The cabbies are angry. All of them. The drivers. The dispatchers. The owners. Not that you can draw clear distinctions between these three groups of people. They are all mixed up with each other in all sorts of ways and they can argue like the most energetic multi-generational family. That said, they have been unified behind a common enemy, the Philadelphia Parking Authority [PPA]. In 2004, the state took over theParking Authority and moved the power for regulation from the Public Utility Commission [PUC] over to the PPA.

For those of you on here interested in process and good governance, this has been a move that has completely flouted any principle of openness or fairness. Regulation is a process where a state body with representatives from various interested parties come in to discuss a problem, hearings are held, technocrats convene and a solution (sometimes good, sometimes bad) is introduced - but at least it tends to have a logic to it and people can comprehend how they came up with it. I come from the standpoint of generally supporting the concept of regulation. In my work at PUP, we're currently backing two whole rafts of new regulations that the Administration has proposed.

One of the great things about meeting these taxi cab drivers and owners is that so many of them come from so many parts of the world. These are hardscrabble people who have not had it easy nor asked for ease. They came here, they found work and they worked hard. Some of them are doing well. Some of them are doing amazingly. When you get this kind of a group in the room, they come up with apt ways to describe their situation that your rank-and-file American wouldn't come up with. For example, there's a few Russians in the mix trying to fight the PPA, and one of them said it isn't a regulator but a dictator. He said it reminded him of the old Soviet style: we'll do whatever we want and you deal with it.

An example: much of the anger on the part of the taxicab owners and drivers stems from the introduction of a Global Positioning System [GPS] into all their cabs. Ostensibly, the system is meant to increase the transparency of the industry using technology. See, some cities have a zone based system for determining fares, but we use a meter that measures how far a driver goes and how long it takes. There's only one flat rate in the city: the price from the airport to Center City (it's $26.50, if you're curious). PPA rules say you can only have one flat rate. No others. Otherwise, it's all up to the meter, so the GPS is meant to watch the meter. But think about it. To work, the system can't just track how far a driver goes, but also the route he took.

Obviously this is a complex system, but the PPA just forced it down the drivers' throats with very little notice and no feedback, no process, no hearings. It's not even clear that there was really a problem that needed to be solved (i.e. cabbies overcharging customers or taking them on needlessly long routes).

Moreover, the system only really works if it is bound in with the meter. The meter has to be linked to the GPS, so what if this enormously complex system breaks down? Well, if the GPS doesn't work the meter doesn't work. So what does the PPA tell a driver to do if his GPS breaks down.

Charge a flat rate. In other words, negotiate it with the customer. Well, that's fun for everyone here in Philadelphia of course.

But what about that proviso that says there can only be one flat rate in Philadelphia? Nevermind that, just work it out, the PPA says. The important thing is to get this GPS deal working right.

But why was it so important and why so soon? Could it be that the GPS system is a big fat contract for the friends of state officials who, for whatever reason, wanted to turn over the taxicab industry to one of the most opaque bodies in the state and then wrest the Philadelphia Parking Authority's control from Philadelphia?

Just an idea.

But the PPA did really rush to get these things installed.

The list of capricious and nonsensical charges and fines that the PPA levies on taxi drivers go on and on. The rules change constantly, inexplicably and illegally. In fact, like any good regulator, major rule changes are supposed to still go before the Independent Regulator Review Commission (maybe the Attorney General, too). They haven't been. The PPA shows no sign of beginning to kick things over there.

In fact, the authority tried to pass a law that explicitly made it legal for them to pass whatever rules, fines and fees they wanted. The Governor vetoed it. Good for him, but according to the owners and drivers it didn't really matter because the PPA was doing whatever it wanted before the bill got to the Governor and it still is.

What I think decisionmakers don't realize here, though, is that the drivers alone come out to about 5000 people. Then you add in the owners, who don't just have numbers and networks, but other kinds of clout that they haven't half used yet. I've seen these folks, sat with them and listened to them. They are not victims. They are not going to act like victims or be treated like victims.

Watch the cabs as a bellwether of political things to come in this city. It's amazing to see a somewhat isolated group of people get politicized and activated and I really can't wait to see what they do with their fury.