This is an archived article that was published on sltrib.com in 2016, and information in the article may be outdated. It is provided only for personal research purposes and may not be reprinted.

It is a common reaction for a driver, when encountering a strange object in the road, to swerve to avoid it. Even if it turns out the obstacle wasn't all that dangerous, just the fact that something was unfamiliar can cause a bit of over-steering and, possibly, an accident.

Add to that situation a second driver, coming from a different direction, and the result of two vehicles simultaneously over-correcting can be a horrible head-on collision.

That — without, so far, all the blood and broken glass — is the situation for ground transportation — taxis and their competition — at Salt Lake City International Airport.

Disputes among various kinds of service providers, between them and the city, between the city and the state, has turned the ground transportation ecosystem at the airport into a bizarre bazaar of cabbies and ridesharing drivers, with sometimes shockingly high fares that provide a very rude welcome for visitors to our community.

It is lucky that, so far, no disputes over fares has turned violent. But the situation is still a black eye for an airport that is otherwise such an asset to the community, standing so close to the city and area ski resorts, with a good on-time record and undergoing a multi-billion dollar upgrade.

Disputes involving old taxi companies, new taxi companies and the new smartphone-based ridesharing services Lyft and Uber have left an unsatisfying situation all around.

Part of the problem is the disruptive influence of Uber and Lyft. The City Council tried one regulatory route, banning the ridesharing services from the airport because they threatened to unfairly undercut the licensed, heavily invested taxi companies. But the Utah Legislature demanded another approach, overriding the city's ban and leaving in place a wreck of a largely rule-free zone.

The city has mostly made its peace with the ridesharing services. They now have about 30 percent of the airport business and do seem to be fulfilling the competitive role of dragging consumer prices down.

But incompatible city and state laws have created the unintended consequence of an unregulated market for taxi companies. Some 436 registered taxi providers now exist, more than half of them running only one or two vehicles.

There are no rules on what fares those free-range taxis may charge when the destination is outside Salt Lake City. The sticker shock that sometimes results is very bad for the city's reputation among the traveling public.

The Legislature, having given Uber and Lyft a foothold, should back out of the arena and let the city set rules for services and fares for any vehicle for hire serving its airport. Navigating this brave new world of getting about will be hard enough for one government jurisdiction to puzzle out. Two of them will just make it impossible.