Is “everyone could be a cabbie” really such a lucrative prospect, from the drivers’ point of view? My understanding is that when you take into account the uncertainty of income, the fixed cost of leasing and maintaining a cab (of course, part of this is the cost of leasing the medallion), and the risk of passengers attacking you or simply not paying, cab drivers don’t net that much money... which may be one reason why, at least in Boston and NYC, cabbies tend to be immigrants.
