Taxi Medallions

[Deleted]

What are they?

I've googled some (In specific NYC) about taxi medallions but what I find is that you require them for driving a taxi in NYC but what I also found was that the cost of one of these medallions can go over hundreds of thousands of dollars and that doesn't really make sense.

Do you need to pay hundreds of thousands of $ to drive a taxi in NYC?

Could someone explain or do we possibly have any taxi drivers here?

Thanks!

[Shuji V2]

Not sure how you missed it if you googled, but the wikipedia page explains it all in detail:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicab..._United_States

[Deleted]

Not sure how you missed it if you googled, but the wikipedia page explains it all in detail:
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Taxicab..._United_States

I actually blocked wikipedia from googles so I didn't read their page , gonna dig into this, thanks!

[someotherguy]

yea, you pay hundreds of thousands to get medallion. Then you buy a car, paint it or something, whatever it is, and you got a taxi-business.
Now since you invested all this money, you should be running the taxi 24/7, which means you can drive it for whatever time you want, then you loan out the car for the other times. Or you don't drive it at all.
For example, you do 10 hours a day, and find another guy who'll pay you $X per night, and you give him the car for the other 14 hours a day. And if the guy makes over $X per night, then he'll make money for himself, and if he can't even make $X, it's his loss. Well you can probably make any other type of a deal with the guy, so he wouldn't lose money if he can't get fares, or you make more money if he has exceptional night.

And according to http://www.nyc.gov/html/tlc/download..._transfers.pdf
the average medallion was about 900k.

(PS I don't have any first hand experience about this, all I had was an explanation of how this works from a person who was looking to buy medallion about 20 years ago, and a show I watched about it like a year ago, about how it's impossible for a regular person to start taxi business - though they can do car-service business, which does not allow picking up people off streets, there's a requirement to pre-arrange pickup)

[Sunseeker]

I actually blocked wikipedia from googles so I didn't read their page , gonna dig into this, thanks!

Why would you do that? Wikipedia is usually the most accurate source for general information on any subject, and provided that subject is well sourced, fairly accurate.

[poser765]

Why would you do that? Wikipedia is usually the most accurate source for general information on any subject, and provided that subject is well sourced, fairly accurate.

Yeah, I don't really have much to add to the conversation, but really why on earth would someone want to block wikipedia? That's mind blowing. That's like saying sure there are pollutants in the air so I'm just not going to breath.

[Daerio]

Read the wiki page, and there's other sources you can look at.

In my opinion, they're largely a scam. It's a way for the government to introduce another tax on a business model that is undeserving of it, and it's a great way for large taxi companies to completely stifle competition. If the investment cost is so high it's completely unrealistic for a normal taxi driver to get one, and they only offer X amount for the entire city, there's no option for the "little guy" to go into business for himself.

When we're talking about a business that only requires 1 person driving a car, they have to invent ways to keep it big business.

[Blueobelisk]

Awe there's a New York thread that I missed.

Basically you're not a legal taxi if you don't have an medallion. You yourself don't need it but your taxi organization does.

[Deleted]

Why are their so many taxi's in NY? I get that its easy transport so you don't have to buy a car to stand in trafic jams, but wouldn't it be more usefull to implement a large bus network? I know NY has subways, but how is the other public transport?

[Blueobelisk]

LOL busses and traffic are annoying. Do you know how many people clutter together on busses in Manhattan and how bad bus schedules are with traffic? Trains are the easiest thing for public transportation, then taxis are a nice luxury.

Problem with owning a car isn't traffic, it's finding parking wherever you go or at your home.

[The One Percent]

Why are their so many taxi's in NY? I get that its easy transport so you don't have to buy a car to stand in trafic jams, but wouldn't it be more usefull to implement a large bus network? I know NY has subways, but how is the other public transport?

Because US civic planning is garbage and run by corrupt officials who are in the pockets of industries who profit from it remaining a fucking disgrace?

[sheffield]

Why are their so many taxi's in NY? I get that its easy transport so you don't have to buy a car to stand in trafic jams, but wouldn't it be more usefull to implement a large bus network? I know NY has subways, but how is the other public transport?

you would think.. but try grabbing a cab at 4am when the bars close.. it's near impossible!

[Deleted]

900k for a fucking licence?!!?! I would take that money, move away from new york and open a decent business. Better yet, move to another country and live like a king.

[Masark]

900k for a fucking licence?!!?! I would take that money

The 900k isn't paid by individuals. It keeps the taxi business in the hands of the established taxi companies, preventing any upstarts who might disrupt their profit stream from getting into the market.

[someotherguy]

The 900k isn't paid by individuals. It keeps the taxi business in the hands of the established taxi companies, preventing any upstarts who might disrupt their profit stream from getting into the market.

I remember some cabbies were thinking of buying a token for about 200k a long time ago. But they ended up buying a gas station instead.
So basically at some point it was achievable.