Taxi...

I like this blog posting here because it really touches on an issue that interests me: taxi drivers and their "no meter" charges...

The author seems to think that it is we who shortcharge honest meter-using drivers, instead of those unscrupulous no-meter-drivers who overcharge us.

But I believe the crux of the matter lies in the system, which encourages ali-baba rent seeking middlemen with connections to earn sweatless money while the poor taxi drivers have to resort to penny pinching and deceitful practices just to make a living.

The system has to be revamped. For that to happen, the government agencies and the executive has to change too. There is no short cut.

One method I propose is to continue insisting to pay by the meter. Let the taxi drivers suffer for a while. Soon they will have no choice but to discontinue driving taxis because it actually costs them more money to rent the taxi compared to the amount of money they rake in daily. The taxi transportation system then collapses because there are no longer taxis on the road. The middleman companies go bust because nobody wants to rent taxis from them. Soon the government will realize that this system is no good for anyone at all. They might then get rid of the middleman companies, and legislate reasonable increases in taxi charges.