Paris Taxis

Writes a friend:

Lew

I am in Paris this week.  When I was here a couple of months ago, the taxi drivers held one of their regular strikes (I think the issue was Uber).  Besides not being able to get a cab, they block access to the airport…and the police help them as opposed to tow their cars out of the way.

Anyway, the other day when I arrived at CDG, I got in a clean cab.  I noticed at the taxi stand that every car was clean and new – or reasonably new and well kept.  I was going into the city.  I noticed that the meter was set at a flat fare – a reasonable fare given the distance, and cheaper than the previous metered fare (if I recall correctly).  Anyway, it was a flat fare.

I took another cab the next day – this was a point to point in the city, so no flat fare, it was metered.  But again, the cab was clean and reasonably new.

I asked someone here what was going on – are these actual changes, or am I just noticing things that were there all along?  He said no, this is new.  I asked why.  He said Uber!  The local cabs have to compete – apparently their belligerence of clogging the roads with strikes didn’t get them everything they want, so they finally had to play along at least partially.

The Best of Llewellyn H. Rockwell, Jr.