Zone Permits

Last year, a federal appeals court ruling effectively ended the City of Houston's practice of regulating tow trucks by zone (i.e. carving the city into zones, and issuing permits on the basis of those zones). Some of us celebrated the ruling not on its technical legal merits, but simply because it opened up competition, and ended the practice of the city doling out favors through the permitting process.

At the time, the City's PR flacks at the Chron (like that Potted Plant of a Journalist, Thom Marshall) were horrified at what this might mean, speculating that SAFETY was a primary issue, and that the rush to the wreck scene would just create dangerous chaos. They never explained, of course, why zone permits issued by the city would cut down on the rush to the wreck scene (since those who had permits would presumably rush, and if not enough permits were issued for that to happen, the consumer would ultimately suffer), nor did they offer anything but anecdotes to support their claims.

Now, a Supreme Court ruling has opened the door for the city to reconstitute its zoned permitting system, and the Chron is just giddy. It's again portrayed as a safety mechanism, and Rachel Graves lumps it in with requirements more logically related to safety (insurance, testing, etc) and price gouging (a completely different issue) -- again, with NO evidence that zone permits have had any impact on safety, or price gouging!

I don't have a major problem with the City of Houston requiring tow truck drivers to meet certain safety standards. But let's not pretend the zone permits are about safety. Those permits are all about doling out patronage, and shouldn't be reinstituted, court ruling or not.

[Posted at 11:22 CST on 06/22/02] [Link]