It’s fraud. Or ext
ortion. Or both.
Miami-Dade County sold six taxi medallions at auction for about $2.4 million dollars in 2012, an average of $400,000 each.
This is on top of the 20 medallions awarded to taxi drivers through a lottery every year from 1999 to 2011– at $20,000 a pop.
Folks paid those prices because they thought they were getting something special. It was like admission into an exclusive club.
Sure, the closed club (think Mafia) was started by taxi owners who wanted to have a monopoly on the business. But Miami-Dade, the government, certainly found a way to cash in. Like Cousin Vinnie.
Then along come black car services like Lyft and Uber and the “for hire transportation” club is flooded with a bunch of new driver members who never paid any dues and 
operate without a single medallion.
How much are those medallions worth now, as the county allows Uber and Lyft to operate illegally? How much will they be worth if these services are legalized without the regulations and limitations that taxi and limousine drivers have to deal with?
Nothing. Zero. Nada. Zip.
So, the county may have to give these people their money back. They should anyway. Because the county is the one that made them worthless. Mayor Carlos Gimenez may have to dig into his good news 2015-16 budget for a $2.4 million refund. Because it seems to me that an attorney could make a property rights case out of this.
It’s also something that Commissioner Esteban Bovo ought to be thinking about the county’s liability as he reconsiders his “Santa Clause” 
ordinance to legalize Uber and Lyft without equal regulation and protection for us, the passengers.
But medallions are not the only way the county gets funding from the taxi cab and limousine industry.
Owners must pay a $625 annual operating fee for each cab. The total of that last year was $1,326,000, according to Raul Gonzalez , the county’s “For-Hire Passenger Transportation” coordinator in the Business Affairs division of the Regulatory and Economic Resources Department.
Read related story: Double standard: Miami-Dade lets Lyft, Uber run over the rules
Cabs must be inspected every year if they’re new, every three months if they’re older, at a county vehicle inspection site, to make sure the brakes work, tires aren’t bald and are aligned, the lights work and the air conditioning blows cool air. That amounted to $378,000 last year, he said.
Drivers must also pay $55 a year for a county license. There are about 5,000 drivers, Gonzalez said. That means $275,000.
But the big money is at the airport, where cabs are charged $2 per fare and limos pay $5 per fare. 
This resulted in more than $3 million in collections last year, Gonzalez said.
It adds up to about $5 million a year, give or take a few hundred thousand. These funds go to the county’s regulatory and economic resources department, almost entirely run by proprietary funds, which then enforces regulations that guide these “for hire transportation” vehicles. It pays for enforcement officers to write Uber and Lyft more than 2,480 citations in the last year for operating illegally.
About 90 percent of those are being appealed, Gonzalez said. They can”t pay those costs. Because then they would go out of business here — like they did in Broward.
Speaking of costs, why does the county dictate what the taxi drivers charge? Shouldn’t the free market dictate that?
One of the biggest advantages that Lyft and Uber have on the taxis is they are cheaper. But cabbies can’t just set their own rates. The county actually mandates that they charge $2.50 for the first mile, then $2.40 per mile after, registered on their meter, which is checked by the county to ensure that the mileage and the meter match up. Uber drivers can charge as little as 90 cents a mile, but the prices sp
ike when the demand is greater than the supply.
“Uber drivers charge five times as much during peak times, like the Super Bowl or Heat games,” said Rudy Gonzalez (no relation to Raul), whose been in the business 40 years and owns Super Yellow Taxi. “We can’t compete on an even playing field because we can’t do that. The county dictates what we charge.”
There are flat rates for several routes from the airport. To the seaport, $24. To South Beach, it’s $35. Key Biscayne will cost you $41. These are cash discount prices. There is a $3 fee for credit card charges.
Taxi drivers, want as they may, cannot offer a break. Unless they turn the meter off, and that’s against the regulations.
The more Ladra looks into this feud between the taxi industry and the up-and-coming black cars services like Uber and Lyft, the more the county looks like the mafia.
If the county were to let the taxis operate more freely, like Lyft and Uber are operating now, Ladra is certain we would see their prices drop. And that would be good for everybody.
Well, maybe not for Uber and Lyft. Because let’s face it. Their business model depends on taxis being more expensive.
Miami-Dade should give medallion money back to cabbies added by Ladra on
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[…] these medallions go for about $20,000 a pop, while they sometimes are auctioned off for as much as $400,000 or more. Uber and Lyft drivers don’t have to have any kind of licensing, and with the crumbling of the […]
As a taxi driver I have been directly impacted by uber and lyft. We are extremely disappointed how Miami dade has handled the situation. After years of taking our money they offered no protection when these companies came around.
We have Others Uber’s in Our County Like The Super Shuttle at MIA ,like Uber They DO NOT Pay License , Inspections or Hack Licenses for The Past 14 Years ,but They are Own By Taxi Permit Holders and They Are Very Good Donors (see M Herald June 15 2014 “Big givers Dominate Commission Donations ” and See the #2 donor with $51,000 ” ) let’s see if the herald Will Do the Same this Year? and It will Show some of the Same*see Elections Donations and not Only look at the Amount but Also The Address of the Donors.
Corruption In This County is at an Time Height ,Difference is That the Taxis Where the Oppressors and Now are The Oppress, By The TNC The New Sheriff in Town.
i won this debate, my mom agrees
I believe if the county does not regulate uber and lyft then I think all the medallion owners should sue the county period end of story – even a class action suit – The county is bringing this on themselves – Because of the lack of regulations on Uber, the county is causing the medallion’s value to plummet – And the county should be liable –
Oh, boo hoo hoo! I’m sick and damned tired of the taxi cab apologists and apostles. Truth is, taxi drivers in S.Fla. are generally no where near as courteous, efficient, and customer-friendly as Uber and Lyft drivers with whom I’m familiar.
So if these alternative modes pose a threat to the future of the taxi industry, then I say it’s about time! You’ll find no tears — crocodile or any other — running down my cheeks for the taxi companies, their drivers, or their medallions. When you screw the public for as long as they have been, then you deserve, and should get, no sympathy.
While this is a new source of employment that some people needed, it has been allow to happen very unfairly. Personally I do not use it alone because I do not know who is driving.how much is going to cost you,and someone has my credit card that is doing illegal work. So I agree with you
A clean 50% of Uber drivers leave Uber/lyft based on Uber’s own records but many are stuck because they have financed new cars to drive and are temporarily financially handcuffed from leaving. I wonder how clean and pristine all these brand new Uber cars will be in a few years after the wear and tear of driving and beating these cars all day with little or no regulations requiring any Uber/lyft drivers to obtain new vehicles or maintain them.
The reality is whether its labeled “information technology” or “transportation”, Uber/lyft is a public utility that needs to be regulated just like the out of control cabbies of the 1920s. Otherwise, the inmates will run the asylum and all will suffer.
If taxis were as safe, as dependable, as clean as Uber, they could charge as much as they liked without fear of losing market share. Period. Price is tertiary, at best.
This is the first piece I’ve read in a very long time that took the time to do real, deep analysis of why the Uber and Lyft issue is incredibly complicated. The County has put itself into a real bind here with being embedded in the taxi medallion business. Of course, Miami-Dade isn’t exactly unique. The history of taxi medallions goes back to the Great Depression.
NPR’s Planet Money did a pretty good podcast on the history of taxi medallions in New York if you’re interested in the history: http://www.npr.org/sections/money/2011/11/29/142866785/the-tuesday-podcast-why-does-a-taxi-medallion-cost-1-million
The added problem in Miami-Dade County is that the taxi medallions have become investment products that, due to government-created scarcity, have developed into a secondary market. Medallions sell for upwards of half a million dollars on the secondary market. Very often, the actual taxi cab drivers do not own the medallion–some wealthy investor living elsewhere does. Cab drivers are basically renting out medallions and the fares they collect (mandated by the County) go toward paying off the cost of leasing a medallion.
It’s a horrible system and I agree that the best move would be for the county to pay out and cash out of this business.
http://www.local10.com/news/Cab-medallions-fetch-record-prices/8777584
Steve Wright,
I think your missing the point of this article. Please disclose your hidden agenda. Your wife is a Miami-Dade County employee who is unfortunately in a wheel chair.
Before you make your discrimination claims take a look in the mirror. As a former City of Miami Commissioner’s Aide your ass discriminated against employees who were ethical. If you want to address any issue, let’s talk about this first and foremost.
Got a point – if you are going to attack Steve wright or anyone, you should use your real name.
its so sad how dade county government steal from tax payers andwe allowed this to continue. dont elect carlos gimenez.
taxi cartel is nothing but a group of oligarchs and crony capitalists. can’t believe you are sticking up for them. they paid that ridiculous amount because they intended to fleece drivers and riders like they had for years. I feel no sympathy. free the rates? that’s the last thing owners want. less regulation would mean easier entry for budding entrepreneurs so they don’t want that either. I’ve taken uber 3 times and I have never had an experience in a taxi remotely as pleasant. all 3 times the a/c was actually on – heaven forbid a taxi do that. the only time i’ve seen taxis with their a/c running was when they had that slow protest downtown. hilarious – they had their windows closed and a/c running. bring down the crony capitalist exploiters – let them suffer.
Last year, Ferguson Mo. collected $2.6 million in court fines and fees. It was the city’s second-biggest source of income of the $20 million it collected in revenues. According to the Department of Justice this is a predatory practice and is a continuing factor in the civil unrest
Yet here we argure we need these Government fees and fines as it is 100% of the revenue source this department?
the medallions the fines and the tickets support the regulatory agency which creates the medallions fines and the tickets on which their jobs depend.? Isn’t that the definition of a shakedown?
There are Regulations in place because the cab industry has no incentive to self regulate and there was no alternative options for the consumer. Even at MIA like most places, you still must take the next cab in the taxi stand even if it’s a piece of shit. And forget the credit card machine I’ve never had one work right yet
So clearly the government has failed, it’s solution of top down regulation and oversight is expensive it’s burdensome and it hasn’t produced a significantly better product.
Now I have a new tool, real-time social media. Any idiot with a smart phone can figure out how to use it and the consumer then becomes the regulating System. And it works both ways, the driver knows who I am before he even comes to get me .
People use uber because the taxis don’t work! You call them. They don’t come! You want to go somewhere, they don’t know how to get there.Ever heard of GPS? Or they take the longest, most circular way possible. Despite the fact that it is !00 degrees outside they refuse to turn on the air conditioning. They talk on the telephone while they are driving and do not pay attention to the road. They blast music, not of the customer’s choosing. The credit card machines never work and they want to charge a premium. CABS ARE DIRTY AND DISGUSTING. Cabs killed themselves. If the cabs provided service and stopped whining, we the consumer would not have looked side ways at an UBER/LYFT car. I don’t know about all the fees/medallions as a consumer. But how about a clean car? Air conditioning? Response time? Simple things, right?
If uber is required to comply with the same taxi regulations no more free rides to the consumers. It is so obvious that its rates are cheap or I should say virtually free for a reason. The only reason is that uber does not pay anything to anybody and what makes things worse is that it is promoting illegal business all over. In other words anybody like uber would be entitle to drive his own private car and go to the hotels to get customers.
UBER is a big company and wants to run over anything an anybody. It has the public on its side because it offers virtually free rides.
Ms Shelley Really? The reason they were called “gypsy cabs” was because the media (who got a lot of dinero from lobbyist and interest groups funded by medallion owners and transportation unions) wanted you to think that way.
I remember in the 80s my grandmother mentioning how great a “Gypsy Jitney” was compared to MTA since driver took her to our doorstep because it was raining as opposed to leaving her three blocks away at the regular stop. Remember it’s ultimately about the service to the consumer.
Yes, there should be a minimal licensing requirement and a sensible amount of insurance should be required, but other than that the consumer will ultimately decide which service survives and which dies.
Current system is a cartel and those crying now have made lots of money (with the complicity of Miami- Dade County Government) off the cab drivers who are modern day serfs and their costumers (that would be us subjects).
Uber and Lyft drivers routinely refuse to pick up people with disabilities.
The taxi industry is required to provide wheelchair-accessible cabs.
Uber and Lyft claim they are exempt from the ADA because they are purely a smart phone app.
This is the biggest crock in history.
Public utility-like providers must serve all people.
If Uber and Lyft drivers routinely refused to serve African American or Jewish riders, it would be a national scandal.
Why is there no outrage over their discrimination against wheelchair users?
Uber and Lyft make billions. Could they not establish accessible vans or cars to serve the segment of the population that could most benefit from an accessible alternate to taxis?
I know nothing about Uber or Lyft- I have had my own car since I was in High School, many years ago. When I travel, I use a taxi or car service for point -to-point service. What concerns me about these unregulated services is the potential of harm and negligence to the passenger/consumer. Granted, there have been times I would hail a taxi and take a look at the car and driver and “pass”, but at least I was assured or led to believe that someone out there was responsible in the event of an accident.
We need to know more about whether there are any checks and balances in place, including insurance, to protect us in the event of an accident and that our driver is in fact licensed to drive. I say study the issue and if it is consumer safe and friendly, go with it. I’m too old to change my ways. I will continue to use Taxi and established limo car service because of the “comfort” of knowing who I’m dealing with.
Miss. Del Valle Please ask Raul Gonzalez Prior to 1999 ¿ How much did they pay for the close to 1900 Medallion that where Exchanged from permits when The County took over from the Cities ?
ANSWER : $300. Yes $300.and no cents. The Taxi Cartel is just Trying to be a Victim and to keep their medallion (Tangible) price Up had a choke hold on The Black Limo Sedan license, + Some of them Own Licenses and Illegally Rent Them.
RER .Raul Gonzalez 786.469.2372
Chacon use your energy for a good purpose. Go and work for uber if taxi is so bad, you must be a cab driver that did not have the guts to buy a permit like I did with the money I made renting a taxi.
Not all the medallion owners are investors and you know it, why dont you tell us the whole story???
Those cheap medallions given mostly to the cubans prior to 1999 were all sold to the investors. Those drivers at that time did not want a medallion they wanted money instead. Now the investors took a risk and won, that’s how capitalism works right? nogthing wrong with that. So who is the mafia here??? capitalism is mafia then? go back to cuba then and enjoy life there before its economy changes to capitalism.
Could giving preferences to Lyft and Uber be a way for commissioners to try to destroy the medallion system? Naaah!
There should be no restriction on the amount of taxis anyway. The free hand of market economics will fix supply to demand. Otherwise, drivers will starve.
Why were taxis so highly regulated in the first place (not just here, but nationwide)? And what has changed? We used to call unregulated taxis “gypsy cabs,” now they are chic and hip and go by the names of Lyft and Uber. I don’t understand why Lyft and Uber are permitted to operate at all. They are unregulated and under-insured.
So taxis are inspected to make sure they blow cold air? None of them work as well as the hot air you are blowing on this issue. Any “regulation” of the for hire car industry in Dade county has nothing to do with the passenger and everything to do with greed and tax.
The taxis are disgusting no matter how often they are “inspected”. The last one, which will be the last one, I drove in smelled like an old diaper.
Uber is the best thing to happen to the taxi industry since the London Cabbie.
London Cabbie? Do you even know what you are talking about? In 1851 when the London Cabbie was brought into being, it was because EVERYONE was operating just like Uber does now. There were no meters, no safety regulations, no inspections, no medallions…. Drivers could charge what they wanted and take any route they wanted. The London Cabbie test (The Knowledge of London) was the first step taken to combat exactly what Uber is doing now!
Exactly.
They have clean cars that work, are courteous and know where they are going. None of which applies to any cab in Miami. My UBER experience is mainly in New York where the service has been nothing short of delightful. The few times I have used it in Miami it has fallen a little short of the New York experience, but it is heads and tails better than ANY cab I have had here.
Additionally, all of the UBER drivers I have had know how to drive in a civilized manner.
Another cost is the price of commercial insurance which taxi drivers must pay versus the standard personal/family insurance Uber and Lyft drivers pay. Insurance companies do not know if personal vehicles are being used for commercial purposes unless informed by the insured. Hopefully they won’t increase their fees on the rest of us.
taxis need to charge less, basta
Only way to charge less is to have no insurance just like UBER & Lyft who commit insurance fraud by misrepresenting their personal insurance of PIP/PD in place of very expensive commercial insurance and have an illegal taxi with no criminal background check. That’s the only way to charge less.
Municipal government needs to get out of 1) the taxi business, (2) the airport business, and (3) the public transit business.
Privatize or relinquish control over these, then step back and watch them be better run, better managed, and better operated than the sorry way they are now. Government rarely operates ANY transportation-related enterprise well at all (witness Amtrak).
I enjoy reading your refund numbers. Commissioner Bovo is an “anti-spending” guy – I’d like to know how he responds to cutting off this very lucrative revenue stream.
By the looks of how the county is allowing Uber and lyft to operate.
I think it’s time they need to start an Uber dentistry in the garage in Hialeah and how about some lyft plastic surgery on the back porch to!
This County Mayor does not seem to bother with the learning curve behind any issue. He jumps when something feels “cool” and “new.” He gets himself into binds because learns enough to make a quick decision – and then stands firm by his shallow analysis.