Strike The Root: Serving in Spite of the State

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June 21, 2004

Serving in Spite of the State

Suppose you need a ride to the supermarket because you don't have a car. You don't want to wait for the bus or try to carry several bags of groceries back on it. Licensed taxis (i.e., those who have paid their protection money to the state) are expensive. What do you do? You call a jitney, an unlicensed taxi, to take you. The jitney driver has lower overhead without having to pay all the license, inspection, and insurance charges the state requires of licensed taxis, and he has no protection from competition the way licensed drivers do, so he can therefore offer you the best service at the lowest price.

You might even consider this guy a hero, but guess who wouldn't: the state, of course. After all, the jitney driver isn't paying the state its protection money. The state, therefore, will cite and fine anyone driving a taxi without its approval.

Here in Pittsburgh, jitney drivers are tolerated and not even discouraged by the city, which has nothing to gain by shutting them down (since license fees go to the state). They provide a necessary service at a low cost, and they aren't forced to go anywhere there don't want to go, unlike licensed drivers. Many of them serve dangerous and poor neighborhoods, providing a much needed service.

Watch out for the government, though. Free enterprise is anathema to them unless they're getting a cut of it.

Posted by Mike Tennant at June 21, 2004 04:12 PM

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Ok, so how do I call one of these in San Jose, California, where cops have a tendency to revoke permits on the spot, so licensed cab drivers don't want to drive here? Seems like unlicensed jitney service should be thriving here.

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June 21, 2004

Serving in Spite of the State

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