[rayiner]

There are regulated industries then there are utility monopolies. In the latter case, the monopoly is part of the bargain that convinces a private company to get into a business subject to a particularly onerous regulation. Cab services are basically like utility monopolies. Protection from competition is part of the bargain cities make with them to get them to do abstain from doing otherwise sensible things like not serving unprofitable routes.

[htf]

It seems you're trying to rationalize the situation. Taxis don't need to be regulated any more than other services. The reason these restrictions still exist is because politicians are afraid of the potential retaliation from the incumbents if the city deregulates the industry.

[rayiner]

I'm not trying to rationalize anything. I'm trying to describe the status quo to people who don't understand how it got to be the way it is, and resort to hackneyed tropes.