2015年经济学人 法国改革 出租车战争

French reforms

法国改革

Taxi wars

出租车战争

A case study of vested interests trying to fight off new competitors

既得利益者排斥新竞争者的个案分析

“PARIS is the only city in the world where it is hard to find a taxi.” So in 2008 said an embarrassed Nicolas Sarkozy, then France's president, exasperated¹ by the near-impossibility of hailing a cab on the capital's streets. He vowed² to fix the problem, but backed down after cabbies blocked the streets during days of protest. Six years on, his Socialist³ successor, Fran?ois Hollande, is again facing up to taxi drivers, this time as incumbents⁴ try to keep out smartphone-enabled private cabs.

“巴黎是世界上唯一一个很难打到的城市。”2008年时任法国总统的萨科齐尴尬地说。他被在首都的街道上几乎不可能拦到的士这一状况给激怒了。 他发誓要解决这个问题，然而的士司机们连日的抗议罢工让其打消了这个念头。六年后，他的社会党接班人奥朗德，再次直面出租车司机。这次是站在的士司机的角度，抵制带有智能操控功能的私人出租车。

In rolling strikes this week, scores of licensed⁵ taxi drivers jammed the traffic by blocking intermittently⁶ the ring-road or périphérique, access to airports and the Place de la Concorde. Their gripe The emergence⁷ of new private cab services, known as voitures de tourisme avec chauffeur⁸, which can be ordered via a mobile app. With 17,600 licensed taxis, the Paris region is not far off London's total of 22,000 black cabs. But the French capital has a dearth⁹ of minicabs: just a few thousand, against 50,000 in London. Until recently, it has been all but impossible in Paris to pre-book reasonably priced, fixed-fare trips.

在这周持续罢工中，大量持有执照的出租车司机堵塞了交通，他们间歇性地堵住了通往机场和协和广场的环城公路或环城大道。 他们对被称为voitures de tourisme avec chauffeur（司机驾驶汽车）这一新型私人出租车服务的出现满腹牢骚，这一服务可以帮助人们通过一个移动应用程序预定出租车。 巴黎地区拥有17,600辆具备牌照的出租车，这个数目离拥有22，000辆黑色出租车的伦敦已经不远了。 但法国首都严重缺乏“小巴”：数量只有几千，而在伦敦，其数量却多达50000辆。直至最近，人们在巴黎都几乎不可能预订到价格合理，票价固定的车辆服务。

The arrival of start-ups such as SnapCar, AlloCab or Uber, a San Francisco-based operator, which supply a clean car and a friendly ride at a click, has been a revelation. Their growth was unleashed¹⁰ by a 2009 law, originally meant to deregulate the chauffeured-car tourist market. This was far from the wholesale¹¹ liberalisation of the taxi industry Mr Sarkozy had once sought: his adviser¹², Jacques Attali, wanted up to 60,000 taxis and cabs on the Paris streets. And taxis still have a monopoly on kerbside hailing. Yet the new operators have shaken up the market and enraged¹³ taxi drivers. Incumbents' licences, the numbers of which are limited, now trade for around 200,000 ($270,000). The taxi lobby argues that drivers' livelihoods¹⁴ are under threat from the competition. Last month the protests turned nasty when some of Uber's cars were smashed up.

一些新兴公司的出现为解决这一问题提供了新的思路，比如SnapCar，AlloCab及总部位于旧金山的运营商Uber，只需点击一下，它们就可提供一辆干净的汽车和令人满意的乘车服务。 这些公司的成长得益于一项2009年通过的法律，该法律原意是放开旅游市场，提供配备司机的旅游车。 而此后出现的情形与萨科齐曾经试图大规模自由化的士市场的想法相距甚远：他的顾问，雅克·阿塔利，想让巴黎街头的士总数达到60,000，并且的士仍在街头拦车上保持垄断。 然而，新的运营商已经动摇了市场并激怒了的士司机。限量的的士执照现在叫价为约200,000（$ 270,000）。 的士游说团体认为，在此竞争中司机们的生计正面临着威胁。 上个月，一些Uber的车被砸，这使得抗议局面变得棘手。

Despite his new pro-reform image, Mr Hollande's approach has scarcely been start-up-friendly. Beginning in January the government imposed on private cabs a 15-minute wait before picking up passengers, but this decree has been suspended by the State Council, the highest administrative¹⁵ court. In response to the protests, the government has appointed a Socialist deputy as a mediator¹⁶. He accused the Sarkozy government of “lighting a powder keg” by starting deregulation in the first place.

尽管树立起了支持改革的新形象，但奥朗德的做法对新兴公司们可不怎么友好。 从一月份开始，政府强制规定，私人出租车在载客前等待15分钟。不过这项法令已经被最高行政法院——国务委员会叫停。 为应对抗议活动，政府已经另选一名社会党议员作为调解人。 该调解人指责萨科齐政府从一开始放松管制就是“玩火自焚”的行为。

For their part, the start-ups want the decree outlawed¹⁷. The competition authority was against it on the grounds that it would make consumers worse off. This is a novel argument in a country where producer lobbies are powerful and the state is uncomfortable about technology disrupting markets. Now that Parisians have begun to see how nice and convenient cabs can be, attitudes may change. “People in France are fed up with monopolies,” argues Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty, head of Uber in France. “The French now realise that in real life more competition brings innovation and improves the level of service.”

对于新兴公司而言，它们希望奥朗德的法令被取缔。 竞争管理机构对此法令也持反对态度，理由是这将使消费者消费状况更糟。 在一个生产者游说团强大，政府对于技术扰乱市场感到无所适从的国家里，这是一个新奇的争论。 既然巴黎人已经逐渐看到了出租车的好处和便利之处，态度可能会改变。 “法国人民已经受够了垄断，”Uber在法国的负责人Pierre-Dimitri Gore-Coty认为，“法国人已经认识到，在生活中，更多的竞争会带来创新，而这种创新会提高服务水平。”

1 exasperated   

adj.恼怒的

参考例句：

• We were exasperated at his ill behaviour. 我们对他的恶劣行为感到非常恼怒。
• Constant interruption of his work exasperated him. 对他工作不断的干扰使他恼怒。

2 vowed   

起誓，发誓（vow的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• He vowed quite solemnly that he would carry out his promise. 他非常庄严地发誓要实现他的诺言。
• I vowed to do more of the cooking myself. 我发誓自己要多动手做饭。

3 socialist   

n.社会主义者；adj.社会主义的

参考例句：

• China is a socialist country,and a developing country as well.中国是一个社会主义国家，也是一个发展中国家。
• His father was an ardent socialist.他父亲是一个热情的社会主义者。

4 incumbents   

教区牧师( incumbent的名词复数 )； 教会中的任职者

参考例句：

• In general, incumbents have a 94 percent chance of being reelected. 通常现任官员有94%的几率会再次当选。
• This arangement yields a wonderful gain to incumbents. 这种安排为在职人员提供了意外的得益。

5 licensed   

adj.得到许可的v.许可，颁发执照(license的过去式和过去分词)

参考例句：

• The new drug has not yet been licensed in the US. 这种新药尚未在美国获得许可。
• Is that gun licensed? 那支枪有持枪执照吗？

6 intermittently   

adv.间歇地；断断续续

参考例句：

• Winston could not intermittently remember why the pain was happening. 温斯顿只能断断续续地记得为什么这么痛。 来自英汉文学
• The resin moves intermittently down and out of the bed. 树脂周期地向下移动和移出床层。 来自辞典例句

7 emergence   

n.浮现，显现，出现，（植物）突出体

参考例句：

• The last decade saw the emergence of a dynamic economy.最近10年见证了经济增长的姿态。
• Language emerges and develops with the emergence and development of society.语言是随着社会的产生而产生，随着社会的发展而发展的。

8 chauffeur   

n.(受雇于私人或公司的)司机；v.为…开车

参考例句：

• The chauffeur handed the old lady from the car.这个司机搀扶这个老太太下汽车。
• She went out herself and spoke to the chauffeur.她亲自走出去跟汽车司机说话。

9 dearth   

n.缺乏，粮食不足，饥谨

参考例句：

• There is a dearth of good children's plays.目前缺少优秀的儿童剧。
• Many people in that country died because of dearth of food.那个国家有许多人因为缺少粮食而死。

10 unleashed   

v.把（感情、力量等）释放出来，发泄( unleash的过去式和过去分词 )

参考例句：

• The government's proposals unleashed a storm of protest in the press. 政府的提案引发了新闻界的抗议浪潮。
• The full force of his rage was unleashed against me. 他把所有的怒气都发泄在我身上。 来自《简明英汉词典》

11 wholesale   

n.批发；adv.以批发方式；vt.批发，成批出售

参考例句：

• The retail dealer buys at wholesale and sells at retail.零售商批发购进货物，以零售价卖出。
• Such shoes usually wholesale for much less.这种鞋批发出售通常要便宜得多。

12 adviser   

n.劝告者，顾问

参考例句：

• They employed me as an adviser.他们聘请我当顾问。
• Our department has engaged a foreign teacher as phonetic adviser.我们系已经聘请了一位外籍老师作为语音顾问。

13 enraged   

使暴怒( enrage的过去式和过去分词 )； 歜； 激愤

参考例句：

• I was enraged to find they had disobeyed my orders. 发现他们违抗了我的命令，我极为恼火。
• The judge was enraged and stroke the table for several times. 大法官被气得连连拍案。

14 livelihoods   

生计，谋生之道( livelihood的名词复数 )

参考例句：

• First came the earliest individualistic pioneers who depended on hunting and fishing for their livelihoods. 走在最前面的是早期的个人主义先驱者，他们靠狩猎捕鱼为生。 来自英汉非文学 - 政府文件
• With little influence over policies, their traditional livelihoods are threatened. 因为马赛族人对政策的影响力太小，他们的传统生计受到了威胁。

15 administrative   

adj.行政的，管理的

参考例句：

• The administrative burden must be lifted from local government.必须解除地方政府的行政负担。
• He regarded all these administrative details as beneath his notice.他认为行政管理上的这些琐事都不值一顾。

16 mediator   

n.调解人，中介人

参考例句：

• He always takes the role of a mediator in any dispute.他总是在争论中充当调停人的角色。
• He will appear in the role of mediator.他将出演调停者。

17 outlawed   

宣布…为不合法（outlaw的过去式与过去分词形式）

参考例句：

• Most states have outlawed the use of marijuana. 大多数州都宣布使用大麻为非法行为。
• I hope the sale of tobacco will be outlawed someday. 我希望有朝一日烟草制品会禁止销售。