Thursday, April 19, 2007

Suggestion Box: How About "Real" Cabs?

Mike Hollihan has offered another good suggestion for improving Memphis, and we include it as part of our weekly Suggestion Box feature:

I'll throw out something else to be looked at: the city cab situation. It is unbelievably broken. Twenty to 30 dollars for a cab ride from the airport to downtown? Not being able to hail a cab? Having to wait up to 90 minutes after call for one?

Isn't there a Cab Commission that artificially limits cab licenses to keep profits high and competition non-existent?

Take 'em to the Mississippi and let 'em have a swim.

To which, Carol replied:

Amen to Mike's comments. I am in Pittsburgh today where the airport is a $40-50 cab ride. (It is a very long ride.) But there is a shuttle to downtown for $19.

When I come into Memphis, I usually have no one to pick me up, and the price of a cab ride seems exhorbitant. But there is no alternative. It's cheaper to rent a car than a cab. Something seems really wrong with that.

3 comments:

Anonymous said...
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Tyler said...

I think it would be better to first establish a half-decent public transportation systems (bus, lightrail, etc.) that locals could rely on with rarer use of a personal vehicle. Then it might be prudent to bolster a seemingly nonexistant cab system.

In addition to this, an airport shuttle service (like CAAC in China) could be used that shuttles people to various important sites (airport, train stration, regional centers like downtown, midtown) for a fee more expensive than public transportation, but not as expensive as a direct cab ride. From there on, public transport or cab could serve.

Smart City Consulting said...

Since we asked people to share their honest opinions, we don't think it's fair to allow others to attack them ad hominem for what they say, so we deleted the comment above.