Residents in San Francisco, D.C. Increasingly Choosing Ride-Sharing over City-Regulated Taxi Cartels

Today WAMU in Washington, D.C.,

explored its taxi scene in the wake of the establishment of
ridesharing services like UberX and Lyft. Though the district’s
taxi commission claims they’re not seeing any sort of shift, actual
taxi companies told WAMU they’re seeing customer drops of 20 to 30
percent. Some cab companies are reporting even higher plunges.

This information follows reports out of San Francisco that their
taxi industry has seen a 65 percent decline in calls per month
compared to 2012.

Per the San Francisco Examiner, their fair city is
considering that maybe,
possibly their taxi services are overregulated and maybe need
to change so it’s not so costly to legally be a cab driver
there:

In an effort to boost incentives for drivers to join and stay in
the taxi industry, the SFMTA waived dispatch renewal, color scheme
renewal and driver application fees for fiscal year 2014-15,
reduced some medallion-use and renewal fees and eliminated
metal-plate fees.

Other possible regulatory actions the transit agency has
contemplated to make cab driving more financially attractive to
drivers include reducing fees for medallions, which allow holders
to operate taxis. Other ideas include reducing the fee to transfer
medallions by 20 percent, eliminating the $500 ramp taxi medallion
use fee, lowering the medallion renewal for transferrable medallion
holders and allowing taxi wrap advertising.

In D.C., drivers still seem to be clinging to the mindset that
the customers belong to them and that the problem is that
ridesharing services are breaking the rules. They seem to think
that the solution is more regulation, oblivious to the fact that
the very regulations that drive up their prices are what is causing
passengers to seek alternatives:

“I’m not sure the council knows how to regulate them,” said
[District Cab President Jeff] Schaeffer, who said the District
should limit the number of “ridesharing” vehicles allowed on the
streets.

Legislation being drafted by D.C. Council member Mary Cheh
(D-Ward 3) is expected to require either “ridesharing” drivers or
their companies to obtain primary commercial liability insurance
for at least part of the time they are on the road, and to conduct
more stringent background checks, among other measures.

Whatever may come of Cheh’s legislation, UberX likely will hold
onto its biggest advantage over D.C. cabs:
cheaper prices. Even if metered cabs could lower their prices,
many drivers may opt to keep their rates at current levels because
of their higher overhead costs.

Higher overhead costs, you say? I wonder what could be causing
those? We’ll see whether San Francisco handles the influx better
than D.C. San Francisco looks like they want to make it easier for
everybody. D.C. looks like they want to try to make it harder for
everybody. When thousands of consumers are willing to violate your
city’s regulations to stop doing business with you, the problem is
clearly not them.

Below, ReasonTV on efforts to break D.C.’s taxi cartel: