Under Pressure From Uber, Taxi Medallion Prices are Plummeting
Source: NY Times
In major cities throughout the United States, taxi medallion prices are tumbling as taxis face competition from car-service apps like Uber and Lyft.
The average price of an individual New York City taxi medallion fell to $872,000 in October, down 17 percent from a peak reached in the spring of 2013, according to an analysis of sales data. Previous figures published by the city’s Taxi and Limousine Commission — showing flat prices — appear to have been incorrect, and the commission removed them from its website after an inquiry from The New York Times.
In other big cities, medallion prices are also falling, often in conjunction with a sharp decline in sales volume. In Chicago, prices are down 17 percent. In Boston, they’re down at least 20 percent, though it’s hard to establish an exact market price because there have been only five trades since July. In Philadelphia, the taxi authority recently failed to sell any medallions at its asking price of $475,000; it will try again, at $350,000.
Most major American cities have long used a system to limit the number of operating taxicabs, typically a medallion system: Drivers must own or rent a medallion to operate a taxi, and the city issues a fixed number of them. In New York, which established its medallion system in 1937, that number is 13,437. The number has risen only gradually since the late 1990s, even as the city’s economy has boomed.
Read more: http://www.nytimes.com/2014/11/28/upshot/under-pressure-from-uber-taxi-medallion-prices-are-plummeting.html?_r=0&abt=0002&abg=1
= new reply since forum marked as read
I believe you.
Even though I was a taxi driver myself, the descriptions of what medallions are come across as confusing & unnecessary.
My other question is how do they affect driver pay. Here in Phoenix I worked for a Total Transit taxi cab company, I was charged a lease (either 12-hour, 24-hour, or weekly were available). Also there was a "flag drop" fee for fares accepting from the dispatch computer which charged the consumer $3.45 which the driver was charged $2.95 but if a customer wasn't there for whatever reason and you initiated the fare cancellation, the driver ate the charge (unless it was something like incorrect address). If the fare was cancelled before you hit the cancel option & corresponding code then you didn't. You also had to pay for gas==Prius required 9/10 gallons or the gas guzzlers such as Crown Vic or Van had to be filled halfway. On those vehicles, the lease was also cheaper.
My company had medical vouchers (especially on long routes which paid something like $1.80 per mile) so you could make decent pay if you kept it at 12 hours Monday-Thursday 4-7 am to 4-7pm Friday & Saturday nights. Sunday was only worth it if the lease was free which only was if you worked the other 6 days of the same week.
It still sucked for the drivers from all fronts. Runners or "I only have half" (or some sort of situation that you can't predict, being a taxi driver is very unpredictable and has the sort of the "now I've seen everything" events) really screw things up. Can you imagine "I have to run inside to get the money" after McDonald's serves you a burger.
One fare I had said he used to be a driver in Vegas during the 70's and when he said they split the meter 50-50 I was like "I wish I was paid 50-50" and being in Vegas I said "You must have made a lot of money" which he agreed, from what he was saying it was the best paying job he ever had, 50-50 and they tipped the dispatcher a few bucks.
My job kinda felt like professional gambling. The lease was the bet while the shift was your luck, some days you raked in the dough (The weekend nights at ASU campus are gold mines for the Phoenix area taxi business--it is kinda funny seeing all the off-brand companies that vehicle designs are poor imitations of the major ones such as Yellow cab. You'll have to most basic font and "A Yellow Cab"
. The other thing about ASU are the street pickups so you don't get hit with the flagdrop fees (but the customer days because when you turn the meter on it tacks on the flag-drop fee--though you have discretion as to how much you can charge, you just can't overcharge what the meter says which is required to be on even if you're giving someone a free ride. Other days were horrible. Runners, no shows, "I'll pay you the rest later", etc were horrible as well as the slow zones, short fares. Saturday during the day-times are nothing but short grocery store runs that typically pay about $5--remember the $2.95, driver makes a couple dollars profit but they're also time consuming loading the groceries in the trunk, unloading at the destination.
It also one of the most dangerous jobs, mainly because of all the miles & probability of accidents but also cab drivers get robbed all the time. You may notice driver only carries $5 in charge which is a lie, especially towards the end of the shifts (daytime medical vouchers are a different story, I had days where I didn't have a single cash/credit fare but I always kept about $20 in ones to make change in-case I did have a cash fare.
