The taxi drivers have once again caused chaos in Paris and other French cities. The vehemence of the taxi drivers can be explained by the challenge to their system due to competition.
About forty taxi drivers from Nice went to the capital to protest: would it not have been better for them to explain why the journey from Nice airport to the Hotel Negresco costs 30 euros? And why aren’t they all equipped to accept credit card payments?
Those who, during years of regulatory monopoly, maintained the organized scarcity in our streets, are now getting a harsh backlash from the competition. In Paris in particular, many clients are getting their revenge by extensively using the VTC fleets that navigate the streets of the capital.
Today, it is the customer who chooses and companies are adapting to consumer desires. The foundation of marketing is the best service, the quality of products, reasonable prices, and comfort of use.
Many try to promote the nobility of the taxi drivers’ fight. In reality, the problem is indeed their monopoly. Additionally, because they operate on a Malthusian logic of reducing supply, their monopoly would have exploded in the short term anyway.
For almost ten years, taxi drivers have known that their profession must evolve and open up. From this perspective, blaming Uber and the VTCs is convenient. It didn’t take a genius to understand that, regardless of what happened, the situation could not last and that progress was necessary.
In short, with or without Uber, the taxi license monopoly must be tackled, and believing otherwise is simply absurd.
