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Comment by Sohcahtoa82 | Hacker News Reader

Who's idea was the medallion system, the city, the drivers, or both? Were taxi drivers in favor of the system when it first came out? Were they still in favor of it in the mid 2000's before Uber/Lyft?

If the answers to the last two questions are "yes", then I can't help but not have any sympathy for the plight of drivers and the expense of the medallions, especially when I read about taxi customers complaining about rude drivers, credit card machines "not working", having to wait over an hour for a taxi, etc.

The writing is on the wall. It's been on the wall for a couple years now. Taxis as we know it are a dying industry, being replaced by Uber/Lyft/etc.

And good riddance.

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And good riddance.

An incredibly callous attitude to take at what must have been a truly profound sense of anguish and despair experienced by a person known to others as their "beloved father, husband, brother, friend." (Yes, I know you're saying that mostly about the medallion system. But to the extent that that's all that comes to mind when you hear about what happened -- yes, you pretty much are saying that the driver who took his life in this case, as well).

"... that about the driver ..."

I suppose you're right. That does come off as a bit callous. Maybe I should rephrase my stance.

I'm glad the taxi industry as we know it is dying. However, it is a bit tragic that it is ruining the livelihood of taxi drivers on its way out so badly that they're committing suicide.

But is this any different than any other industry being replaced? Certainly we have sympathy for coal miners that have lost their jobs as our chosen sources of energy shift, but should that make us appreciate the shift away from coal and its destruction of our air any less?

Even if the cabbies as a group wanted the medallion system at some point in time the guy who took his own life probably didn't create it. He was just "playing the game as it had been created". Then all of a sudden when he is pretty much all in, some VC decides to change the rules of the game. If someone comes along to "disrupt" the market (which just happens to be your life) and is willing to burn billions and billions of dollars on it (Uber has yet to make a dime of profit) I can imagine one would become desperate....

> some VC decides to change the rules of the game

The regulation part of the medallion system was to limit cabs cruising the streets looking for pickups. Shuttles, Black cars, and personal drivers were already able to pre-arrange pickups at a specific location`.

Do I think ride sharing blurs this line when cars don't pull on side streets for pick up? sure.

`depending on code

Uber HAS recently turned profit.

Right. They sold off a large part of their company and so, in Q1, they made a profit.

Taxi drivers have never been a fan of the medallion system. That system was cooked up by city regulators and medallion owners not drivers. Specifically, cities created a medallion system which limited the supply of drivers, thereby protecting cab rates and ensuring medallion owners get rich. This led to companies that hoard medallions and charge exorbitant leasing fees to taxi drivers, making them inclined to drive unsafely and not take credit cards because they were always in debt the day they started work. Essentially the system was a racket between medallion owners and the city that short changes citizens AND drivers.

https://www.heritage.org/transportation/report/taxicab-medal...

The taxi industry created Uber and Lyft by charging random fees, running up the meter, and creating this ecosystem where the passenger is basically taken for a ride with not much recourse. Ridesharing apps give something taxis never were able to: Actionable, immediate oversight. It’s terrible that all of these drivers are getting saddled with enormous debt over the medallions, but at some point it was bound to happen. You can’t run a corrupt monopoly forever.

  And good riddance.

Yeah, who cares about the disabled, those who live in "scary" neighborhoods, or others that taxis are mandated by law to take while ride share drivers decline?

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