Taxis in Houston

[Houston1stWordOnTheMoon]

The best way to get a cab Downtown is to go to a hotel. The Hyatt Regency comes to mind. They orbit and wait around the hotels.

[Houstonian in Iraq]

City Council approves $6 fee for downtown cab rides-

Does anyone think this will help downtown become "more visitor friendly"

Edited October 5, 2006 by Houstonian in Iraq

[musicman]

some of the larger hotels have their own shuttles. I think that the 6 dollar charge would be applicable if going from one side of downtown to the other...but if you're going from the hyatt to market square, it would be an increase from what it was.

Edited October 5, 2006 by musicman

[Guest Plastic]

Well give some data on cabs.

How much does the fare cost in different cities? How does Houston compare to New York or Houston?

BTW City Council approved that ordinance that the city can offer it's own cheaper cab service. SO if that works will it kill the other cab operators?

Edited November 10, 2006 by Plastic

[nate]

I had an economics professor at UH that strongly felt that the taxi industry (specifically Yellow Cab) was bribing the City Council in order to enforce oligopolistic competition with high barriers to entry. He spent a good bit of money riding around chatting with cabbies, trying to get them to talk. At first, he got a few responses...but after a few days, nothing. So he convinced one of his grad students to try and get a job as a cabbie. Yellow Cab specifically asked the grad student if he attended or worked for UH and physically removed him from the building when the student said yes. That would've been at least five years ago.

The root of the issue is that the City has a quota on how many cabs are allowed to operate within the city limits. Yellow Cab gets the most permits, followed by Liberty Cab. There are a few others, but Yellow and Liberty are given preference.

I believe that one of the really costly ordinances is that cabs can be no more than two years old. There are a lot of other little things about how cabs can or cannot operate that are also enforced. For instance, motorized jitney services are largely illegal. These ordinances are passed under the guise of consumer protection, since people who call cab companies don't necessarily know what they'll be riding around in...but I'm doubtful.

Your professor is right.

Taxis are expensive in Houston (and every other city in the US) because they are heavily regulated by the local governments. If cities would just allow any driver to pick up any willing passanger, fares would go down dramatically and there would be more taxis on the road.

[Montrose1100]

Your professor is right.

Taxis are expensive in Houston (and every other city in the US) because they are heavily regulated by the local governments. If cities would just allow any driver to pick up any willing passanger, fares would go down dramatically and there would be more taxis on the road.

I think some restrictions/regulations should be added or taken away. Like: must have A/C, Driver must tell you before you set foot in the car that they don't accept credit cards, etc.