Taxi regulation and the Bersani reform: a survey of major Italian cities

Abstract

Using data from a Bank of Italy survey, this paper analyzes the Italian taxi market and its recent changes. Local regulations are rather homogeneous, while there is a widespread disproportion, within municipalities advisory committees, between the number of taxi drivers representatives and that of consumers’; indicators of service adequacy are seldom used. Service costs are rather homogeneous across Italian provinces, while there is great variance as to supply and fares. The instruments provided to municipalities by the new Bersani law have been used mainly in major cities. Service increase, achieved mainly through additional shifts rather than through the provision of (free) additional licenses, was often obtained in exchange for fare increases; the use of traffic policies has been almost absent. It is difficult to evaluate the adequacy of local decisions, given the lack of non-occasional information on market structure.