Sometimes a quote or few sentences in a newspaper says it all. From the UPoR on the latest developments on taxicabs and ride-sharing companies at Charlotte Douglas International Airport:
Former Aviation Director Jerry Orr originally wanted only one taxi company permitted to pick up passengers at the airport. He said it would raise standards and make it easier to monitor customer complaints. The airport also said there were too many cab companies operating at the airport, making it difficult for drivers to make money.
City Council members asked that more companies be allowed, and the final number was increased to three.
Not sure why people like Bob Rucho had such a man crush on Jerry Orr. Orr may have keep costs down at airport, but he was far from a free-market advocate. Which brings us to this:
[Interim Aviation Director Brent] Cagle said he’s open in 2016 to increasing the number of cab companies that can operate at the airport. But he wants some limit on the number of cars that have permits to pick up passengers.
“We aren’t as interested in the number of companies as the number of permits or cars,” he said. “The number is important because at some point we need to ensure the drivers can make an adequate wage. The problem with an open curb is that it dilutes the market. And it has a negative impact on the ability to regulate the companies.”
But since the airport reduced the number of cabs companies at the airport, a handful of companies that didn’t receive permits have gone out of business.
Ah yes, it’s the government’s job to make sure that cabbies make a decent wage — except, of course, for the taxi companies and taxi drivers that are shut out from operating at the airport, who are out of a job and out of luck. Guess they should have given more money to people like Patrick Cannon and thinks might have turned out differently…
Council member Kenny Smith has said the airport can continue its current practice of requiring cabs to have high standards, including credit card machines and newer cars. But he has said the airport could allow more companies, so long as they meet the airport’s minimum standards.
He has said if a taxi driver chooses to wait at the airport for an extended period of time, then that’s an economic decision they are free to make.
Bingo. Not really a difficult concept. Unless you’re a statist, and like having the government be in charge of things.