A Solution to Toronto's Taxi Problems?

Toronto may finally have a solution to its taxi problems, and the solution does involve technology. As it stands now, after a night out, especially in a busy area like Toronto's downtown, it can be hard, if not almost impossible to find a cab. But smartphones could change that. The proposed idea to be implemented in cities like Toronto would involve the customer opening a application that knows where the customer is. It would then send a signal out to all available cabs in the area to notify them of a possible fare. The customer would then be able to browse the cabs by their price or company, and select one from the list.

Apparently, this would ensure price competition between taxis, which is most likely true. But there is a downside: it would make the task of policing the taxi network that much more difficult. Authorities now can easily detect rogue taxi operators because they need to advertise their services in order to attract customers. But with the new system, it will make it almost impossible to detect rogue taxi operators because the customers cannot tell who belongs to which companies.

In my mind, this is a system which will be implemented soon, and I believe it is a good idea. I'm sure customers will be able to tell which prices seem outrageously low enough to raise an eyebrow, and so they'll be able to police themselves.

http://news.nationalpost.com/2011/05/25/urban-scrawl-a-smart-solution-to-torontos-taxi-woes/