the public's interest.
Within the next couple of months, the Montana Public Service Commission will decide whether to allow a second taxi company in Missoula. Unfortunately, a new taxi service doesn't look likely.
At the same time, they are also trying to convince the commission that their small fleet of hybrid vehicles would appeal only to a limited number of consumers, and would therefore avoid luring customers away from existing providers - namely Yellow Cab, which currently provides the only 24-hour taxi service in our growing town.
That strikes us as a strange set of hoops to jump through. Stranger still is the fact that the PSC, the same agency charged with regulating Montana's gas and electric companies, is regulating Missoula's taxi service at all.
The Public Service Commission is responsible for making sure that public utilities in Montana provide adequate service at reasonable rates. It began watching over private transportation services in the early part of the last century, starting with railroad companies, and somehow managed to pick up taxi and limousine companies along the way.
Yet taxis and limousines can hardly be considered public utilities. They don't require the special use of public resources. They aren't involved with maintenance of public infrastructure, and they aren't inclined to form monopolies.
Instead, the PSC stepped in to create Missoula's current taxi monopoly, and now believes it must maintain it. In fact, an initial order from the commission is recommending the Murrays' application be denied - because a new taxi company could take customers from Yellow Cab.
The PSC should not be required to maintain a monopoly for certain businesses at the expense of others, and commissioners should not be given the responsibility to decide which businesses succeed - and which don't even get a chance to try. The Legislature needs to throw out the law that puts taxis under the commission's jurisdiction.
As it stands, the state's prohibitive licensing system discourages new taxi businesses from entering the market. With no competition, existing companies have no incentive to offer better service.
At a recent public hearing, the would-be owners of Green Taxi produced no fewer than 19 witnesses to testify that Yellow Cab's current level of service isn't enough. Most of these witnesses complained about long waits, no-show drivers and a confusing fee system. In other words, they complained about poor service.
Apparently, even the mere threat of competition has prodded Yellow Cab into providing better service: Since the Murrays submitted their application, Yellow Cab has added more shifts during their busiest hours to cut down on wait times. It has even added a hybrid vehicle to its fleet of taxis.
Yellow Cab owner Bob Gray still believes his company provides adequate service. If some people disagree, they're free to ... well, they're not exactly free to take their business elsewhere.
If taxi services weren't subject to the PSC's oversight, more providers would be encouraged to enter the business. And if taxi services were plentiful and convenient, more people might take advantage of them.
The Public Service Commission is supposed to regulate in the public interest. Clearly, involving the PSC in the operation and regulation of taxi services is counter productive and not in the public interest at all.
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