An Evaluation of the Establishment of a Taxi Flat Rate from City to Airport: the Case of Seville

Abstract

This paper explores the establishment of a flat rate for the taxicab service that serves routes between the city and the airport in Seville. First, the advantages and disadvantages of a flat rate are explained and why it may be an advisable measure for tourist cities with a conflictive taxicab industry. In addition, by using a methodology based on the estimation of average treatment effects, an evaluation is made of the impact of the taxi flat rate on the probability of passengers choosing a taxi for their city–airport transport needs. The main conclusion is that the increased market transparency fostered by this urban transport policy has led to an increase of almost 7 per cent in both the probability of selection and the average revenues of taxi-drivers