The use of ride-sharing businesses may have taxicab companies questioning their investments for taxi medallions. In big cities, a taxi medallion is required for city-issued and regulated taxi services. At its all-time high in 2013, the cost for a taxi medallion was priced as high as $1.2 million but has since seen a sharp decline. Although a high initial expense, business owners often purchased taxi medallions with hopes of providing the license to their children or family members as an inheritance asset. However, many taxi medallion owners are now concerned that there is no market to sell the medallions, given the ride-share competition. One taxi driver notes that he inherited his medallion from his father 28 years ago and used the same to purchase two homes and send his two children to college. However, he, like many medallion owners, is unsure if he will be able to liquidate the value of the medallion to a seller with today’s market.
There is growing concern that the ride-share economy puts medallion owners at an unfair disadvantage, subjecting medallion owners to stricter vehicle inspections, licensure requirements, and fare limitations. Many individual medallion owners and institutional investors alike now seek an active regulatory overhaul, together with prompting app-based innovations for taxis, to assist the medallion business to remain competitive with the burgeoning ride share industry.
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