Taxi apps, regulation, and the market for taxi journeys
Milind Kandlikar (Liu Faculty, University of British Columbia), Simon Harding and Sumeet Gulati
June, 2016
This publication is available for download here.
Source: Science Direct: Transportation Research Part A (Policy and Practice)
Liu Faculty, Milind Kandlikar, and co-authors Simon Harding and Sumeet Gulati, attempt to provide a starting point for discussion on how smartphone-based taxi apps have changed the market for taxi journeys and the resulting implications for taxi market regulation. Their research provides a brief history of taxi regulation, as well as outlines the underlying economic rationales of its current form in various parts of the world. This research argues that current regulation assumes that taxi markets are subject to three sets of problems that require correction by regulatory intervention. The paper presents multiple potential problems for taxi apps, such as the potential for instability on supply and demand sides, collusion and monopoly. This research extends our understanding of taxi markets and the issues associated with the popularity of newly released apps, such as Uber.
