DAUS INTRODUCES BEST PRACTICES TO EUROPEAN REGULATORS IN AMSTERDAM

IATR CO-HOSTS FIRST EUROPEAN CONFERENCE WITH TAXI RESEARCH NETWORK

I am honored and pleased as the President of the International Association of Transportation Regulators (IATR) to have helped host our first conference overseas in Amsterdam. Joined by the Taxi Research Network (TRN) and European regulators including the Netherlands and Belgium, North American IATR regulators had a meeting of the minds with our brethren on the other side of the Atlantic. The topics focused on technology, modeling and deregulation to name but a few.

The IATR-TRN conference coincided with and was held on the premises of the RAI Convention Center where the industry’s Taxi Expo took place. Among other showcased products and services, the seminal event was the first unveiling of the V1 prototype taxicab by Karsan where regulators and attendees viewed the vehicle and engaged in a focus group designed to recommend changes in vehicle design. I was very impressed, among other things, with the electronic rooflight design, a piece of equipment which is important for passengers. Rooflight design is an aspect of the taxi /car service industry that is in need of drastic improvement.

Many thanks go to Wim Faber and James Cooper of TRN, as well as Wim’s partner Katie Challans, for being such wonderful hosts. The festivities started with a canal boat cruise where vendors and regulators noshed and discussed the incredible history of Amsterdam and its country’s experiment in deregulation which has now led the central government to delegate taxi regulation to its municipalities as is done in the U.S. and Canada.

The boat was the easiest and safest part of the trip as getting around Amsterdam is quite tricky from a transportation point of view. The chaotic mix of taxis, bicycles, trams, electrified buses, subways, trains, pedicabs, mopeds and small pint sized vehicles was an experience to behold and I am happy to live another day to tell the story. The novice pedestrian, not accustomed to dodging grates, uneven pavement and speeding cyclists, could become quickly overwhelmed and trip and fall.

I must say, there are good and bad transportation ideas that come from visiting Amsterdam. The culture of cycling is deeply engrained, and this city is held up as a model for sustainable transportation by experts and government transport officials including NYC. But if NYC is looking to turn its streets into Amsterdam, it needs to really focus on safety. In my view, I never felt safe crossing a street or walking on the sidewalk with over 10 near misses in just 2 days.

At all hours of the day and night, people of all ages and all types of bicycles ply the street in no orderly way whatsoever, at very high speeds. I must ask the question as to whether a sustainable city from an environmental perspective is truly sustainable if it does not feel safe? Maybe I was just not used to it, but there are so many tourists in the same boat who are not, and therein lies the problem. I did feel much safer and at home in Amsterdam taxicabs where many accept credit cards using Verifone or other handheld equipment. One unique rule that was a positive experience was that taxis are allowed to use bus lanes which, in many instances, cut rush hour traffic in half.

Regulators and academics from the U.S., United Kingdom, Canada and Europe join IATR President Matt Daus (center) in reviewing the first ever prototype of the Karsan V1 purpose-built taxicab unveiled at the IATR's European conference in Amsterdam. Photo: Katie Challans

The Taxi Expo itself showed that Europeans are just as progressive as our colleagues in North America with no shortage of vehicle displays, technology and other products designed to improve the taxi experience for passengers, and increase profitability for business owners and drivers.

The educational program at the conference covered topics from project management, sustainable taxicabs, paratransit trends, airport regulation and taxi deregulation, with speakers that included academics, regulators and industry members from Paris, Sweden and the United Kingdom. A lot of discussion focused on the failed experiment of deregulating the Netherlands taxi system, and all of the resulting challenges of picking up the pieces.

The City of Amsterdam ended up obtaining more control of taxi regulation at a local level after the country abandoned its nationwide regulatory system. Conference host Jeanette Mica of Amsterdam’s Department of Infrastructure, Traffic and Transport discussed application of a re-regulation model employed in New Zealand after massive deregulation in the 1980s caused many service and oversupply problems there as well.

I delivered a presentation on “How technology changed the NY taxi industry” which was followed by my participation in a panel discussion with European regulators on their use of technology. When people around the world think about the role of technology in NYC taxicabs, they automatically associate NYC with the Taxi Passenger Enhancement Program (T-PEP) which included GPS, credit cards and rear seat screens; but the history and future potential goes much further than that.

Of the many accomplishments involving technology at the NYC TLC over the years I highlighted how we:

We also engaged in a discussion on what technology applications are expected in the industry in the coming years which in my view includes:

The IATR is looking forward to hosting its next European conference in 2012 and to build on the success of this first venture.