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RE: Hailing for Change: Medallions vs. the Marketplace
Sounds like Hong Kong taxi have similar system to NYC. It's a complete different economy here though compare to the US. It's quite expensive to keep a car here. The car itself isn't that expensive (unlike Singapore) but we get taxed to high heavens and the revenue gets piped back into public transport (inc taxi).
In effect, UberX drivers are barely making a profit because taxis are already so competitively priced. The only thing Uber had going for them is that their driver tends to have cleaner cars and UberBlack is filling the need in the premium market.
The Hong Kong government is actually responding and plan to develop premium taxi services, so it's good that tech innovation is driving (pun intended) real progress.
That is really interesting. I never knew that. I will defintely do some more research on this now. I always pondered how the rest of the world handled the sharing-economy.
But i think the medallion system is pretty popular around the world, for that was the old status quo/standard. The new norm now is the abundance of choice through permissionless innovations like Uber and Lyft. Governments have always had a tough time dealing with new technology. But the way some governments have treated Uber and the sharing-economy is quite odd.
I could imagine that is it very expensive to keep a car there (Hong Kong like Washington DC isnt cheap im sure). But it is interesting that the Hong Kong government is responding and planning to develop premium taxis - theyre literally conceding to the success of UberBlack by trying to develop their own way to do it. i mean i see how that is kind of punning but it is interesting that private companies are forcing governments to innovate and compete rather than regulating the industry out of the Hong Kong altogether (like some american states and cities are doing).
Thank you so much for commenting - your insight is very valuable! Glad to connect my friend!
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