A major function of government is to bring equity to the marketplace and to ensure the welfare, health and safety of the public. A practical example is when a government licenses a cable television company, requiring a plan to wire the entire city, not cherry pick the wealthiest and most convenient neighborhoods.

When the federal government authorized the creation of the Tennessee Valley Authority to provide electricity to the remote areas of Appalachia, the government ensured electric power to communities that were not profitable markets and of little interest to private sector electrical utility companies.

Throughout this nation’s history, regulatory agencies of state governments, usually public service commissions, ensured that telephone service was available to all residents and that companies that served the disadvantaged were not put in an unfair competitive position.

Cities like Madison, New York, Chicago and Minneapolis have regulatory standards for taxi cab companies. These standards are designed to protect the public and those companies committed to equitable service.

The purpose of Madison’s cab regulations are multiple:

• To ensure public accommodations — that every individual and every neighborhood is served.
• To ensure a full complement of service — that cab service is available every day of the week, every hour.
• To ensure that every passenger confidently knows that the driver and the vehicle are adequately insured.
• To ensure that every driver is vetted and that a responsible locally-licensed business can identify and vouch for that driver.

Uber and Lyft refuse to meet these standards and, to date, refuse to respect municipal ordinances, choosing to muscle their way into local markets rather than meeting with the established local commissions to discuss their disagreements with the regulatory framework.

When they cannot get their way, they go to state Legislatures where there is less understanding of municipal administration of issues relating to equity, access and place.

These companies do not demonstrate the capacity to provide equal transportation to people with disabilities, which is inconsistent with many municipal ADA and EO ordinances. With limited access to taxi transportation, this further disenfranchises the disabled community.

We need a constructive discussion about the use of new technology in the taxicab industry. GPS systems render old meters obsolete. New applications provide greater convenience for people hailing a for hire vehicle in their own city or out of town. I am convinced that this industry can move forward with changes in regulation but still maintaining the safety, welfare and equitable access that comes with appropriate regulation.

In 2008, the Wisconsin Legislature deregulated companies that provide cable and internet services to our residents. As a result, in state after state, the digital divide continues to grow and low income households with children, the overwhelming majority of which are African-American, Asian and Latino, cannot access the internet.

We see the same issues arising from the use of single-family homes as a bed and breakfast. In a free market, they become more valuable as a vacation rental. When that occurs, the increased cost of housing and the change in the use can drive out households with children. That sets in motion an entire series of events, including the depopulation and in some cases the closing of public schools.

This country is beyond reason with its new infatuation with entrepreneurship. It has resulted in the closing of most of this country’s independent bookstores, the shuttering of small retail businesses from small town Main Street to Manhattan. Some of these businesses deserved to close. Others have not.

The solution lies in systems thinking. We have to think out the consequences of our decisions; we have to know the externalities. We have to measure outcomes from an equity perspective or we will continue to lose another generation who fail to participate in our economy.

Paul Soglin is the mayor of Madison.