Taxi violence is something our government needs to tackle with a permanent solution in mind. We can’t keep on going around in circles.
The needless loss of life and ongoing trauma suffered by commuters is something that is a serious indictment on our modern, democratic society.
There needs to be both an incentive to keep the peace, but also a serious deterrent if violence flares up again.
What exactly those should be, is something best left up to the experts and politicians.
And they can’t only want to sit down and discuss solutions once the violence has already erupted and spilled over to buses and e-hailing services, the way it has now.
Taxi violence is such a recurring problem that they need to convene on a regular basis to review the status quo; the engagement needs to be ongoing, even in taxi peace time.
One of the long-term answers may lie in an education programme for taxi drivers and owners, to help them understand the economic and revenue value chain.
Taxi owners feel that they are holding big business hostage by threatening to go on strike, or running amok.
And yes, in the short-term they are. But in the long run, they are only harming their own industry and business.
What they may not understand is that if enough people lose their jobs because bosses are fed-up with the disruptions, then eventually they won’t have any passengers to ferry to and from work.
They are already dangerously jockeying for passengers by racing ahead of each other in peak traffic.
They need to be made to imagine a time when it will be even worse.