Supply and Demand and the Taxi industry

[Oriel27]

20 was about right if you phoned for it.

Taxi fare in Dublin from Ballymun to Tara Street - worldtaximeter

yea i did actually, do they charge for pick up as well?

when i got into the car there was about 6 euro on the metre. lucky i dont go down to the capital that much any more i couldnt keep up with that spending.
but when i was in college, i used to walk home all the time from town, or south side the whole way up to DCU. couldnt afford a taxi, money all drunk.

[cyberianpan]

The Regulator sets a maximum price - individual drivers are free to charge any price they want up to the maximum.

They've two problems - first they've no way to signal to customers they are charging less and competing on price. And second, they've to overcome the inertia in their own industry that dicates they must charge the max and discourages customer behaviour that might promote price competition such as not taking the the taxi at the head of the rank.

Deregulation has worked for me because there are plenty of taxis around, but not for drivers.

It has also failed because there is no competition, but this is not a failure of deregulation - it's a failure of the regulator, but that's what you get when it's staffed the way it is with staff who are unable or unwilling to act in the public interest.

TGPS

This Gruntled Public Servant

Indeed - sadly most people just associate taxi regulation with the "stroke of a pen" act which liberalised license numbers

As I've pointed out before the Taxi Regulator is another failed quango - 22 staff doing work of questionable benefit
Taxi regulation: has it failed?

We need smart taxi regulation ...

cYp

[HanleyS]

The taxi industry in Dublin would be an interesting research topic for anybody studying market economics. Are taxi drivers really only earning minimum wage? Is taxi driving more attractive than other minimum wage jobs? Why are more people entering a saturated market? Something doesn't add up.

[Twin Towers]

North, South & West protest drive planned for noon today converging on St. Stephens Green.

Taxi Drivers For Change

[Hazlitt]

The taxi industry in Dublin would be an interesting research topic for anybody studying market economics. Are taxi drivers really only earning minimum wage? Is taxi driving more attractive than other minimum wage jobs? Why are more people entering a saturated market? Something doesn't add up.

Hi HanleyS,

Totally agree, why are more people entering the taxi market if there is no work around? Unless people are entering to supplement their income, part-time work, weekend, etc.

Personally I think anybody who finishes a 9-6 job and then goes out and does a few more hours work to get more money for his family is someone to be admired.

At the same time I have sympathy for anyone who can't earn enough money to pay their mortgages etc, but, as per my example above - the other worker had to finish their job and then go work in something like a taxi to get by, why can't taxi drivers look into other areas to supplement their pay?

Before any fool jumps down my throat, I have family and friends in the taxi business, this is a discussion, so keep it constructive.
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[Twin Towers]

Personally I think anybody who finishes a 9-6 job and then goes out and does a few more hours work to get more money for his family is someone to be admired.[COLOR=White].[/COLOR]

But anybody who works all day and drives all night is tired and dangerous and not deserving of admiration.

[TradCat]

Part-timers mean the supply is there when demand is at its peak. It is also a fact that the availibilty of taxis stimulates demand.

Where I have great sympathy for the drivers is in the fact that they were the only cartel to be broken up.

If it was proposed that anyone with a suitable premises could open a pub then there would be screams of outrage from that cartel. Even more so if a regulator was appointed to decide the price of a pint.

[turdsl]

The taxi industry in Dublin would be an interesting research topic for anybody studying market economics. Are taxi drivers really only earning minimum wage? Is taxi driving more attractive than other minimum wage jobs? Why are more people entering a saturated market? Something doesn't add up.

Yes, I know it looks like that, I own a taxi in the midlands I collected 30 euros after working
8 hours yesterday and put 40 euros diesel this morning in the tank.Some cab companies
are after buying more cars now as the prices have dropped and there is no shortage of drivers due to redundancies at the moment,

[Twin Towers]

Yes, I know it looks like that, I own a taxi in the midlands I collected 30 euros after working
8 hours yesterday and put 40 euros diesel this morning in the tank.Some cab companies
are after buying more cars now as the prices have dropped and there is no shortage of drivers due to redundancies at the moment,

So 30 euros for 8 hours and minus the cost of keeping a taxi on the road puts you on 25% of minimum wage at best.

[turdsl]

Last Saturday night, i got a taxi from Ballymun to tara Street. about 4 mile.
cost 22 euro.
i was in shock, gave the taxi man 20 and told him he wasnt getting the rest.

Yes, you were right, I own a taxi for the last 10 years and have always rounded the fare to the lowest handy figure such 13 down 10 euros, if you are flexible with people they become much more generous, in all that time i must say not once did a customer run away on me, 1or 2 said they would i would say you need not run too fast because i will not follow you anyway,I must also pay tribute to the youth most are drunk at night but my experience of them is to say that they are fabulous and a credit to their parents