This is a legacy page. The current version is here: Taxi Business and Regulation.
Taxicab Business and Operations
Price wars are rare in the taxi industry but history does offer an example from 1949 in Hawthorne, California. Rates dropped from 30-cents per mile to an unsustainable flat rate of 10-cents per ride. The winner of the price war was the company that threatened to lower prices to just 1-cent per ride but who in fact reduced his prices by the least amount of all the competitors. The author applies lessons from the taxi price war to resolving real wars. Taxicab Rate War: Counterpart of International Conflict (free JSTOR subscription required.)
A manager's first line of defense against high-risk drivers is the driving history. How to Read a Driver License Print-Out.
In 2010 the US Internal Revenue Service published a tax audit guide for cash intensive businesses. Download the section on taxicabs which is chapter 17.
Download this Taxicab Rate-of-Fare Designer, an XLS worksheet that allows easy design, comparison and graphic charting of any two traditional taxicab rates of fare based on time and distance. The worksheet opens with the Excel spreadsheet program. See also NIST Handbook 44 - Taximeters Code which describes the U.S. requirements for accurate measurement and transparent calculation of metered taxicab fares. This technical document underlies important consumer protections for taxicab customers.
Managing in the Aftermath of Disaster: What do you do when tragedy strikes and the phone is ringing off the hook? Read this thought-provoking account of what may be expected of a manager in times of crisis. Diamond Taxicab Dispatch Services general manager Jim Bell recounts the events following the death of driver Tahir Khan in a Toronto car wreck that captured the attention of the national media.
Notes, Quotes and Anecdotes: this delightful and often hilarious collection from researcher Norman Beattie is a goldmine for speakers
- Nissan's 2014 NV200 Taxi is the New York City "Taxi of Tomorrow."
- Ford makes the Transit Connect Taxi.
- TX4 London taxi by The London Taxi Company is wheelchair accessible.
- Electric London taxi by The London Taxi Company is fully accessible.
- Kia Soul EV is one of four models selected by all-electric Téo Taxi of Montreal.
- Freedom Motors offers wheelchair accessible taxicabs.
- US-made MV-1 by Mobility Ventures is a fully accessible taxicab.
- Nissan's NV350 Impendulo Minibus Taxicab is widely used in South Africa.
- Modern replica of a 1930s Asquith London taxi is ideal for weddings.
Kareem Haggag and Giovanni Paci authored a discussion paper for the Department of Economics at Columbia University titled Default Tips. The March 2013 study examined 13 million credit card transactions in New York City taxicabs. The authors determined that the default tips suggested to passengers on rear-seat terminals have a large impact on tip amounts. Generally tip amounts are higher, but the authors "highlight a potential cost of setting defaults too high, as a higher proportion of customers opt to leave no credit card tip when presented with the higher suggested amounts."
What sustains social norms and how do they evolve? The case of tipping, an article by economist Ofer H. Azar (258KB pdf). Originally published in the Journal of Economic Behavior and Organization, the paper presents a model of the evolution of social norms. From the abstract: "When a norm is costly to follow and people do not derive benefits from following it except for avoiding social disapproval, the norm erodes over time. Tip percentages, however, increased over the years, suggesting that people derive benefits from tipping, such as impressing others and improving their self-image as being generous and kind." See this document page for more information about the paper.
The History of Tipping - From Sixteenth-Century England to United States in the 1910s (281KB pdf) by Dr. Ofer Azar. From the abstract: "This article reviews the early history of tipping and offers an economic analysis of different aspects of tipping. Using the historical evidence, it then addresses two major questions about tipping: why do people tip? And does tipping improve service quality?" See this document page for more information on the paper.
Other works on tipping by Dr. Ofar Azar, an economist at Northwestern University and Ben-Gurion University.
The Itching Palm: A Study of the Habit of Tipping in America by William Rufus Scott is a 1916 attack on tipping as "a willingness to be servile for a consideration." Digitized book courtesy of Google. (2MB pdf)
To Insure Prejudice: Racial Disparities in Taxicab Tipping by Ian Ayres , Fredrick E. Vars and Nasser Zakariya of Yale Law School, Miller Shakman & Hamilton and Harvard University. From the abstract: "Many studies have documented seller discrimination against consumers, but this study tests and finds that consumers discriminate based on the seller's race."
Mega Tips - Scientifically Tested Techniques to Improve Your Tips by Dr. Michael Lynn, Associate Professor at the School of Hotel Administration, Cornell University. (586KB pdf)
Why Do We Tip Taxicab Drivers? by David Flath, North Carolina State University - Department of Economics, September 2004. From the abstract: " Tipping thus represents a frank acknowledgment that the posted fare or regulatory determined fare is non-binding; the tip is simply the portion of the agreed fare in excess of the regulated one."
How to read an insurance policy and other guides to buying business insurance, courtesy of the Insurance Bureau of Canada
Taxi Drivers and Road Safety, a 1997 study from the Australian Federal Office of Road Safety. From the Executive Summary: "The major findings indicate that anger and risk-taking are important predictors of taxi driver accidents, with increased anger expression and increased risk-taking being related to a greater likelihood of involvement in accidents. Average length of shifts and vehicle type were also significant predictors of accident involvement." (674KB pdf)
Insurance Institute for Highway Safety, Highway Loss Data Institute, crash tests and ratings
Featured items for managers
A perfect print-out
A chart comparing San Francisco's 2003
rate of fare with an alternative rate of fare
Print ads for early motorized taxi service
Taxicab vehicles
Tipping
Photo: August 2016 driver recruitment ad atop a San Francisco taxicab was directed to TNC drivers.
Risk reduction
Seatbelt reminder from the City of Auburn in New South Wales
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