Comments on: Taxi Regulations Crush Immigrant Dreams (MORE: Or Not! See correction.)

By: Keith

Keith — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 22:59:31 +0000

So my friend and I were visiting New Orleans and decided we needed a cab to get from one side of town to another. We called a local cab company and a few minutes later a lady in a 1970something Cadillac showed up. She was wearing a hospital gown and a cowboy hat. She told us she was our cab. We sat at a stop sign for 15 minutes waiting for it to change. Finally we got to our destination but only after stopping and helping her siphon some gas from a car parked on a curbside. Is this the kind of taxi service we need for Nashville? I’m pretty sure that’s what will happen if they decide to let any fly by night company set up camp and also deregulate the rules that are in place to ensure that the taxi’s and the people that ride in them get to where they are going safely and soundly.

By: Johnny

Johnny — Tue, 06 Mar 2012 22:41:33 +0000

Should anyone just say I “want” permits and I deserve them because I am so old, so pretty, a minority, a certain race, female or because of whichever combination you may find. Maybe the market should decide how many taxi’s should operate and regulations need not apply. Let any one who chooses either paint or not paint a car, regardless of safety, having an air conditioner, airbags, seat belts. No need to verify there criminal history, there drivers license, insurance requirements, and who cares that the rates they charge be monitored to keep over charging from taking place. Taxi meters need not be set and sealed, vehicle inspections are not needed, having a taxi company to be responsible, let along a licensing agency. Credit card protection not needed, letting any driver choose each and any run, why would persons with service dogs need taxi’s, persons with disabilities have no need for the regulating of taxi cabs and ensuring wheelchair vans are part of every fleet.
Public transportation is a privilege more than a right, you place your most valuable possessions in there care and you deserve to know that they are safe and that checks are put in place to ensure that safety and security.

By: Maria

Maria — Mon, 05 Mar 2012 17:45:05 +0000

@#25

What does requiring a license to operate have to do with the city deciding how MANY get to operate (ie. WHO gets to provide the service to meet a demand)? Apples and oranges.

Why is it one extreme (complete control by a small group of people) or the other (Murdering Gypsy Cabbies 4: Free Market Bloodlust Rampage Redux!)

The problem for me in fact isn’t that you need a license to operate it’s that they are capping how many people get to operate and even controlling the pool of applicants who get access to the limited licenses.

By: tired dog

tired dog — Sat, 03 Mar 2012 12:45:41 +0000

#10 Maria must be in or near H-town where shiny trams to nowhere suck up all the dough and bus routes in the less fortunate areas are cut to feed those trams.

H-town also enjoys the near monopoly of Yellow Cab which owns darn near every cab co. with another name…

Several years ago when in city hall I spoke with a Yellow Cab rep who was there on cab co. business…we parted with his invitation to ‘call him’ if I ever needed things done at city hall.

Yellow just got a rate hike from mayor and council monkees…but we bar jitneys and other ‘unofficial’ providers with extreme prejudice.

By: V

Fri, 02 Mar 2012 10:53:54 +0000

An interesting intrusion by the federal government into the activities of the states.

By: John C. Randolph

John C. Randolph — Fri, 02 Mar 2012 02:28:13 +0000

How about this for a constitutional amendment?

Neither the Congress, nor any state or Locality, shall make any law or regulation to limit the entry of any Person or organization into any lawful business endeavor, nor impose onerous licensing fees, nor impose any regulation of prices, nor act in any way to grant a monopoly or privilege to any business to favor them over their competitors;

-jcr

By: Big A

Big A — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 16:11:50 +0000

#31 Bob- Actually, the article you cite claims that during the unregulated period, Sacramento ended up with “about the worst taxi system”- but then makes absolutely no mention of what that actually means (too many taxis, not enough?). And following the regulations, taxi numbers did increase, to the point where there are now “too many”. In other words, the only actual problem listed in the article happened after the regulations, and now those regulations need to be altered to address the new issue.

By: J

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 12:57:12 +0000

The headline isn’t as wrong as you state in your correction. It says they may grant new licenses if they can fund 2 more taxi inspectors.
Which brings up another issue. The city says they need 2 more taxi inspectors at $50,000 each per year to inspect 88 new cabs? That sounds like a pretty easy job to me take a full year to inspect 44 cabs and make $50,000 a year.

By: V

Thu, 01 Mar 2012 06:06:12 +0000

If we’re using anecdotes, I have a friend in Nashville who told me people don’t take cabs when going out drinking. So I guess there’s one target group the cabs aren’t reaching. Unless that’s just military folk he’s talking about.

I can see the logic of having city planning involved, just to determine the amount of vehicular congestion on the road.

By: Mattocracy

Mattocracy — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 02:24:47 +0000

Ah yes, because licensing means that all the maniacs will not longer be able to attack innocent commuters. Cause shit’s just running rampant right now.

By: Ted S.

Ted S. — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 01:48:10 +0000

Bren wrote: I think the danger of nine-iron swinging city planners isn’t very very high. Read up on what a wicked bastard Robert Moses was.

By: crzyb0b

crzyb0b — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 01:39:01 +0000

Taxi’s in sacramento were unregulated until 7 years ago. Question is whether or not the availability, service and price improved after the regulations went in. According the the article the number of taxi’s increased by 66 percent since the regulations.

http://www.sacramentopress.com/headline/50108/City_mulls_new_taxi_regulations

By: Pugnacious

Pugnacious — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 01:16:48 +0000

Sadly, I learned from a Seabee just back from Ethiopia that Obama had sent them to construct launching facilities for homicidal drone attacks into Somalia, kenya and Uganda… the LRA’s Joseph Kony being the current target of these ground cockpit assassins.

By: Pugnacious

Pugnacious — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:40:57 +0000

They should open up an Ethiopian restaurant, instead.

Great food, and spicy hot, if you prefer. I was introduced to Ethi-food back in the 60s while assigned to Addis Ababa.

By: picachu

picachu — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:21:26 +0000

Thank you for proving my point though Leon. Freedom is scary, it removes the cherished illusion that government is protecting us. I guess that’s why Americans hate freedom so much.

By: picachu

picachu — Thu, 01 Mar 2012 00:20:11 +0000

Leon what is it that makes unlicensed taxi drivers more likely to be homicidal maniacs than licensed ones?

By: Brandon

Brandon — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:44:48 +0000

Leon, if your idiotic little masturbatory fantasy plays out, then the free market would dictate allowing people to carry concealed weapons to defend themselves from robbers and murderers. There is seriously CrazyBob-level stupidity in that particular objection.

By: Leon Wolfeson

Leon Wolfeson — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:40:22 +0000

@22 – And when unliscenced “taxi” drivers start robbing and killing people again, I’m sure you’ll call that the hand of the market too.

By: Onlooker

Onlooker — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:38:35 +0000

This kind of nonsense is utterly ridiculous. This is the kind of economy-choking crap that has helped put Greece (and similar places) where it is.

And yet some people still can’t figure out what’s so wrong about this kind of meddling and central control by govt. UFB

By: picachu

picachu — Wed, 29 Feb 2012 23:11:27 +0000

Americans hate freedom.