Other Parts of this blog:
Part 1, Life without
Part 2, Into the free market
Part 3, Protection racket
Part 5, Destruction of wealth
Part 6, Diversity compression
What are the benefits of a free and open taxi market to anyone with a safe vehicle and a certificate of City knowledge?
First, anyone that could then become a cab driver. People would realize they could make a quick buck late in the evening and impromptu cab gatherings would cluster closing times around bars and hotels. Fares would be slashed. Service levels increased. Cab availability would go through the roof.
Retirees with a van would soon realize that a post breakfast outing could include several trips through the streets of their neighborhood picking up flagging fares or prearranged customers and taking them to the C-Train. Texting would become a mechanism for cab summons. Then off to Tim’s for the retiree for a double-double. The population of cars would reduce the need for parking at the C-Train stations and increase C-Train ridership. And at the end of the day, that same fleet of profit-driven retirees having had their double-double in the morning would collect and gather the people and take them home.
Even the very inebriated would have their own special treatment. A cabdriver could size up an extraordinarily drunk fellow and determine whether or not he was prepared to take him and what level of payment would be worth his while.
Some drivers would install meters and charge a rate that makes sense to them. Many drivers may come together under a corporate umbrella and agree on a common rate. Airports and hotels would quickly limit taxicabs that can stand in their taxi stands for their customers with only permitted metered cabs that agreed to a standard rate for pickup. A separate uncontrolled cab area would thrive where customers could walk over, give an address and then receive a fare that he was prepared to pay. Or for the bargaining shy – she could ask for a quote. Deal struck – deal done. Away they go.
And special arrangements would demand special fares. A regular pickup, for example, might be held for a toonie a day.
image: Flickr cc Waferboard “Waiting for the iced coffee”