Re: [Melb] Airport Heavy Rail Connection Needed!

["Derick Wuen" <cullend@webone.com.au>]

David McLoughlin wrote in message <3B071FA7.A10@iprolink.co.nzzzzz>...

<snipped detail of Auckland, Christchurch and Wellington busses and taxis,
not because uninteresting but to focus clearly on the following>

>I really HATE the high taxi fares on this side of the ditch. We have had
>taxi deregulation for years now and our major cities have dozens of
>competing taxi companies, with so many cabs on the road that most of
>them wait hours for fares. That means they also charge really high
>fares.
>


Economic rationalists would hold that ....

(a) dozens of competing taxi companies; and

(b) so many cabs on the road waiting hours for fares

would mean that fares should be lower, not higher. Higher fares seem
illogical to me in the situation you have outlined.

Are you sure there isn't a market regulator or a cartel, errr, cooperative
of taxi owners propping up fares to sustain the dozens of companies waiting
hours for fares?

In times of taxi "oversupply" in Sydney it is sometimes possible to do a
fixed price deal with the driver, albeit with some risk.

Equally, there would seem to be a business opportunity for an operation
similar to Melbourne's Skybus.

Finally, road transport is one industry where (by and large) world prices
have to be paid domestically. Even for taxis: fuel, parts, despatching
networks and taxis themselves cannot hide behind a deflating $ (A or NZ
variety). Exchange rate slides must tanslate into higher prices for
consumers of imports or into bankrupt businesses. We see this in OZ with
regional airlines going down, and local car manufacturers under pressure to
maintain profits in $US terms (which is what is meant by the phrase "world's
best practice").

The clear pricing signal from exchange rate devaluation to both OZ and NZ is
to stop consuming goods and services with a high import component. Fixing
current account deficits will improve the exchange rate.

This includes finding a substitute for taxis to the airport which has a high
import substitution capability. Heavy rail!