The key is to figure out why Belgium’s taxis are so expensive in comparison to other places.
What are the differences in regulation?
Are Belgian taxi drivers each completely independent operators responsible for covering all their costs with only one driver while other places have vehicles shared by multiple drivers?
What are the differences in standards of living and employment opportunities? In my experience, people migrate away from low paying jobs quite quickly when the opportunity arises. For example, in Canada you won’t find anyone other than management deliberately making a career out of working in fast food because the pay and working conditions are crap. The only reason anyone works fast food is because of lack of better options. That’s what’s killing fast food in certain places in Canada. There have been so many well paying jobs in the oil sector for long enough that in places like Fort McMurray, McDonald’s and Tim Hortons have often had trouble staffing their outlets.
It’s regulatory capture and people know, but … politics. There is no incentive for more efficiency, since the holders of the licenses are making enough, because it’s a captured market… It’s a protected sector with a limited number of licenses and the amount of licenses is very limited because the market is so small. A real chicken and egg situation.
Taxi license driver holders are almost exclusively Belgian natives. Shuttle drivers come from all over the eu, but they’re not allowed to pick up fares, only work through reservations or on fixed trajectories.
The key is to figure out why Belgium’s taxis are so expensive in comparison to other places.
What are the differences in regulation?
Are Belgian taxi drivers each completely independent operators responsible for covering all their costs with only one driver while other places have vehicles shared by multiple drivers?
What are the differences in standards of living and employment opportunities? In my experience, people migrate away from low paying jobs quite quickly when the opportunity arises. For example, in Canada you won’t find anyone other than management deliberately making a career out of working in fast food because the pay and working conditions are crap. The only reason anyone works fast food is because of lack of better options. That’s what’s killing fast food in certain places in Canada. There have been so many well paying jobs in the oil sector for long enough that in places like Fort McMurray, McDonald’s and Tim Hortons have often had trouble staffing their outlets.
It’s regulatory capture and people know, but … politics. There is no incentive for more efficiency, since the holders of the licenses are making enough, because it’s a captured market… It’s a protected sector with a limited number of licenses and the amount of licenses is very limited because the market is so small. A real chicken and egg situation.
Taxi license driver holders are almost exclusively Belgian natives. Shuttle drivers come from all over the eu, but they’re not allowed to pick up fares, only work through reservations or on fixed trajectories.
Thanks for the insight. Regulatory capture is a problem with everything, it seems.