The solution that I think would work in SF is as follows. Charge a flat rate (say, $50K/year; though a Dutch Auction might be reasonable too) for leasing out a permit to qualified drivers. You qualify drivers by running background checks, and testing them on the knowledge of the city. Pass a law that makes illegally running a cab a serious offence. This will automatically solve the "tragedy of the commons" or "too many cabs" problem, because if there are too many cabs, they won't be able to make the $50K/year needed to break even.
If 2000 cabs (a number 20% larger than the current fleet size) enroll in this, you're looking at an additional $100M/year.
To run the program, have a small enforcement wing of SFMTA (instead of the current gigantic bureaucracy that micromanages everything). Offer up an open API so people can build apps that track cabs, hail cabs, etc.
The medallion system is 19th century. We need a 21st century system.
The solution that I think would work in SF is as follows. Charge a flat rate (say, $50K/year; though a Dutch Auction might be reasonable too) for leasing out a permit to qualified drivers. You qualify drivers by running background checks, and testing them on the knowledge of the city. Pass a law that makes illegally running a cab a serious offence. This will automatically solve the "tragedy of the commons" or "too many cabs" problem, because if there are too many cabs, they won't be able to make the $50K/year needed to break even. If 2000 cabs (a number 20% larger than the current fleet size) enroll in this, you're looking at an additional $100M/year.
To run the program, have a small enforcement wing of SFMTA (instead of the current gigantic bureaucracy that micromanages everything). Offer up an open API so people can build apps that track cabs, hail cabs, etc.
The medallion system is 19th century. We need a 21st century system.