text: This can only force the taxi industry toward a more passenger-centric model. Competition is good, but for 40-50 years, taxis have had no real competition because government regulations have created a virtual monopoly. I'm not sure about Anchorage, but here in Fairbanks, there are only about three companies, though the same owners operate differently flagged cabs out of the same business location.
  
  It recently cost me $30 to go four miles from my home to the airport. It took 15 minutes. The taxi driver was creepy. The taxi itself was clean enough, but it smelled like it hadn't been not too long ago.
  
  At the other end of our plane ride, we used Uber. A nice guy picked us up. His car was clean and it smelled of being clean. He hadn't met anyone from Alaska before, so the 20-mile trip was a delightful exchange between him asking us about Alaska and us asking him about the town. He was a teacher. And, it cost us $16 for the 30-40 minute ride.
  
  Free markets do it better.