Would the consumer want a limit on the number of cab licences? This cap on service and cab availability can have no consumer foundation. What Calgarian, waiting in a rainstorm for a cab, could be heard to say “damn it, we need to restrict the number of taxicabs in this city!”
And what senior, wanting to make a simple grocery run after waiting for two hours for a cab could be heard to say [with that polite, patient, blue-rinse tone] “thank goodness there are not more cabs – we are already over-served.”
No – this is not a consumer friendly regulator or regulation. It is a license owner protection racket. Current owners want the drawbridge raised, the moat deepened, and boiling oil ready for any new cab wannabe. Armed with influence and sophistry, they defend their right to hold a taxi license and allow no more. Their place at the front of the line is assured in perpetuity.
Other Parts of this blog:
Part 1, Life without
Part 2, Into the free market
Part 4, Cab fair
Part 5, Destruction of wealth
Part 6, Diversity compression
image: Flickr cc TheeErin “Pensioner in a Raspberry Coat”