Taxi Service Improvements

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TDM Encyclopedia

Victoria Transport Policy Institute

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About This Encyclopedia

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Updated March 8, 2007

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This chapter describes the role of taxi transport in a diverse transportation system, and ways of improving taxi service quality.

Description

Taxi refers to for-hire automobile travel supplied by private companies. Taxi service is an important Transportation Option that meets a variety of needs, including Basic Mobility in emergencies, general transportation for non-drivers, and mobility for Tourists and visitors.

Taxi service can be an important backup option for other alternative forms of transport, such as allowing pedestrians to carry large loads back from a store, providing an emergency ride home when a cyclist has a medical or mechanical problem, or a Guaranteed Ride Home for a rideshare or transit commuter. Informal taxi service often develops in rural communities where certain motorists will drive their neighbors for a fee. In this role, Taxi Improvements can be an important support for TDM efforts to reduce personal automobile ownership and use, and encourage use of alternative modes.

Taxi service can be improved by:

· Increasing the number of taxis in an area.

· Increasing the quality of taxi vehicles (comfort, carrying capacity, reliability, safety), improving support services (such as radio dispatch), driver skill and courtesy.

· Universal Design of taxi vehicles, including accommodating people in wheelchairs and with large packages.

· Reducing fares through regulation, competition, increased efficiency, incentives or subsidies.

· Allowing shared taxi trips (more than one passenger) and Paratransit services.

· Providing taxi stands, curb access and direct telephone lines.

Taxi service is often regulated, with restrictions on market entry and pricing, although many communities are implementing Regulatory Reforms to encourage more competitive markets. Some experts recommend eliminating most regulations and allowing unlimited entry into the taxi market (Moore and Rose, 1998; Boroski and Mildner, 1998), but others argue that regulation should be structured to maximize service quality (Nelson/Nygaard, 2001).

A number of factors can affect the quality of taxi service and its ability to serve various types of trips. Below are some performance indicators that can be used to evaluate taxi service:

· Average response time for various conditions and locations.

· Number of taxis per capita, or per non-driver in an area.

· Price for an average trip relative to users’ income.

· Comfort, safety, reliability, and courtesy of service.

· Number of taxis able to carry people with disabilities (i.e., wheelchair users).

· Number of problems reported by users.

How It Is Implemented

Taxi Improvements are usually implemented in cooperation between local governments, which regulate taxi service, and private companies, which provide taxi service. It sometimes involves transit agencies and other organizations that contract for transportation services. Taxi improvements may result from changes in taxi regulations, additional funding for subsidized taxi services, and improvements by taxi companies. Regulatory Reforms may be needed to eliminate unnecessary regulations and costs to taxi service.

Travel Impacts

Taxi service improvements have relatively modest direct travel reduction impacts, although allowing shared taxis (more than one passenger per trip) may reduce some vehicle trips. Taxi improvements may actually increase total motor vehicle travel if it allows increased mobility by people who are transportation disadvantaged.

However, Taxi Improvements support use of alternative modes, including walking, cycling, ridesharing and transit use, by giving people who use those modes a better fallback option in emergencies. It can allow people to reduce their car ownership. In these ways, Taxi Improvements can contribute to relatively large reductions in vehicle travel. Experience with Guaranteed Ride Home programs indicates that improving the availability of fallback options can significantly increase use of alternative modes.

Table 1 Travel Impact Summary

Objective	Rating	Comments
Reduces total traffic.	1	Supports use of travel alternatives, and shared taxi service can replace multiple car trips.
Reduces peak period traffic.	1
Shifts peak to off-peak periods.	0
Shifts automobile travel to alternative modes.	2	Supports use off travel alternatives.
Improves access, reduces the need for travel.	0
Increased ridesharing.	1	Shared taxis are a form of ridesharing, and provides a fallback option to rideshare users.
Increased public transit.	1	Provides a fallback option to transit users
Increased cycling.	1	Can be an important emergency option for cyclists who have problems during a ride.
Increased walking.	0
Increased Telework.	0
Reduced freight traffic.	0

Rating from 3 (very beneficial) to –3 (very harmful). A 0 indicates no impact or mixed impacts.

Benefits and Costs

Taxi Improvements have relatively modest direct travel reduction impacts, and may even increase vehicle travel in some situations, but support the use of other alternative modes, including walking, cycling, ridesharing and public transit use, and so may make a modest contribution toward congestion reductions and other TDM objectives. It improves Transportation Choice and Resilience. Benefits and costs depend on what type of taxi service improvements are implemented. They may include changes (increases or decreases) in taxi service quality, availability, fares, wages or profits. Boroski and Mildner (1998, Exhibit 2) provide information on average taxi fares in typical North American cities.

Table 2 Benefit Summary

Objective	Rating	Comments
Congestion Reduction	1	Modest direct travel impacts, but supports other alternative modes.
Road & Parking Savings	0
Consumer Savings	1
Transport Choice	3
Road Safety	0
Environmental Protection	0
Efficient Land Use	0
Community Livability	1

Rating from 3 (very beneficial) to –3 (very harmful). A 0 indicates no impact or mixed impacts.

Equity Impacts

Taxi service is an important transportation option for many people who are transportation disadvantaged, and often provides Basic Mobility. Taxi Improvements can help achieve equity objectives.

Table 3 Equity Summary

Criteria	Rating	Comments
Treats everybody equally.	1	Gives non-drivers better access and mobility options.
Individuals bear the costs they impose.	0
Progressive with respect to income.	2	Improves mobility services for lower-income people.
Benefits transportation disadvantaged.	3	Improves mobility services for non-drivers.
Improves basic mobility.	3	Taxi service often provides basic mobility.

Rating from 3 (very beneficial) to –3 (very harmful). A 0 indicates no impact or mixed impacts.

Applications

Taxi service improvements can be implemented in nearly any geographic area. They are implemented primarily by local and regional government agencies, and businesses.

Table 4 Application Summary

Geographic	Rating	Organization	Rating
Large urban region.	2	Federal government.	0
High-density, urban.	2	State/provincial government.	1
Medium-density, urban/suburban.	2	Regional government.	2
Town.	2	Municipal/local government.	3
Low-density, rural.	2	Business Associations/TMA.	2
Commercial center.	2	Individual business.	1
Residential neighborhood.	2	Developer.	0
Resort/recreation area.	3	Neighborhood association.	1
College/university communities.	2	Campus.	2

Ratings range from 0 (not appropriate) to 3 (very appropriate).

Category

Improves Transport Choice

Relationships With Other TDM Strategies

Taxi Improvements can support Guaranteed Ride Home, Commute Trip Reduction, Tourist Transport Management and Campus Transport Management. They can be part of Shuttle and Transit Service Improvements. Regulatory Reforms can support Taxi Improvements.

Stakeholders

Stakeholders include regulatory agencies (often local or regional governments), taxi companies, organizations that contract for taxi services, and users.

Barriers To Implementation

Barriers can include institutional resistance to change from local governments and existing taxi companies, and lack of organization by users.

Best Practices

· Consider taxi service as an important component of the transportation system.

· Minimize unnecessary taxi service regulations and costs.

· Allow shared taxis.

· Encourage competition.

· Encourage taxi companies to choose vehicles that accommodate people with disabilities, bicycles and large packages (Universal Design).

· Involve users in establishing taxi regulations and policies.

· Subsidize taxi service as a way to provide mobility in lower-density areas and off-peak times.

· Provide public support, including taxi stands and curb access.

Wit and Humor

A taxi is picking up a passenger on a downtown street when a second man rushes up and says breathlessly, “I need to catch a flight at the airport in half an hour. I’ll give you $50 if you’ll let this cab take me there first.” The first passenger agrees to this, and away they go.

A few minutes later the second passenger says, “It’s very important that I make this flight. Please drive as fast as you can.”

The driver does his best, but traffic is heavy and they are not making much progress. After a few minutes the anxious passenger says, “I must make this flight! I’ll give you a $100 tip if you can get me to the airport in 20 minutes.”

The driver takes short cuts, but progress is still slow.

After another ten minutes the taxi is still just at the edge of town and the passenger yells, “It’s essential that I make this flight! I’ll give you a $500 tip if you can get me to the airport in ten minutes.” This really gets the taxi driver’s attention. He begins to speed down the road and race through intersections.

Five minutes later the passenger is bursting with anxiety, and yells, “It’s imperative that I make this flight! I’ll give you a $1,000 tip if you get me to the airport in less than five minutes!”

The taxi driver floors the accelerator and zooms down the roadway, swerving wildly through traffic, crossing back and forth over the center line, just missing oncoming vehicles. In front of the airport, as the taxi makes a wild swerve the urgent passenger hands the driver a thick wad of bills, jumps out of the moving vehicle and disappears into the terminal. Without stopping the taxi continues back to the highway.

The first passenger, pale from fear, looks at the taxi driver and the pile of money and says, “Goodness sakes, that was amazing driving. You really earned that tip. What do you plan to do with all that money?”

The driver replies, “Well, first I should have the darn brakes fixed on this taxi.”

Examples and Case Studies

City of Rimouski's Taxibus (www.movingtheeconomy.ca)

The City of Rimouski, Quebec (population 32,000) has found that taxies can provide a viable and cost-effective alternative to traditional bus transit systems. After studying various transit service scenarios using buses, Rimouski chose to launch its TAXIBUS service. TAXIBUS, established in 1993, is a demand-responsive service which relies solely on local taxicabs. Quebec's Ministry of Transport developed a software to help manage the service.

TAXIBUS operates Monday to Friday, serving 300 stops by predetermined schedules. Passengers, who pay $2.40 per ride or $70.55 per month, must reserve one hour ahead of time by phone (schedules are cancelled when no reservations are made). The taxi drivers are paid according to the readings of the taxi meter, from the time the first passenger is picked up, to the time the last passenger is dropped off. A recent cost comparison with other transit services in Quebec cities of similar size showed that costs associated with TAXIBUS are an average of CAN$12 less per capita.

After four years of operation, TAXIBUS has become increasingly popular, growing by 37% over four years (current figures are 60,000 trips per year). Cost increases were kept down by a 6% increase in productivity (by grouping more passengers together on a single ride ? which also has ecological benefits). The number of passengers per ride rose from 1.6 during the first few months of operation to 2.8 by 1996. Service costs per ride have dropped from $5.18 to $4.35 per passenger (21% of which are administrative expenses).

Taxies can provide a variety of transportation services. These include: carrying people to a transfer location such as a bus terminal or railway station (called “treintaxi” in the Netherlands); replacing buses between rush hours; extending the service schedule of regular public transit; providing service to scarcely populated areas; acting as a complementary service for transportation of people with disabilities; and transporting groups previously organized by a third party.

Taxi Deregulation Trends (Kang, 1998)

Taxi service has been deregulated in many countries, including the U.S, U.K., New Zealand, Japan, South Korea, Australia, The Netherlands and Sweden. As an example, The Swedish Transport Policy Act of 1989 provided the framework for the deregulation of the industry in 1990, suggesting that the best service for the lowest economic cost would be supplied by a deregulated taxicab industry subject to free market forces. Deregulation of the Swedish taxi market was carried out in five steps:

1. Barriers controlling entry were removed, so that an operator can have as many taxicabs as desired. This relieved the county councils of their former task of estimating the demand for taxi services in each operating area.

2. Fare controls were removed, so that taxi companies became to be able to set their own fares. However, they were required to inform customers about the fare prior to trips, and taxicabs must be equipped with receipt writing meters.

3. The requirement for all taxicabs to belong to a radio booking centre was abandoned. At the same time, in order to stimulate competition between centres, publicly owned centres were established in the market as an alternative to the existing privately owned centres.

4. Geographically restricted operating areas were eliminated.

5. Strictly regulated operating hours were removed.

Many U.S. cities have partially or wholly eliminated local taxi regulations during the late 1970’s and early 1980’s. These included San Diego, Seattle, Phoenix, Portland, Sacramento, Kansas City and Milwaukee, as well as some smaller cities of significant size such as Tucson in Arizona, Oakland and Fresno in California, Raleigh in North Carolina, etc. Further discussions on taxi deregulation are still on going in America, and it has occurred or tried in several cities in 1990's, including Indianapolis (1994), Houston (1995), Denver, Hartford and Boston.

Indianapolis Taxi Regulation Reform (Moore and Rose, 1998)

In 1991, the city of Indianapolis created at Regulatory Study Commission (RSC) to implement regulatory reforms. One of its major achievements was to reduce unjustified regulation of the city’s taxi services.

Like other large U.S. cities, Indianapolis's taxi industry was heavily regulated, yet the quality of service was poor. Long waits were common after calling for a taxi, particularly in lower-income areas. Taxi fares for long trips were higher in Indianapolis than in many other major cities. A small number of companies dominated the Indianapolis taxi market. Only 392 cabs were permitted to operate in the city. One company controlled more than half of those licenses, and competition among cabs was limited. A substantial number of the licensed taxis were not in service at most times on an average day. Owners of a taxi license make most of their money from regular fares, so investing in wheelchair accessibility made no sense. The city did not allow specialized service, so the disabled had to use expensive private ambulances for door-to-door trips.

Minority organizations supported reforms. The restrictions on taxi licenses, fares, and service levels all but prevented low-income drivers from starting their own cab companies, and reduced the quality of service in lower-income neighborhoods.

The RSC rewrote Indianapolis taxi regulations with an eye to increasing competition. This included the following changes:

· Removed the overall limitation on the number of taxis that can be licensed.

· Allows taxi companies to set fares, with some constraints on maximum fares.

· Eliminates arbitrary rules, such as requiring taxi drivers to wear a special badge and cap, and specifying the number of seats taxis could have.

· Allows taxis to "cruise" for customers.

· Provides greater flexibility in safety regulations.

· Allows special taxis to carry passengers in wheelchairs.

· Allows jitney businesses greater operational flexibility.

· Allow jitney businesses to provide a "charter service."

References And Resources For More Information

John Boroski and Gerard Mildner (1998), An Economic Analysis of Taxicab Regulation in Portland, Oregon, Cascade Policy Institute (www.taxi-l.org/portland01.htm).

Canadian Taxicab Association (www.cantaxi.ca) assists taxicab operators to improve service, safety and profitability.

Katherine Freund (2000), “Independent Transportation Network; Alternative Transportation for the Elderly,” TR News, Vol. 206, Jan/Feb. 2000, pp. 3-12.

GTZ (2003), Sustainable Transportation: A Sourcebook for Policy-Makers in Developing Countries, (www.sutp.org), by the Sustainable Urban Transport Project – Asia (www.sutp-asia.org) and Deutsche Gesellschaft fur Technische Zusammenarbeit (www.gtz.de). In particular, see Modules 1b (Urban Transportation Institutions), 3c (Bus Regulation and Planning) and 6 (Resources for Policy Makers).

International Association of Transportation Regulators (www.iatr.org) provides an international, professional association for transportation regulators to cooperate and consider matters of mutual interest and concern, and to exchange ideas.

Choong-Ho Kang (1998), Taxi Deregulation: International Comparison, PhD Dissertation, Institute for Transport Studies, The University of Leeds (www.taxi-l.org/kang0898.htm#c3).

Daniel Klein (1996), Adrian Moore and Binyam Reja, “Free to Cruise: Creating Curb Space for Jitneys,” Access, No. 8, Spring 1996, pp. 2-6.

Daniel Klein, Adrian Moore and Binyam Reja (1997), Curb Rights: A Foundation for Free Enterprise Urban Transit, Brookings Institution Press (www.brookings.edu).

Adrian T. Moore and Tom Rose (1998), Regulatory Reform at the Local Level: Regulating for Competition, Opportunity, and Prosperity, Policy Study No. 238, Reason Foundation (www.reason.org); available at www.urbanfutures.org/ps238.html#A1.

MOSES - Mobility Services for Urban Sustainability (www.moses-europe.org) is developing mobility services to reduce dependence on the private car throughout Europe. It will employ new technologies to integrate urban transportation services (e.g. carsharing, public transport, taxi, cycling, delivery services etc.) for maximum efficiency. This project is sponsored by the European Union.

Nelson/Nygaard (2001), Making Taxi Service Work in San Francisco, San Francisco Planning and Research Association (www.spur.org/transarts.html).

Robert W. Poole, Jr., and Michael Griffin (1994), Shuttle Vans: The Overlooked Transit Alternative, #176, Reason Public Policy Institute (www.reason.org).

Schaller Consulting (www.schallerconsult.com/taxi) provides information on taxi regulation and policy.

Bruce Schaller (1998), Issues in Fare Policy: The Case of the New York City Taxicab Industry, Presented at the TRB Annual Meeting, Schaller Consulting, (www.schallerconsult.com/taxi/trb.htm).

Bruce Schaller (1999), “Elasticities for Taxi Cab Fares and Service Availability,” Transportation, Vol. 26, 1999, pp. 283-297.

Bruce Schaller (2005), A Regression Model Of The Number Of Taxicabs In U.S. Cities, TRB Annual Meeting (www.trb.org).

Taxi Study Panel (1999), A Study of the Taxi Industry in British Columbia, BC Ministry of Transportation and Highways (www.th.gov.bc.ca/publications/reports_and_studies/taxi/taxi.pdf).

Taxi-L Website (www.taxi-l.org) provides links to documents and links related to taxi transport.

Taxicab, Limousine & Paratransit Association (TLPA) (www.tlpa.org) is a non-profit trade association of and for the private passenger transportation industry.

Taxi and Livery Topics Webpage, (www.schallerconsult.com/taxi/newfb/index.html) by Schaller Consulting, provides a variety of information on taxi service planning and management, mainly related to New York City.

The Taxi, Urban Mobility Solution of the Future (www.ville-en-mouvement.com/taxi/uk/index.html) is a conference held September 2007 to explore the role that taxi transport plays in urban transport systems.

Michel Trudel (1999), “The Taxi as a Transit Mode,” Transportation Quarterly, Vol. 53, No. 4, Fall 1999, pp. 121-130.

Edward Weiner (1980), “Characteristics, Uses and Potential of Taxicab Transport,” Urban Transportation, Eno Foundation (www.enotrans.com), pp. 322-332. This paper describes various factors concerning how taxi service is organized, the types of trips it serves, and ways to make taxi service more effective at providing mobility.

Martin Wohl (1980), “Increasing The Taxi’s Role in Urban America,” Urban Transportation, Eno Foundation (www.enotrans.com), pp. 329-332. This paper describes the roles that taxis provide in urban mobility, barriers that taxis transport faces, and strategies for improving the quality of taxi service.

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This Encyclopedia is produced by the Victoria Transport Policy Institute to help improve understanding of Transportation Demand Management. It is an ongoing project. Please send us your comments and suggestions for improvement.