The Iowa City Council is proposing adjustment to the laws governing the operations of taxis in and around the state. This comes in the wake of reports that some taxi operators and/or other players in that sector have often resorted to manipulative practices in the wake of emergencies. In fact, there are allegations that some taxi operators have engaged in criminal activities which in most cases are aimed at innocent customers who need their services. Under the circumstances leading to the proposing of such adjustments, the current paper is of the position that the city council and state government of Iowa are fully justified to undertake such measures. Such a move will not only bring sanity to a clearly currently disorganized sector but also help in protecting thousands of law abiding citizens who rely on taxis for different purposes in their day to day activities within the state.
According to Schmidt, there have been discussions regarding the proposed changes within the ranks of the Iowa City Council (p.17). The proposed changes are intended to affect both the traditional taxi services and the modern network-based taxi services search as Uber. The proposed regulations come in the wake of a string of allegations in which issues regarding the registration of taxi vendors have hindered smooth investigation by law enforcing agencies. For instance, a sexual assault allegation early in the year (2014) in which a taxi operator was accused became almost impossible to investigate as the accused could hardly be traced. Therefore, with the proposed changes outlining how such scenarios can be avoided, there is hope that, in future, such occurrences can be avoided.
Then there is the issue of exploitative and manipulative practices that are often resorted to by taxi operators especially during rush hours. Individuals have often been charged exorbitantly high fares in situations considered to be of high demand for taxi services. Time and again, there have arose situations when taxi operators hike fares claiming that such an action is intended to encourage taxi drivers to come out and serve the public. However, that is not usually the case as there are times when such fare hikes are clearly never justified. The proposed regulations intend to control such situations by providing a formula in which flat rates will be charged to specific destinations regardless of situations and circumstances that currently lead to unregulated fares and price gouging by mischievous taxi operators.
As should be understood, the taxi and generally the entire public transport sector is undergoing extensive developments thanks to the incorporation of technology in the sector. Services such as those offered Uber are a clear manifestation of how technology is revamping taxi services. Currently, just like in most other states in the US, the Iowa State has no clear guidelines on how such services as Uber’s can be controlled. Therefore, as Schmidt reports, the proposed changes to current policies will go a long way in readjusting the delivery of taxi services by operators to their clientele (Schmidt 16).
With the proposed changes advancing the idea of a unique color scheme for all taxis in Iowa, the proposed changes will positively change public transport in Iowa. To complement this, the proposed changes outline that all taxis should serve from designated places, an idea seen to be in line with efforts to decongest public roads in Iowa. All factors considered, the proposed changes to the operations of taxis, as reported by Schmidt are all that the state of Iowa needs to instill discipline on its public roads.
Work Cited
Schmidt, Mitchell. "Iowa City Council Discusses Taxi Cab Regulations Regulating Uber Drivers." 16 December 2014. The Gazette. 17 December 2014 <thegazette.com/subject/news/iowa-city-council-discusses-taxi-cab-regulations-regulating-uber-drivers-20141216>.
