Regulation in the Taxi Industry.

This paper examines some of the economic reasons for price and entry regulation in the taxi industry and presents the legal framework under which taxis and hire cars are regulated in England and Wales outside London. It is argued that the current law is defective and should be amended to incorporate explicitly the inter-relationship between fares and vehicle numbers such that the regulators have the discretion to choose between a high price/high availability service and a low price/low availability service

Taxi Licensing Policy 1985-1991.

This paper reviews the effects of the 1985 Transport Act in the Taxi Industry, drawing on the results of surveys of local authorities in 1988, 1989 and 1991. Overall, we find that the Transport Act has had limited success in achieving its objectives. In restricted markets, a substantial and increasing licence premium is enjoyed by licence holders. In deregulated districts, we see generally lower standards of quality enforcement and severe shortages of rank capacity. We think the use of passenger working time as the sole intention for determining regulatory policy is likely to perpetuate these problems, and thus a review of regulation is required so that a better compromise between competing objectives can be achieved

Application of Advanced Stated Preference Design Methodology

This paper demonstrates the application of the design methodology developed in the Advanced Stated Preference Design project to stated preference experiments. The paper considers binary response experimental designs of two, three and four variables. In addition the special case of a two variable design with an alternative specific constant is also considered. Alternative optimality criteria are discussed. The paper concludes with recommendations on how to apply the design methodolog

Application of Advanced Stated Preference Design Methodology

This paper demonstrates the application of the design methodology developed in the Advanced Stated Preference Design project to stated preference experiments. The paper considers binary response experimental designs of two, three and four variables. In addition the special case of a two variable design with an alternative specific constant is also considered. Alternative optimality criteria are discussed. The paper concludes with recommendations on how to apply the design methodolog

Direct Demand Models of Air Travel: A Novel Approach to the Analysis of Stated Preference Data

This paper uses what has been termed the direct demand approach to obtain elasticity estimates from discrete choice Stated Preference data. The Stated Preference data relates to business travellers' choices between air and rail. The direct demand methodology is outlined and some potential advantages over the conventional disaggregate logit model are discussed. However, further research regarding the relative merits of the two approaches is recommended. The direct demand model is developed to explain variations in the demand for air travel as a function of variations in air headway and cost and in train journey time, frequency, interchange and cost. Relatively little has previously been published about the interaction between rail and air and the elasticities and variation in them which have been estimated are generally plausible. In particular, the results show that large improvements in rail journey times can have a very substantial impact on the demand for air travel and that the rail journey time cross-elasticity depends on satisfying a three hour journey time threshold

Urban Transport Market Theoretical Analysis.

1.The Institute for Transport Studies (ITS) was commissioned by the Department of Transport (DoT), the Association of Metropolitan Authorities (AMA) and the Passenger Transport Executive Group (PTEG) to undertake this project in November 1992. 2.The objectives of this study were: (a)to establish a simple economic model of urban transport operations, based on present policies; (b)to estimate, using the model, the theoretically optimal form of intervention in urban rail under the present policy constraints, and differences between this optimum and current procedures; (c)to investigate how improved procedures might be implemented in practice in the light of the kind of data which are currently available or become available in the course of a Section 56 appraisal and to make suggestions for additional data collection

The Demand for Taxis in Leeds and the Value of Time.

This paper presents the detailed results of stated preference experiments undertaken to estimate the value of time and various demand parameters. It continues a series of reports in this series (Pells [1990], Toner [1991]). Full details of the experimental design are contained in Toner [1990]. It is found that taxi passengers have a value of waiting time of about 7.4 p/min when a trip is made from a rank, and 9.7 p/min if the trip is booked by telephone. Existing users are relatively insensitive to price, but this depends greatly on the existence of an alternative mode of travel. Waiting time effects are minimal. Large reductions in price would cause significant numbers of bus users to switch to taxi

Taxi Licensing Policy: The Effects of the 1985 Transport Act

This working paper is one of a series (WP 252, 253, 254, 255, 274, 275), describing work undertaken under contract to TRRL investigating design guidance for pedestrian areas and footways to satisfy the needs of disabled and elderly people. This working paper reports on fieldwork conducted with disabled people in Leeds to investigate movement distances; assessments of surface conditions including gaps, undulation, gradients, camber and friction; and assessments of bus shelter seating

The Relationship Between Hackney carriages and Private Hire Cars in West Yorkshire.

The 1985 Transport Act substantially altered the legal framework for regulating hackney carriages such that a licensing authority may refuse the grant of a hackney carriage licence for the purpose of limiting the number of hackney carriages if, but only if, it is satisfied that there is no significant demand for the services of hackney carriages which is unmet. By contrast, local councils have never been permitted to impose an artificial limit on the number of private hire cars in this way. The questions of interest are: i) For what purposes do people use hackney carriages and private hire cars, and how do these differ? ii) Do consumers perceive any difference between hackney carriages and private hire cars, and to what extent are these differences considered important? iii) What are the implications of (i) and (ii) for licensing policy? The answer to these questions is to be found in an analysis of West Yorkshire and Leeds data collected by ITS. We also use some evidence gained during an unmet demand study conducted by ITS for Rochdale Borough Council

An Econometric Approach to Demand, Supply and Service Quality in the Taxi Industry

This paper uses data collected during various unmet demand studies to build econometric models of the taxi market. The aim is to use these models to derive the elasticities of demand for taxis with respect to price and service quality. It is found that the cross-sectional approach adopted fails to pick up any significant service quality effects. The price elasticity was about -2 under a constant elasticity formulation, and ranged between -2.5 to -3.5 if allowed to vary with price