Another punishment of the productive to prop up the losers. This is the first known US attempt to directly subsidize taxis through the likes of Uber and Lyft.
State and city governments have been trying to protect the taxi industryfrom ridesharing services for a while, but Massachusetts is taking an unusual route. Its governor recently enacted a law (the first known in the US) that will charge ridesharing services a 20-cent fee for subsidizing transportation infrastructure, 5 cents of which will go to the taxi industry. Yes, every Lyft or Uber you hail will directly fund the taxis they’re competing against. Officials still have to hash out the finer details, such as how they’ll collect the fee and spend it, but the legislation prevents companies from tacking it on to your fare.
You have to wonder how much the taxi unions are giving kick-backs to politicians to enact such legislation.
This is like Apple being told to pay a tax because their iPhones are successful over the Window’s phone, and Microsoft getting the money.
Ridesharing firms aren’t completely against the measure, believe it or not.Reutersnotes that he same law also lets companies pick you up at traditional taxi bastions like the airport or convention center, albeit with limits. Also, the measures don’t go as far as the taxi business might like — Boston’s Taxi Operators Association would prefer an outright ban on any ridesharing firm that doesn’t follow the same rules that taxis do. As such, it’s more of a compromise than a flat-out victory for the incumbents.
Nonetheless, the move isn’t about to get a ringing endorsement. Although it could improve the overall quality of taxi service, it’s still protecting one industry at the expense of another. Should the government be playing favorites? And while it’s true that well-heeled companies like Lyft and Uber can afford to soak up the costs, it’s more daunting for smaller startups that now have to factor that cost into into their business models.