The Taxi and Limousine Commission of Mayor Bill de Blasio’s New York City administration plans to introduce rules that would fine anyone offering to city residents a taxi smartphone app or update that the commission had not preapproved. Web guys: you’re kidding, right? “We are gravely concerned by the unprecedented decision to subject software available around the world to pre-release review by a city agency” that is itself without expertise in software design, according to the letter, which is signed by Facebook, Google, Twitter, eBay and many other familiar names. [Fox NY, Internet Association letter of distress]
5 Comments
For some reason i keep hearing “RESPECT MY AUTHARATAH!” every time someone from the new york Mayor’s office speaks. Dunno why…
” who run bartertown?”…”louder… WHO RUN BARTERTOWN?”
The sooner Uber gets past these cartels, the better off we’ll be. We need competition desperately!
WHO ARE YOU CALLING “CARTEL.” I own and operate a single NYC medallion. I refinanced it to replace my taxis (three times) and provide college education for my two children. I am an immigrant who provided for my family with blood money on the streets of NYC. I don’t mind working hard, and I mean hard. What I do mind is people like you who can’t understand how bad companies like Uber are for people who are in pursuit of the”American Dream.” Sooner you and people who think like you get this through your heads, the better off America will be – Uber does not care for you as a passenger, nor does it care for me as a driver. It only cares for its big shot investors to make an exorbitant amount of quick profit so that they don’t have to work rest of their lives!!!
Know the facts before accusing me and thousands of hard working people like me as being part of cartel. PEACE!!!
I’m sorry EHT misses some economic fundamentals on the costs imposed by the medallion system. A good portion of the cab fare, if not majority, winds up paying for the cost of the medallion itself.
It appears that medallions are trading at around 800,000 to 900,000 dollars currently. The opportunity cost for that much money could be considered at minimum to be how much one pays in interest for the loan to obtain such a license, easily 60-80,000 per year.
Or viewed another way, the opportunity cost is what else one could do with nearly a million dollars placed into a different sort of small business that generates similar revenue.
In any event, that medallion is needs to be paid for. First few thousand rides each year is medallion cost.