As a result, most Boston taxi drivers do not enjoy the fruits of their own labor. City policy should not facilitate the creation of black markets. Less so in Charlotte, which instituted a temporary moratorium on new taxicab permits and whose rules governing such permits are unclear. Taxicabs are heavily regulated in cities such as Los Angeles, Chicago, Boston, New York, Miami, Buffalo, Houston, and San Francisco, and market entry is tightly restricted. Taxicab regulations often far exceed legitimate safety concerns, and instead are designed to protect existing companies from competition.
Economic liberty is an essential part of our nation's promise of opportunity.
And a potential avenue for legitimate entrepreneurial opportunity is completely and unnecessarily extinguished. The most formidable barrier is the limit Detroit has placed on the number of taxi licenses. As a result of all these barriers, taxicab medallions command an artificially high price on the open market and entrepreneurs seek to avoid these regulations in numerous ways, both legal and illegal. Portland should dissolve its onerous regulations and open the taxi market to entrepreneurs. Driving a cab, like street vending, barbering and a host of other occupations, is a perfect entry-level business for the poor because it requires minimal training or capital investment, and the more you work the more your earn.