Régulation des taxis, “a tale of two cities”

Probably because they were both major economic capitals of modern times Europe, it was in Paris and in London that appeared for the first time in Europe, and almost simultaneously, hire cars with driver. Very quickly, in both cities, it was deemed necessary and appropriate for the king to oversee this new activity. This happened essentially for reasons that still justify the involvement government in regulating activity. In turn, the two capital cities found themselves facing the same problems of congestion, of competition between modes of transport, of safety, and users complaints. In turn, they researched and experimented with similar policy instruments to address these problems. In doing so, they shed light on most of the underlying economic, social and political mechanisms that explain why regulating this activity is so difficult. From the time of the royal privileges up to the economic crisis of the 1930s, we illustrate these mechanisms by telling the parallel evolution of hire cars with driver services in the two cities and by analysing the policies that were implemented to regulate this industry.