Hollister Taxi has been here for 26 years and the business is
passing to a new generation. I wish them well, but since they have
only three cabs and operate limited hours, there appears to be an
opportunity for some fair competition.
One issue in the healthcare debate is whether a publicly-funded government insurance program would squeeze private companies and competition out of the market. Based on the situation surrounding Hollister Taxi and the recent application by Yellow Cab Co. to operate in Hollister, the answer is obviously yes. Yellow Cab’s application was approved, but not without opposition from two Hollister City Council members.
Officially, a single cab company, Hollister Taxi, currently services the city. They have up to three cabs, but they do not provide around-the-clock service. Hollister Taxi has been here for 26 years and the business is passing to a new generation. I wish them well, but since they have only three cabs and operate limited hours, there appears to be an opportunity for some fair competition. Understandably, Hollister Taxi opposed this application.
Surely, a city of over 30,000 needs more than three part-time cabs, but two council members, Pauline Valdivia and Doug Emerson, disagreed. They wanted Hollister Taxi to remain the only service. Ironically, a few minutes previously, those same members were asking staff for assurances that city purchases were competitively bid. Obviously, what’s good for the political goose is not necessarily good for the political gander.
A local supporter mentioned Hollister Taxi’s relationship with LULAC, which has nothing whatever to do with the issue; it was just an attempt at political arm-twisting. Strangely, though, the supporter failed to mention Hollister Taxi’s biggest competitor by far – the taxpayer funded taxi-like services provided by public transportation.
The real competition for Hollister Taxi was not Yellow Cab; it was the door-to-door service operated by COG. This government “taxi service” receives subsidies of 85 percent for operations and 100 percent for capital investment and it continues to suffer devastating fare losses that no private firm could possibly survive.
As part of COG, the entire council, including two members who voted to reject Yellow Cab, is actually the de facto competition for both taxi companies. COG leaves the scraps and closing-time drunks for the private sector. Driving home the intoxicated is a fine public service, but it’s not likely to generate big profits. If there were ever an unlevel playing field, this is it.
Those who are part of the problem should cease shedding crocodile tears over the plight of the small businesses. If the politicians actually cared, they would stop stealing customers using wads of taxpayer money. Small operations like Hollister Taxi are just convenient diversions for these government takeovers. They are written into the transportation plan – “see we left something for you.” However, what is left is gruel; the government has skimmed off all the cream. Eventually the companies are forced to fold and the former owners can be found driving the buses for the very agencies that put them out of business.
The government keeps expanding, gobbling up more of the nation’s wealth and issuing massive debt in return. It also came to light that the public transport system is considering selling advertising at their bus stops. Selling advertising would put COG in direct competition with taxi advertising and an array of other private businesses, including newspapers (my columns are donated – I’m not protecting my income).
Advertising dollars going to COG cannot go to private businesses and – as a friend pointed out – COG will be hiring people to manage and operate their advertising department. That means more government employees and less private employment.
If Hollister Taxi ever goes out of business, some politicians will immediately blame Yellow Cab. Don’t you believe it – the biggest fish, government, is eating all the little fish.
Marty Richman is a Hollister resident. Reach him at cw*****@ya***.com.
