INTRODUCTION
Recently in Auckland there has been outrage at the high prices of taxi fares. The last significant change to the taxi industry was caused by government deregulation, in 1989. This economic inquiry report is going to investigate the impact of this government policy, and the unintended consequences for both consumers and taxi drivers.
SUPPLY AND DEMAND
Deregulation decreased the barriers to entry for people wanting to become taxi drivers. This is due to a removal of a restriction on the number of taxis operating in specific areas, thus anyone can become licensed. Only basic requirements, such as passenger safety, and testing metering, equipment exist (Gaunt, 1996). The effect of this has been a dramatic increase in the number of drivers not only in Auckland, as it is relatively easy to enter the industry. For example by 1994 in Auckland there had been a 67% increase in the number of taxi companies (Morrison, 1997). It is evident that the quantity of taxis available (supplied) has increased, due to reduced barriers to entry; suggesting that the taxi market should be competitive.
The demand for taxis is likely to have increased as the population of Auckland has increased; from 943,776 people in the 1991 census (Statistics New Zealand, 1997) to 1,415,550 in the 2013 census (Statistics New Zealand, 2013). Consequently there should be more people requiring a taxi service.
IMPACT ON CONSUMERS
The effect of deregulation on supply should have provided customers with decreased fares due to the increased numbers of taxis competing for their custom. However in reality this is not true or there would not be people being charged $198 for a 37 kilometre journey (Tait, 2014a). A reason for this is that pre-1989 fares needed to be appr...
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...t and Planning A, 29(5), 913-928.
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Tait, M. (2014a, May 6). $198 Auckland airport taxi: Taken for a ride. The New Zealand Herald. Retrieved from http://www.nzherald.co.nz/business/news/article.cfm?c_id=3&objectid=11249994
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The Toronto Transit Commission (TTC) is not the best method of transportation in the city of Toronto, because it’s unreliable, inconvenient, and unsanitary. First of all, the TTC is unreliable because of many delays. The TTC buses often come late and there are many subway breakdowns and signal problems. These problems can cause longer wait times and result in the rider being late. Additionally, the TTC is inconvenient because it is difficult for the rider to get to his or her destination without a few transfers. In addition, there are very few direct routes and limited area coverage. For example, there are some areas where passengers have to walk long distances just to get to the bus stop. These problems can result in many transfers and cause
whether or not that city had enough gates for the new carrier, and whether the
Jonathan Kay’s “Fare Share” has many weaknesses that make his argument not effective when writing his article. Kay’s argument talks about how Uber is stealing taxi drivers of their livelihoods and how Uber is taking over the taxi monopoly. Weaknesses found in this article was when Jonathan Kay makes Uber look bad when talking about their flashy app which seems to kind of promote it even more, and with a little more research he can find other taxi apps. To add on he seems to write it very tongue-in-cheek. Furthermore, Kay also lacks evidence to support what he says because some of his arguments are weak and basic. Another weakness would be that he left the reader wondering what he is trying to prove in his argument about Uber, he seems to be all over the place with his argument. Overall, this was a weakly written article.
...nlike city’s taxi cabs do. Whereas the “Tube” joy ride can be experience for only $2.25; in contrast to taxi cabs, where they will charge you somewhere between $10-$15.00 for a perilous ½ mile trip. On a personal note, I feel that subways are far from a rip-off. I mean how else one can get from Inwood Country Club to Rockaway Beach for less than the cost of a Starbucks latte the subways are far from a rip-off. Believe it or not, 30 years ago, the subway fare used to be just a $1. This fare is even lower than the average fare that we pay today for a 30 day unlimited metro card. If one does the math, that’s $1.96 in 2009 dollars. Today the 30 day unlimited metro card brings fare down to $1.25. Altogether, I consider the subways to be a profitable deal. I mean how else one can get from Inwood Country Club to Rockaway Beach for less than the cost of a Starbucks latte?
Reveley, J. (1999), From “Supplementary Seagulls” to “Cut Price Casuals”: Changing Patterns of Casual Employment on the New Zealand Waterfront 1951-1997, Labour and Industry, 10(1): 35-56.
In order to measure the impact of United's price increase, we would need the price elasticity of the demand. The main problem is that there is no agreement as to whether, generally speaking, air transportation is or is not relatively price elastic. There is ample evidence that the introduction of deeply discounted fares by the low cost carriers can be very price elastic, although, each type of traveler has its own price characteristics.
Harrison Scott Key, who was published in Best Travel Writing 2014, wrote about his travels on one of America’s infamous modes of transportation, the Greyhound Bus. In “Fifty Shades of Greyhound”, Key begins his memoir by recalling the first time he had ever ridden on a greyhound. He wanted to go see West Yellowstone, Montana and despite his friends questioning his sanity and his mother believing that he will die, he left. The narrator returned several days later, promising his mother he would never do anything like that again, eighteen years later he broke that promise. He begins his essay in a Greyhound station in Savannah.
The Economist. 2014. Price or quality—pick one. [online] Available at: http://www.economist.com/blogs/gulliver/2014/02/ryanair [Accessed: 26 Mar 2014].
Several large companies have focused on the multi-occupant vehicle market, specifically school bus production, in North America. Competitors within the school bus manufacturing industry consist of the Henlys Group PLC, a British based company, and two U.S. bus companies, Collins Industries Inc. and Navistar International. Henlys consists of Blue Bird Corporation, Prevost Car Inc., Nova Bus and TransBus International Ltd. Collins Industries operates seven vehicle companies including Collins Bus Corporation and Mid Bus Corporation that make up their school bus line. And finally, Navistar International, which also produces school buses, is divided into three principal industry segments. These segments are trucks/buses, engines, and financial services.
Uber needs to focus its entry into densely populated areas of Canada lacking a well developed public transit system. These opportunities can easily be taken advantage of if Uber was to further develop its existing strengths.
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Transportation is an ever-growing sector in our society today. Because of the bustling city life we have today, most of us use transportation means to get from one place to another. Generally, road transportation comprised of nearly 40% of all energy sector emissions. While road transports in 2012 were up by 68% over 1990 levels, the trend has been flat ever since 2007. This flat trend in transport activity combined with improving efficiency. Transport of passenger and freight by rail is less carbon intensive than by road (Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment New Zealand 1 and 6)
Budd, T. (2014). Airport ground access and private car use: a segmentation analysis.Journal of transport geography, 36, 106-115. doi:10.1016/j.jtrangeo.2014.03.012
On the contrary, using private car is the same convenience of travelling as public transport. When people are in a hurry, they can suddenly go ev...
Auckland transport participated with Auckland Council and the New Zealand Transport Agency (NZTA) for funding the Tiverton-Wolverton upgrade. It cost $30 million to upgrade this busy 2.2km what will bring many benefits for road users and who living around this area.