The San Diego City Council’s Public Safety and Neighborhood Services Committee unanimously signed off Wednesday on proposed new rules for issuing taxi cab permits.
Declining demand for taxi services meant that San Diego had 250 more permits distributed than needed. (Flickr: jurvetson)
Declining demand for taxi services meant that San Diego had 250 more permits distributed than needed, according to a consultant’s study.
The average cab is idle for 72 percent of the time it is in service, according to the report.
Demand dropped from 1.09 trips per hour in 1999 to 0.74 trips per hour 10 years later, according to True North Consulting.
The proposed rules include a new formula that links the number of issued permits to the ability of a driver of a leased car to earn at least a minimum wage after paying a leasing fee, fuel costs and other expenses.
The city currently has permits issued for 992 taxis. The new formula would result in an optimum total of 738.
If given final approval by the full City Council, future increases in the number of permits would be tied to heightened demand, and the new formula recalculated every three years.
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I’m a cab driver and I think this is ridiculous. More wasted money paid to consultants that think that an over-valued small portion of their left brain has a the role on a big solution to the world. And a big whoopie aren’t we headed into a world of perfect balance, due to another “consultant”? Sorry, but like the saying goes: “Don’t fix what isn’t broken.” Dear municipal (governmentors) thank for spending my tax money on what’s really ‘pork’, more consulting. I would suggest using that money on a planning team creating incentives for the public to use taxis for example; via voucher programs or discounted reimbursement programs for the industries that taxis serve. I say don’t try to fix what isn’t broken with more regulations on the working man! If the cabbies are having a hard time making daily fares then let nature take it’s own course by letting those income earners figure out what to do if they have to improvise their own labor options. Your decision seems terrifically shortsighted and all it does is applies more pressure to a the working class’s available options within an already stressed and most times downsized middle class. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to express myself.
I’m a cab driver and I think this is ridiculous. More wasted money paid to consultants that think that an over-valued small portion of their left brain has a the role on a big solution to the world. And a whoopie directed at the notion that we continue toward a world of perfect balance, because of another “consultant”? Sorry, but like the saying goes: “Don’t fix what isn’t broken”.
Dear municipal (govern-mentors) thanks for spending my tax money on what’s really ‘pork’: more consulting. I would suggest using that money on a planning team creating incentives for the public to use taxis for example; via voucher programs or discounted reimbursement programs for the industries that taxis serve. Is this due to popular reaction to recent shocking accidents. Since accident must be eliminated from probability altogether you want to use regulations on the working man! If the cabbies are having a hard time making daily fares then let nature take it’s own course by letting those income earners choose what to do, as far as improvising their own labor options. Your decision seems terrifically shortsighted when it applies more pressure on a working class’s available options. Furthermore upon an already stressed and most times downsized middle class. Thanks for giving me the opportunity to express myself.
James