companies get in on the game and then you could search out a tax from a company that you trust.
Isn't that what a driver's license is for?
Maybe to an extent you're right, though I still say the licensing is unnecessary since you could just use the companies that you trust. Either way, there is no justification for limiting the number of medallions like the city has and not granting petitions for jitney service and other services.
I just think that would be difficult in practice - it's not like other businesses where you're free to choose between two or three alternatives. If you need a cab, there's often only one choice.
Oh, don't get me wrong, the medallion system is a total ****ing scam. It's something like $600k for a company to buy a medallion. I just think there are some benefits to having a relatively user-friendly system, especially given that the city economy relies so heavily on making tourists feel comfortable.
That's just what you're used to now because of the medallion procedure. You would probably have companies roaming the streets looking for business without a medallion system.
I guess I just haven't seen any evidence as to why that comfort can only be acheived through heavy government regulation.
I think I was looking at this the wrong way. I like the idea of having cabs out there that follow a basic set of rules, though I also like the convenience of the black cars. I just didn't want to see the yellow cab system be eliminated (mostly because I ****ing love the fact that I can pay with my little tapper), but there's no reason that that would actually happen in the scenario you're envisioning.
I wouldn't have a problem with a world where cabs could go through a voluntary vetting process with the state that would earn them some sort of special badge, but other cabs that didn't want to go through the process could still operate legally, just without the official city approval. Come to think of it, that's pretty much how things work now. :lol:
Bus services do not have to be provided by the government, local or otherwise
In China the bus service is private and has multiple competitors on the same routes (routes are standardized, along with bus stops). There was plenty of bus's to transport the mass's of people wanting to take the bus from one location to another. They were clean, seemed safe, airconditioned (some more effective then others) and quite efficient in getting people around for a reasonable price (2.5 yuan in some areas or about 0.40 USD)
I dont see a problem with private companies doing prebooked rides that are not regulated as taxis. Provided they do a regular safety inspection.
In China the bus service is private and has multiple competitors on the same routes (routes are standardized, along with bus stops). There was plenty of bus's to transport the mass's of people wanting to take the bus from one location to another. They were clean, seemed safe, airconditioned (some more effective then others) and quite efficient in getting people around for a reasonable price (2.5 yuan in some areas or about 0.40 USD)
General safety. A pre booked ride will allow the passenger to check out the record of the company, a drive by pick up will not. A taxi company having to registar and being regulated with drivers being licensed will have the safety of the company, and the drivers checked before hand by the regulators allowing the customer to be far more secure.What about rides that aren't pre-booked? What if you're out one night and you want to call a taxi? Should those be regulated? Don't people even at that time have a choice as to the company they use?
I've heard the idea thrown around that we should seel curb rights so that private companies can also transport people. I don't see why we shouldn't do that.
General safety. A pre booked ride will allow the passenger to check out the record of the company, a drive by pick up will not. A taxi company having to registar and being regulated with drivers being licensed will have the safety of the company, and the drivers checked before hand by the regulators allowing the customer to be far more secure.
I wouldnt sell curb rights, just regulate the safety and customer service standards of the bus's. Allowing any to sign up to drive pre set routes with pricing set by the company, but visable to the customer before they board the bus.
Don't taxis have the company name on the side of their car? If you don't want that taxicab, then tell the driver to move on until you find a company that you trust (or call some company to pick you up if you get depserate enough for a ride).
Again, why so much emphasis on safety? Consumers regulate this themselves plenty well, they will stop going to companies that aren't safe. This is why companies are so emphatic on making their products safe. Ever heard of UL? Might want to look that one up.
That is the reason for the focus on safety, the market will not always weed out the unsafe companies before they can do harm to people
The government doesn't do this either, by the way. In fact, with government regulating this safety, people get a reasonable expectation of safety from every company and so will not hold companies as accountable as they would without that regulation.
I am pretty sure I am just as likely to sue a company whether or not regulations exist.
But would you have more or less of an expectation of safety without regulation? And so would you be more or less demanding of safety assurances?
A Tribute to the Jitney | The Freeman | Ideas On Liberty
Is there any reason for making jitneys illegal? What about requiring medallions or licenses for taxicabs? Why are most transit operations that could be run by private companies so heavily regulated that no business would even start? I'd like to hear the argument for this because I can only think of weak arguments like safety (which is easy to solve, only use the companies that you trust and prosecute those that are criminal).
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