A poor perception of taxi availability and the recent growth of competing services such as private-for-hire vehicles and app-based hailing signaled a need for a close examination of Boston’s taxi industry.
Nelson\Nygaard conducted a taxi driver survey and an extensive stakeholder outreach effort, analyzed service and dispatch data, and assessed the taxi regulatory structure and regulations. Findings focused on the taxi industry structure; driver income; regulatory oversight, and taxi service performance (taxi ridership, availability, utilization, and responsiveness by neighborhood). Some of the more prominent issues included poor performance to trip requests, unmet demand during peak hours, insufficient taxi stands, and non-compliant accessible taxis.
Nelson\Nygaard made approximately 40 short- and long-term recommendations, some of which were implemented within days of the report being accepted by the City.