bostonpatriot

Recently increased animosity between the City of Boston and Cab drivers has highlighted the effects of a change from commission based taxi driving to a system where drivers rent the taxis from the medallion owners for a fixed fee and so they only start making money after they have made enough money to pay this fee and expenses. This inevitably leads to a squeeze on drivers who need only minimal qualifications to be a driver in the first place. With medallion owners simply selling shifts to the highest bidder.

As it was recently written at Bostonherald.com, “if you want professional drivers, do what they do in London, ban the shift rental system.”

Imagine any other job where you rent your job and you can be out money on a slow day.  Only desperate people are going to take that type of job, where you assume all the risk and face a ceiling on any potential profit which is dictated by the number of fares you can possibly pick up in any given hour.