An incredibly callous attitude to take at what must have been a truly profound sense of anguish and despair experienced by a person known to others as their "beloved father, husband, brother, friend." (Yes, I know you're saying that mostly about the medallion system. But to the extent that that's all that comes to mind when you hear about what happened -- yes, you pretty much are saying that the driver who took his life in this case, as well).
I'm glad the taxi industry as we know it is dying. However, it is a bit tragic that it is ruining the livelihood of taxi drivers on its way out so badly that they're committing suicide.
But is this any different than any other industry being replaced? Certainly we have sympathy for coal miners that have lost their jobs as our chosen sources of energy shift, but should that make us appreciate the shift away from coal and its destruction of our air any less?
The regulation part of the medallion system was to limit cabs cruising the streets looking for pickups. Shuttles, Black cars, and personal drivers were already able to pre-arrange pickups at a specific location`.
Do I think ride sharing blurs this line when cars don't pull on side streets for pick up? sure.
`depending on code
https://www.heritage.org/transportation/report/taxicab-medal...
And good riddance.
If the answers to the last two questions are "yes", then I can't help but not have any sympathy for the plight of drivers and the expense of the medallions, especially when I read about taxi customers complaining about rude drivers, credit card machines "not working", having to wait over an hour for a taxi, etc.
The writing is on the wall. It's been on the wall for a couple years now. Taxis as we know it are a dying industry, being replaced by Uber/Lyft/etc.
And good riddance.