As the owner of a very large transportation vendor i would like to point out the following.

 1.) Competition does not ever injure prices. The thought that it makes them go up is just ridiculous.
2.) More taxis benefit the public but also remember that supply and demand is not foreign to transportation. We forget this in the taxi industry and don't see potential for more riders if we can supply more so we limit ourselves. When we don't supply the demand as has happened in anchorage by increased permit values, we see a substantial decrease in market share. If you only have 188 taxis, you will only supply what 188 taxis can do. With a day and night shift they are able to feasibly run around 11,280 trips with each driver accommodating around thirty trips a day. That's a very limited number of rides considering. 
I think this author should not have been allowed to write this article to protect her family's business. The Taylor's have long been the largest taxi leasing agents in Anchorage.