IJ Issue
Transportation
Consumers and entrepreneurs, not government officials, should decide what transportation options are available.
For generations, transportation businesses have been a vehicle by which people raised themselves and their families out of poverty. Not only do these businesses provide a promise of economic opportunity, they offer safe and affordable transit for communities that would otherwise have few options for reliable transportation. In many lower-income communities, simply getting to work is often a major challenge. Taxis are virtually non-existent, and cars are prohibitively expensive. Residents must depend on public transportation, which is notoriously sporadic and unreliable.
Unfortunately, many cities and states have enacted regulatory roadblocks. These regulations do precious little to protect the public. Rather, they protect entrenched businesses from competition.
One of the most common regulations is a taxi medallion, or permit, required to own a cab. In cities with a medallion system, entrepreneurs can operate a cab only with a medallion. This creates artificial scarcity, which grossly inflates the price of a medallion. Today, taxi medallions in several cities cost entrepreneurs hundreds of thousands of dollars, clearly putting them well out of reach of those with limited means.
The goal of protecting entrenched businesses, protectionism, is even more blatant in cities that mandate minimum wait times and minimum fares. These restrictions ban transportation entrepreneurs from offering competitive fares and better service to their customers. Additionally, IJ has defended cities that enacted reform from specious lawsuits filed by cab cartels.
Consumers and entrepreneurs, not government officials, should decide what transportation options are available.
Economic Liberty Issues
Braiding
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Cosmetology
Cosmetology is the study of beauty practices and includes styling hair, applying makeup, and providing nail care and skin care.
Food Freedom
All individuals have the right to produce, advertise, sell, procure, and consume the foods of their choice. IJ ensures they can use these rights to provide for themselves, their families, and their communities.
Fresh Start
A job is one of the best ways for people with criminal records not to re-offend. But strict occupational licensing requirements make it harder for people with…
Interior Design
Besides unconstitutionally censoring truthful commercial speech, “titling laws” serve as precursors to full-blown occupational licensure, which is the ultimate goal of a small faction within the interior…
Occupational Licensing
Occupational licenses, which are essentially permission slips from the government, routinely stand in the way of honest enterprise. Without these licenses, workers can face stiff fines or even risk jail time.
Transportation
Consumers and entrepreneurs, not government officials, should decide what transportation options are available.
Vending
IJ’s National Street Vending Initiative fights for the rights of all street vendors to earn an honest living.
Transportation Cases
Economic Liberty | Transportation
Jordanian Immigrant Fights Back Against Colorado’s Transportation Monopolies
Abdallah Batayneh opened a shuttle company in Colorado with the goal of providing more affordable rides. But entrenched businesses got the government to use a “certificate of need” law to ban him from opening. Abdallah is working with IJ so he can open his business and provide competition in the industry.
Economic Liberty | First Amendment | First Amendment Retaliation | Transportation
Coast Guard-empowered private association concocts reasons to keep an experienced captain from working
Captain Matthew Hight thought he would earn a living navigating cargo carriers on the Great Lakes. Instead, an unholy alliance of a federal bureaucracy and a legalized monopoly suddenly rendered him a castaway. Now he’s launching a second voyage with the IJ to get his job back and ensure that no one else has their livelihood taken away because the government has delegated lawmaking power to a self-interested private organization.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Transportation
City Established a Monopoly for the Only Taxi Business in Town, Preventing Competition and Prohibiting Consumer Choice
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Transportation
Green Cab’s Story: Twenty-First Century Innovation Shut Out by Twentieth-Century Regulation
It is unconstitutional for the government to use its power to protect itself and other established businesses from competition. That is why Green Cab has partnered with the Institute for Justice (“IJ”) to challenge Bowling Green’s unconstitutional taxicab cap.
Economic Liberty | Occupational Licensing | Transportation
Consumers Aren’t Property, and Competition Isn’t Theft
In November 2014, San Diego joined a growing number of cities by lifting its decades-long cap on the number of cabs allowed on its streets. For Abdi Abdisalan and Abdullahi Hassan, the dream of going into business for themselves is nearly a reality. The only roadblock before them now is a baseless lawsuit brought by the city’s current permit owners.
Transportation News
Entrepreneur Asks Colorado Supreme Court to Hear Challenge to Transportation Monopoly
DENVER—Today, an entrepreneur in Steamboat Springs filed a petition asking the Colorado Supreme Court to allow him to have his day in court in a lawsuit challenging Colorado’s transportation monopoly law.
South Dakota City Reforms Taxi Law Following Letter from IJ Calling for Change
WATERTOWN, S.D.—Yesterday, the city of Watertown, South Dakota, passed a new ordinance that will make it easier for entrepreneurs to open taxi or other ride-sharing businesses within the city. The overhaul…
Victory: South Dakota City Agrees to Allow Taxi Operator to Reopen, Change Unconstitutional Law
WATERTOWN, S.D.—After weeks of having her business shuttered and losing out on income, Debra Gagne can finally reopen her ride-for-hire company. This morning, the Watertown City Council held a special session…
Public Interest Law Firm Calls on South Dakota Town to End Unconstitutional Taxi Law
WATERTOWN, S.D. — Today, the Institute for Justice (IJ) sent a letter to the city of Watertown, South Dakota, calling on officials to end the harmful “certificate of necessity” law…
U.S. Coast Guard Sued for Denying Captain His Registration to Pilot Ships on the Great Lakes
WASHINGTON—The U.S. Coast Guard refuses to hoist the white flag and register Captain Matthew Hight to pilot ships on the Great Lakes, despite losing a federal lawsuit that forced it to…
Entrepreneur Barred from Competing with Colorado’s Transportation Monopoly Vows to Appeal Case’s Dismissal
DENVER—Today, Abdallah Batayneh, an entrepreneur in Steamboat Springs, announced that he will appeal the dismissal of his lawsuit challenging Colorado’s transportation monopoly law. The lawsuit, which was filed in March 2021,…
Transportation Research
Economic Liberty | Transportation
Regulatory Overdrive
Traditional taxis are highly regulated in most American cities, with local regulators determining everything from how many taxis can be licensed to the types of services they can provide to the fares they can…
Cosmetology | Economic Liberty | Food Freedom | Hair Braiding | Occupational Licensing | Transportation | Vending
Entrepreneur’s Survival Guide
You have the right to earn an honest living. This is called “economic liberty” and it is protected by the U.S. Constitution. But often, entrepreneurs face burdensome, arbitrary and anti-competitive laws that make it difficult,…