France: Motorcycle Taxis Are Allowed To Be Called Taxis from Bikes in the Fast Lane

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France: Motorcycle Taxis Are Allowed To Be Called Taxis

February
2013

  File under France Travel
  Author: Mike Werner
  Location: Normandy, France

Crazy as it may sound, the French car taxi associations had forced the motorcycle taxis to remove the word "taxi" from their business and motorcycles (link

). In other words, French motorcycle taxis were no longer allowed to call themselves "taxi". This was one of the weapons the "normal" car taxis were deploying to stop motorcycle taxis. Car taxis see motorcycles are an enormous enemy since motorcycles don't have fare meters and more importantly, they don't pay for a taxi license.

But on the other hand, motorcycle taxis aren't allowed to be "hailed" on the road, nor are they allowed to wait for walk-by passengers; they need to be reserved in advance.

Anyway, the organization that controls the industry (FNTDR

) has finally judged that motorcycle taxis are allowed to call themselves taxis. So all the motorcycles that had removed the word "TAXI" from motorcycle cabs can be put back again.

A small victory, in an otherwise stupid and heated fight. Car taxis will need to understand that motorcycle taxis are here to stay. They provide a service that cars can not supply, while car taxis provide a service that motorcycles can not provide. There's more than enough room for both types. Car taxis will need to stop putting lives at risk by cutting and hindering motorcycle taxis.

Via: Blog Taxi Moto