‘Bandit’ Cabs in Los Angeles

“City Seeks to Flag Down ‘Bandit’ Taxicabs,” said the headline in the Jan. 23 Times. “Bandit” taxicabs? What are these? Cab drivers who lure unsuspecting passengers into their vehicles, hold them up at gunpoint, then push them out on the freeway at 60 m.p.h.?

No, these cabbies are guilty of a far more heinous crime--giving people rides for money! The Taxi Industry Council of Los Angeles and their political henchmen down at City Hall have announced a crackdown on these fiendish interlopers who actually dare to provide a public service--brace yourself--without a government permit!

“We’re going to do everything we can . . . to protect the public,” says City Attorney James K. Hahn. Protect the public from what? Lower fares?

The purpose of taxi permits--as in every other licensed industry--is to freeze out any future competitors, either by limiting the number of franchises (read “monopolies”) granted, or by making the cost so high as to prohibit most entrepreneurs from obtaining a license. The effect is to give the established cab companies a free ride on the backs of the taxi-riding public.

As with most government regulations, the poor end up as the main victims. Operating a taxi or jitney is one of the easiest and least expensive ways for individuals to go into business, yet this route becomes a dead end under the existing system of licensing, which shields the government-favored cab companies from such upstarts.

If drivers were allowed to operate free from government interference, cabs would be available in low-income areas where many drivers are now reluctant to go. In cities like Washington, D.C., and San Diego, where the taxi industry has been largely deregulated, other results include shortening of response times, reduction in fares, and jobs for people who would otherwise be unemployed. As hordes of drivers compete for customers, any cab company with slipshod service or lax safety standards is weeded out in short order.

There is no such thing as unfair competition in a free market. If the members of the Taxi Industry Council can’t prosper without government running interference for them, they shouldn’t be in business in the first place. As for the bureaucratic meddlers down at City Hall, with their “sting operations” and “task forces,” surely they can think up a more productive way to squander tax dollars than by harassing people who are just trying to make an honest living.

KARIN L. HOFLAND

Santa Monica