Taxi System
Taxi System
The Venetian taxi system is the largest contributor to the transportation of the population of tourists throughout the city. Taxis and other public transportation boats comprise 46% of all boats in Venice.
Regulations
Taxis abide to regulations that manage where each taxi is allowed to stop, the amount a taxi driver can make, and how fast a taxi can drive. There are 13 taxi stops in the city, the amount of taxis that will be at each stop is decided by separating between the cooperatives and consortiums. There are 219 licensed taxis, and each is either an individual owner or involved in a consortium. The largest consortium, Consorzio Motoscafi Venezia, has 98 taxis, as of 2006, which is about 44% of the taxis in Venice.36 The reason taxi drivers are assigned locations is to prevent competitive pressures from de-equalizing the taxi system. The taxi fares are currently decided using a meter, in 2006 the meter started off at 8.70 euro, and then added 1.30 euro every minute as the trip progressed. The amount of money a taxi driver can make is decided by the aforementioned assignment of taxis to a particular location. The different consortiums have their own methods of assigning a taxi to a location. For instance, the Consorzio Motoscafi Venezia assigns taxis based on dividing the total number of taxis into 16 teams. Each team has a total of 6 taxis. The teams are assigned to 16 locations around Venice and then are cycled with a period of 16 days. Taxis located at San Marco airport follow a similar system and at the end of the day pool their money together to equalize the pay each makes.
Licensing
Any individual that wants to become a taxi driver must first fulfill three conditions. Applicants cannot have been sentenced to jail time for crimes against patrimony, public faith, public order, or industry and commerce. An applicant must show some sort of professional aptitude usually through the form of an apprenticeship. Finally an applicant must pass a written examination encompassing all knowledge that is required to pilot a water taxi with a score of at least 70%. The city of Venice only allows a specific number of taxi licenses, which is another means of regulating taxis.