Uber Approved in Quintana Roo

[JFS]

Does anyone have details on how Taxi regulation works in Mexico? I have heard they regulate the number of Taxis and is it similar to a ‘medallion’ system in the US? I have heard references over the years that some of the leaders of the Cozumel union own large blocks of cabs and the drivers rent them by the shift, if this is so then there would be some very powerful interests who would like to keep the status quo and the actual interests of the drivers would be secondary to keeping the number of vehicles providing rides limited.

The USA has been struggling with this for over a decade and it appears the individual cities and middlemen / brokers were truly screwing the actual drivers for decades.

The Tyranny of the Taxi Medallions - Priceonomics

NYC Yellow Taxi Medallion Crisis, Explained

@El Graduado any chance you could weigh in and provide some background here?

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Yes some guys own many taxi licences and rent them out. Look at ex governor Borge for example. I think he owned around 30 licences? There was a bunch more licences released near the end of the last governors term too.

 

[JFS]

The police were transporting tourists the other day to Cancun airport because of the protesting taxis.

 

[El Graduado]

Does anyone have details on how Taxi regulation works in Mexico?

@El Graduado any chance you could weigh in and provide some background here?

​

The governor hands out the taxi medallions in QROO, when additional taxis are required. They are usually doled out in groups of twenty or so, every few years. A new medallion (placa they say in CZM) is supposed to go to the next taxi sindicato member waiting in a line based on his seniority. In practice, some go first to the governor's family or friends, and then a token amount goes to the waiting sindicato members. I had a friend who waited 24 years in line for his placa. Once you have a placa, you can use it yourself and be a taxista, or you can hire drivers to drive your taxi for you. Most people get drivers and let them run shifts, so one placa may have one car, one placa owner, and three drivers. The drivers pay a fixed daily rental fee to the placa owner, but the driver keeps the fares and tips. That means there could be four families that are associated with each placa, and the Taxi Union's families tend to vote as a block. There are now over 900 placas on Cozumel. You must be a sindicato member to have a placa or drive a taxi. I am guessing that of the 900 or so placas, 300 or 400 of them are owned by a handful of well-placed families, but I am not sure.

 

[JFS]

A taxi friend told me that they pay $25 usd a day to rent placa.

 

[gopbroek]

The governor hands out the taxi medallions in QROO, when additional taxis are required. They are usually doled out in groups of twenty or so, every few years. A new medallion (placa they say in CZM) is supposed to go to the next taxi sindicato member waiting in a line based on his seniority. In practice, some go first to the governor's family or friends, and then a token amount goes to the waiting sindicato members. I had a friend who waited 24 years in line for his placa. Once you have a placa, you can use it yourself and be a taxista, or you can hire drivers to drive your taxi for you. Most people get drivers and let them run shifts, so one placa may have one car, one placa owner, and three drivers. The drivers pay a fixed daily rental fee to the placa owner, but the driver keeps the fares and tips. That means there could be four families that are associated with each placa, and the Taxi Union's families tend to vote as a block. There are now over 900 placas on Cozumel. You must be a sindicato member to have a placa or drive a taxi. I am guessing that of the 900 or so placas, 300 or 400 of them are owned by a handful of well-placed families, but I am not sure.

Thank you
So basically its a loaded game for the insiders and the drivers get screwed. Sounds basically unfair and corrupt, you would think it was NYC, San Francisco, Chicago and any other major US city.

It mirrors the marine permit system in the park.

 

[ggunn]

If they have a car good enough for uber, they'll have a smart phone and probably a bank card.

The customers, not the drivers, and I don't mean us tourists, either.

 

[tridacna]

https://www.washingtonpost.com/travel/2023/01/24/cancun-warning-uber-taxi-protests/

 

[ggunn]

Thank you
So basically its a loaded game for the insiders and the drivers get screwed. Sounds basically unfair and corrupt, you would think it was NYC, San Francisco, Chicago and any other major US city.

Or just about anything anywhere. Thems with the gold makes the rules.

Where there are human beings and money there will be corruption.

 

[mediumone]

I agree with the first part of that (capitalism/competition is good, and overall taxis are economical). However:

• It gets old, as a tourist, having to negotiate to the correct rate. When I was there last week about 80% of the time the taxis tried to charge 3 times the correct rate or more. Either a meter system or a system like Uber (where you know the charge in advance) would eliminate this constant feeling that people are trying to cheat you, and some negative interactions (we had 1 taxi driver get mad when we wouldn't pay 3 times the rate). I've had taxis try to charge even more overage than that when my family was at Chankanaab . I think most tourists would like to avoid this hassle.
• It's no always so easy for tourists to get cabs away from the main areas either. Even just having a late dinner at a taqueria on Av. Coldwell, it can be difficult finding a taxi afterwards. Also trying to get a van taxi to the first morning ferry can be a bit of an ordeal also. The current taxi system, including their online and phone responses, is not always very consistent. Uber also can help avoid this hassle.

As with in the U.S. and other countries, taxis could have headed off these types of concerns by providing a better experience using modern technology (or even a meter), but they did not.

EDIT: And now seeing footage of Q.R. taxi drivers intimidating families and assaulting tourists, I sure as heck will use Uber next time I am there (which will probably be in the summer, when hopefully this has simmered down a bit).

Good grief!!!!

1) Get in the vehicle.
2) Tell the driver your destination
3) Arrive at destination
4) Get out of the vehicle
5) Pay the driver the correct fare, plus tip if you wish
6) Thank the driver
7) Walk away
The End. Finished.

Why is your experience so different than ours? We might have waited for 5 minutes for an empty taxi on a couple of occasions, but not more often.

 

[Rob9876]

Good grief!!!!

1) Get in the vehicle.
2) Tell the driver your destination
3) Arrive at destination
4) Get out of the vehicle
5) Pay the driver the correct fare, plus tip if you wish
6) Thank the driver
7) Walk away
The End. Finished.

Why is your experience so different than ours? We might have waited for 5 minutes for an empty taxi on a couple of occasions, but not more often.

I'm guessing because you just pay whatever they tell you, regardless of whether it exceeds the regulated rates. For those that don't want that, you never get in the taxi until you know what the rate will be.