The City Council did a service to commerce and free enterprise by largely deregulating taxicabs. Even a one-cab business -- what some in some cities would call a gypsy cabs -- is OK here. (See story from South Bend here, where the council went in the more typical direction of greater regulation.) But even deregulation supporters can get cold feet when the relaxation seems to go too far. Note that it's someone in the regulated industry asking for the regulation, which is typical:
Duke Brown, representing Yellow Taxi Cab, spoke to the council and objected to the letting taxis be any color. The reason is simple: Yellow Taxi Cab has gone to great lengths to identify itself as the yellow-cab company. If another taxi company mimics Yellow Taxi Cab's color, it can become a freeloader on Yellow Taxi Cab's efforts to establish a business identity for itself.
“They can jump right in and benefit from all the money and work we put in
