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Massachusetts Will Tax Ride-Sharing Companies To Subsidize Taxis (reuters.com)
Massachusetts will tax ride-sharing services -- 20 cents for each ride -- with 25% of the money raised going into a special fund for the taxi industry (according to an article shared by schwit1 ). Reuters reports:
Ride services are not enthusiastic about the fee. "I don't think we should be in the business of subsidizing potential competitors," said Kirill Evdakov, the chief executive of Fasten, a ride service that launched in Boston last year and also operates in Austin, Texas. Some taxi owners wanted the law to go further, perhaps banning the start-up competitors unless they meet the requirements taxis do, such as regular vehicle inspection by the police...
The fee may raise millions of dollars a year because Lyft and Uber alone have a combined 2.5 million rides per month in Massachusetts... The 5-cent fee will be collected through the end of 2021. Then the taxi subsidy will disappear and the 20 cents will be split by localities and the state for five years. The whole fee will go away at the end of 2026.
Republican Governor Charlie Baker signed the law, which specifically bans ride-sharing services from passing those costs on to their drivers or riders. And the article notes that Taiwan has also hit Uber with a $6.4 million tax bill, while Seattle has passed a new law allowing ride-sharing drivers to unionize.
The fee may raise millions of dollars a year because Lyft and Uber alone have a combined 2.5 million rides per month in Massachusetts... The 5-cent fee will be collected through the end of 2021. Then the taxi subsidy will disappear and the 20 cents will be split by localities and the state for five years. The whole fee will go away at the end of 2026.
Republican Governor Charlie Baker signed the law, which specifically bans ride-sharing services from passing those costs on to their drivers or riders. And the article notes that Taiwan has also hit Uber with a $6.4 million tax bill, while Seattle has passed a new law allowing ride-sharing drivers to unionize.
The entrenched criminals don't like their illegal "legal-monopolies" being smashed, so the silly dinosaurs are gonna thrash like mad trying to escape that tarpit...
Wrong way around, more like taxing wind to subsidize coal. Historically taxes of that nature worked as your example: the government taxes the older, less glamorous thing to help the new thing. For example there was a 10% tax on railroad tickets from 1942 to 1962 (originally intended for WW2) which eventually was used to fund airport and interstate construction, which helped doom the private railroads.
If the government wanted to do it consistent with history and your example, taxi fares would be taxed to subsidize ride sharing even as they're losing money.
In short the Taxi industry has a lot of say in the politics. Especially because the government decided to highly regulate the taxi industry.
I am sorry Taxi industry that your business model is failing. However it happens, trying to have the government come in and try to subsidize your business model isn't a solution.
If something is so important that you feel the need to post it on the internet... It probably isn't that important.
a bus-service is also not a taxi-service, yet the 2 do compete for travelers
A bus is so not like a taxi:
* Buses involve a ton of waiting.
* Buses carry more than two or three passengers, so less privacy.
* Buses won't pick you up at the starting location of your journey. Instead you have to walk to the bus stop.
* For long distance travel, you may have to take two or three buses (and wait between those buses), unlike a single taxi for the whole trip.
* Buses are usually cheap, especially if you buy a bus-pass.
* All that waiting and taking inefficient routes mean buses often take 2 to 5 times longer than a taxi for the same A-to-B trip.
An uber is sooo similar to a taxi:
* Instead of waving with your hands to hail a cab, you send a message to Uber's servers, which in turn will send messages to hail a cab for you.
* Instead of a taxi meter, software on Uber's servers will calculate the fare based on distance traveled, waiting time, etc.
* Both involve one for-hire driver driving a car.
* Both involve carrying one to three passengers.
* Price per mile is very similar, compared to other modes of transport such as bus or train.
in other words this isn't double-speek
So "ride-sharing" (or TOI, taxi-over-the-internet), automate just a couple of actions related to taxis, but are otherwise, they are exactly the same as taxis.
Perhaps you'd enjoy learning more about Massachusetts, starting with the composition of its legislative bodies. Hint: they are overwhelmingly populated by Democrats. Please feel free to contribute more disingenuous soundbites to the discussion. -PCP