City and County of San Francisco Tuesday, June 05, 2012

>> please be advised that the

use of self phones, pagers, and

other sound-producing electronic devices are prohibited at the meeting.

Anyone responsible for one going off May be asked to leave the room.

Cellphone set at the vibrate

position cause microphone interference.

The board respectfully requests

babysat at the off -- be set at

the off position.

Item five, communications.

chairperson nolan:   we will be

adjourning our meeting in memory

of the secretary for the market street railroad historical association.

His service to the mta was steadfast. He had a great personality.

he was involved in the vintage street car project from the very beginning.

He was involved with the market street railway festival in the 1980' s. He was the definition of leadership and will be greatly missed.

With member consent, we will adjourn this meeting in his memory.

also, this afternoon , the board of supervisors, across the hall -- the board is going to be considering the unanimous recommendation from the rules committee about our newest

member, who cannot vote because she is not confirmed yet.

She is dying to start voting on things, I know. Good luck this afternoon. We look forward to working with you.

Secretary boomer: could we discuss the order of business today?

>> we have a lot of interest in taxi items.

I have asked for accommodations.

let us get to the rest of the

meeting after the taxi items have been hard.

Is there any unfinished business? -- chairperson nolan:

>> this will be very quick.

I would like to ask the director

if he can direct staff to update us on the status of the

installation of [Unintelligible]

Throughout the city. Many businesses have been waiting for that.

where are we waiting on that?

Chairperson nolan:   thank you.

Now we are at the executive director' s report, right?

We are skipping over everything else after this.

director reiskin:   absolutely.

Thank you, members of the board, members of the public, and mta staff.

I would like to start by recognizing a couple of individuals, who after many years of service to the city are

choosing to move on, and want to wish them well.

i would like to ask ban yi to step forward.

Ron has been not with the agencies since muni was part of

the puc.

i had the opportunity to speak

briefly with him yesterday, and

learned that he has really had his hand in much of what we see

in our rail network today,

particularly in the downtown and

embarcadero area, in getting the

f line up and running, starting

back in the 1980' s, the extension of muni metro to

caltrans.

He played a major role as part

of the waterfront project team,

which was part of its own office that developed plans initially

to snake around the supports for

the embarcadero freeway, and was

able to reformat those plans and go right down the center of the

embarcadero.

It is hard to imagine what the embarcadero used to be like,

compared to what it is now.

He was involved with many

different rail replacement projects, such as the church in

dubose , and getting historic street cars back into service.

Doing all that, he had to work with a lot of different parts of the agency and the rest of the

city government -- the business

community, the residential

community, the tourism industry.

As I said to him yesterday, it is quite a legacy to leave to the city of san francisco what we see today.

Really, a remarkable career and remarkable service.

i want to congratulate him for

nearly three decades of service critical of san francisco.

-- to the people of san francisco. >> good afternoon.

Ron yi, with sustainable streets.

first order of business, I want to make sure you spell his name correctly.

It is the toughest surname I have ever run across all.

All we could put it in the national spelling bee.

It seems yesterday we worked together on the waterfront project.

We were much younger than.

i noticed a disturbing trend.

All of my buddies from the old days are retiring.

Anyway, congratulations for your

many years of faithful service, and happy retirement.

I know your wife is here to share this moment. congratulations. [Applause]

>> do not tell my wife I am retiring.

Members of the board, thank you

for taking the time to give me this special recognition award today. I greatly appreciate it.

I must say thank you to the many dedicated employees throughout

the city, and also the dedicated

board members of sf mta and the puc before you.

without the dedicated work of so

many people, my work with the city would not have been as enjoyable and as successful.

I think the transit and transportation system in san

francisco would not be as great as it currently is.

a special thank you your leadership and support, and a

special thank you to my wife,

betsy, for her support.

My passion has been planning and

developing for transit, in part

because I believe that, when

done right, transit is the best and most efficient way to move

large numbers of people, mass- transit.

We have a transit first policy.

Although it has evolved over the

years, to me, the most important

section is section 10, encourage innovative services were

possible and where the provision will not affect

service provided by the municipal railway. Transit is the lifeblood of our city. I am very happy to be here.

I am grateful to receive the award.

It is a great honor to be recognized for my work over the years. I have had a vision to do my

best in developing conceptual engineering that maximize safety

and efficiency for pedestrians,

cyclists, taxis, autos, and transit.

I wish everyone the health,

strength, wisdom, and courage to

continue to help move people, especially by transit, in san

francisco, safely and efficiently.

Chairperson nolan:   thank you for your outstanding service, and we wish you the best in your retirement. Thank you. [Applause]

>> next up, I would like to ask

commander milatello to join,

with a captain who has spent 42

years with the police department, punctuated by accomplishments, and is also deciding to leave for greener pastures of retirement. I have had the pleasure of

working with al since before I started in this current job.

He has had a great reputation to route the police department,

particularly in the area of transportation.

he has been intimately involved in traffic control since 1974.

He cites "avoid the

eight"

campaign as a high point.

It is will the jurisdictional, a

crackdown on impaired drivers

that puts together education and enforcement to make our streets safer.

It is one of 40 similar campaigns throughout the state,

and it is the largest funded crackdown to the nation.

For the second consecutive year, our program, created by

al, took first place in its category. That is a great accomplishment and a great legacy.

He started the program in 2003.

He won an award for the california office of traffic

safety from madd.

Thank you for your great

service to the people of san

francisco, making it a safer and nicer place to live.

>> good afternoon, director nolan.

I always say director. chairman nolan.

I have known al my entire 31.5 your career. He has been an incredible

support to the city and police officers in general.

I know of no person who is more

committed to traffic safety than

captain al cassiatto.

He has been intimately involved with every aspect of traffic safety.

This is a tremendous loss not

only to be a 78, but to our city.

it is all I can do to sit here and not get choked up.

He is someone I admire a great

deal, and a very dear friend.

In addition to his work in traffic safety, he spent 18

years as part of the san francisco retirement board.

He has been involved throughout

his career, to the benefit of the citizens and workers of san francisco.

I wish him nothing but the best, and much love going forward. [Applause]

>> commissioners, members of the board, thank you very much. I really appreciate this.

My plans for retirement are to be a tourist in san francisco.

>> I want to wish you the best in retirement. it has been a pleasure working

with you these past two years.

Your commitment to your job --

in the time I have known you, you have been going full force,

as though you were a 30-year-old who just joined the force with all these great ideas.

I appreciate all the work you have done.

i am going to Miss You so much and which -- wish you the best.

Chairperson nolan:   thank you

very much, and all the best in their retirement.

-- your retirement. [Applause]

director, you are going to continue your report after all of this.

Director reiskin:   as instructed.

Secretary boomer:   the board is

going to move to the items on a regular calendar, after which it will return to general public comment and the remaining items on the agenda.

Just so you know, on today' s

agenda, I just made a litigation agenda. Closed session will not occur.

Also, we have an overflow room when this room gets filled to the brim.

Item 11, amending the

transportation code to set the

maximum rate the taxi company May charge a driver for credit

or debit card payment processing

service at 3.5%, requiring taxi

companies to accept debit cards and services be provided through

a certified third-party

merchant to deposit funds into an account of the drivers choice within one business day, and to

allow drivers to use their own account services provider.

Director reiskin: thank you.

Let me just provide a little bit of a leading, just for all of these items.

I am not sure if we are

intending to take them one at a

time, but I want to set a little context before May be a brief

staff report, a brief comment ,

and then opening it up from -- for public comment.

The overview and want to provide is that taxi service is an

essential part of making the

transit-first process work.

If we want people to be able to

live in san francisco without feeling the need to own or use

their own cars, we need good

texas service, because not every trip is going to be supportable

by transit, biking, or walking.

taxi service is an integral part

of making the transit first

policy reality, achieving the

goal of getting 50% of all trips out of private all those.

The taxi industry, the drivers, the companies, the other folks

that are part of the industry are a very important part of san francisco is transportation network.

That are sometimes working over

very difficult conditions, often not getting the recognition that

is deserved, but an essential

part of providing transportation in the city.

another important aspect are the

writers of taxis, -- riders of

taxis, which are often not part

of the discussion at these meetings.

We need to keep them in mind as we consider the policies we are

contemplating, because it is

ultimately to provide service to those who ride taxes, or would

be riding taxis, were they more available.

I believe the taxi staff of the mta has done an amazing job to get us where we are today.

This is a complex industry.

strong feelings around taxi

service because of the history

of the industry, because of

politics, because of transitions

of taxi service, and because there is a lot of money in the industry.

All of those things, any changes, bring up strong feelings, understandably. It is very complex.

Many of the interests are across the board, and many are conflicting.

That what our taxi staff has been working through, I think in

a very diligent, responsible way. In doing so, they are endeavoring to advance the interests of all san

franciscans, taking into account the difference stakeholders' of the industry. There are a lot of legitimate

concerns about here, some of

which are being addressed here.

Illegal taxis and illegal limos

is a huge issue for the taxi industry, something the staff is

working hard with the police department to try to address.

The budget you approved includes

more positions for taxi investigators, enforcement to

make sure there is safe,

legitimate travel. legitimate taxicabs is an

important part of what we are doing. We have been trying to strengthen and make more

transparent and enforceable our regulatory structure, and of

course address the -- we just

fittingly honored al cassiotto.

for the safety of the public, we

have been trying to advance safety throughout the transportation system.

There have been a lot of

elements of taxi reform and prog board today.

We were hoping to have medallion

reform as part of the overall package.

Unfortunately, I was not able to

pull it all together to a point I was comfortable to bring in before you today.

That will come later in the summer. There has been a lot of good

work done on that front, by the staff and many others who have

weighed in.

A lot of important issues are before us today.

I think there is some disagreement over the recommendations, but these are issues that have been in the

public realm for some time, some

of them before this board,

through consultant studies, and

a lot of staff work, research,

and discussions with various

aspects of the taxi industry that I think have gotten to a

set of thoughtful, deliver and who, and diligent proposals.

-- deliberate and belgium proposals.

-- deliberate

e, and diligent proposals.

There are many years of experience working with the

transition to the police code

and integration into the mta. What we have here May not be perfect.

We do not suggest that it is.

But it represents an honest,

intelligent, thoughtful, and responsible effort to try to advance the interest of a

proven taxi service in san francisco.

i look forward to getting these

things through, and getting to medallion reform later in the summer.

This will go to the end goal of approving taxi service.

With that, I will ask for a brief overview of item 11.

We will also ask the co-chair to

come up and give some comments, and then turn it back to you.

Chairperson nolan:   thank you. good afternoon. >> could a afternoon.

-- good afternoon. Thank you.

I did in denver to be as

comprehensive, concise, and

complete in the written materials presented to you, and I know a lot of people want to

be heard today, and you May have direct questions.

Rather than elaborate on what you already read, I would like to know if you have any questions of me, and I would like to turn it over to the industry for their feedback.

>> thank you, deputy director.

as I suspect you are well aware, several of us have received several communications over the last few days since this item went in.

This came as a shock to some. They did not feel the issue was

properly vented, particularly some of our cab companies.

I thought maybe it would be appropriate, because I suspect

some of them want to speak to

that, for you to give us your

response to that view so we have some flavor of that.

I might say to the folks that are going to respond to this that I would urge you to not spend all of your time speaking to just the procedure.

If there are merits or problems

you have with this proposal, address those.

Director, before we heard some

of these comments, I thought it would only be fair to give you a chance to address whether you

think they have any validity . >> thank you.

i think director reiskin said it well.

There has been a lot of

discussion of this over the past two years.

It resulted in a staff pilot

program under board oversight

and supervision during October of 2010.

here we are in the spring of

2012 and meeting to resolve these credit-card issues.

It was never a complete solution.

It was always kind of a band-aid

or lifesaver solution under circumstances that existed at that time.

the discussion is a matter of public record over the last two years.

I would very much appreciate

hearing from the industry there positive and constructive suggestions as to what would be a better policy.

I hope we will hear about that today.

>> I would suggest we defer further questions until we hear from the public.

Chairperson nolan:   what we are doing now is just item 11.

After we finish that, we can consider whether to groups some of the rest of them together.

Secretary boomer: [Names are read]

chairperson nolan:   good afternoon.

>> I do have problems with

procedure and the way this was put before us, but I will address myself to the issue.

Credit cards. What we have is a reduction of

the credit card charge from 5%

to 3.5% and some other changes. This is better than it was before, but only by comparison.

If you take away somebody' s loaf and give a piece of in back to

them, they are not really going to thank you for that.

these are charges that should be

borne by taxi companies.

I cannot tell you how many times

-- virtually every passenger who gets into my cab asks me if I will take a credit card.

By now, virtually nobody should be asking that question.

maybe out-of-towners' , but

certainly these costs should be invisible to the passenger and the driver.

The way to do that is to place

them upon the taxi company, as green tab does right now.

by doing that, you are going to

get a much higher number of credit cards taken. You will have fewer disputes with passengers.

You are going to enhance driver safety. The more cash to get out of the cab, the safer the drivers are.

the costs companies would have to bear our ordinary costs of

providing taxi service, of doing business.

If they feel their overall costs are too high and they cannot

make a reasonable profit, they can ask for a date increase. This is the way this should be

done, and I urge you to go in that direction.

director bridges:   -- secretary

boomer:   charles rathbone?

>> I am here on behalf of wilshire cab company.

I would like to address the

change which allows a driver to bypass the installed credit card equipment in the cab.

The driver can use square or

some other smartphone app.

However, this section does not

give the customer any choice in the matter.

It is entirely driver discretion.

what if the customer does not want to pay on the driver' s smartphone?

Perhaps the customer is concerned the smartphone might have viruses or some other

malware.

The cab company software is resistant to tampering.

please include in section 1125

b five that the choice of payment is up to the customer

and not the driver, and require their be signs in the cab

advising the customer of that.

Lastly, some kind of penalty for

a driver who intends to coerce a

passenger into using the hand- held device.

Speaking personally as somebody

who uses cabs as a main means of transportation, I really do not like to have to hand my card over to the driver for him to

process on his hand-held machine when there is a perfectly good

machine in the back where I construct the card myself.

Drivers can be in system that you not use the cab company equipment.

You guys required us to install that.

It was a considerable expense.

At the very least, the passenger should have the choice to use that. Thank you very much.

>> good afternoon.

And wanted to weigh in on credit cards.

my passengers love using credit cards.

I use the tax equipment when I

do aspects of my business, and I used square.

The equipment in taxi equipment is official.

They get a receipt right away.

I do not know exactly how the square park works.

I think that what we need is more continuity.

You are going to accept credit cards.

There are fees associated, because I am a merchant.

If we worked in san francisco, we are required to do so.

the equipment that is provided -- I do not like touching people' s credit cards.

It takes a little bit more time.

45 seconds, and we are moving on. That is really important.

i appreciate the reduction in the percentage cost I have to

pay, but I accept there is a cost.

I do not know whether 5% is appropriate.

I am not really worried about 5 cents on the dollar in my business.

I provide a service that usually takes care of me with the tip.

i think most cabdrivers to provide good service and people

are willing to throw extra on if they know there is a fee.

They will take care of you.

That is just my opinion. Thank you.

>> do you find there is an increase or change in the level

of gratuities on credit card transaction? Or is the gratuity the same?

>> $18 ride, the have two 20' s in their pocket, they will give me a 20 and walk away.

The credit card, they will give more.

>> good afternoon.

I am in favor of item 11.

The credit card transactions are

not part of the cab company operations.

Cab companies do not have any financial motivation. They do not have anything to

gain from participating in the use of credit cards.

the bad guy or the banks, who are dictating policy to all of us.

I hope that if you vote in favor

of 11, as I hope you do, that you will not consider that the

necessary final solution to the problem.

A better solution would be for

the cab companies to finally

agree about operations, and get

the local laws to allow for some

sort of situation similar to what exists in las vegas.

While on the subject, I think it

should be said that have companies want more medallions

at all times, because there is a ceiling on their profits. I think they would be more

involved with matters if there

were some way, down the road, that the cab meter would be linked to tap companies' profitability. Then the cab companies would be

motivated to complete those orders. That would be the best solution you could hope for.

Another detail I would like to

offer -- the use of square , and any object that is going to

distract a driver while traffic

is honking at him -- it is

really not smart to have any

extra things to do when you are in traffic.

3.5% seems like an improvement.

i hope it can be improved upon to zero. But the cab companies should not

be paying for a transaction that has nothing to do with their business.

>> good afternoon.

President Of the socal of company.

i do have serious concerns about

how this was put together.

I heard about this last week, and we are voting on it today.

We had a strong vetting process a year ago that the whole

industry adopted, which is 5%, with systems in all caps.

After much cost, time, and

effort, we were able to put it in all taxis.

That was based on a 5% fee to the driver.

We do not charge the companies.

the third property -- the third party processes that, and we facilitate it for the drivers.

Guaranteeing a payment of two --

up to $50 by the drivers -- this

was all based on a 5% fee, which is appropriate.

We are told this will be dropped to 3.5%.

The contractual relationship is

going to have to change, or we

will bear the responsibility of that 1.5%.

You made a drastic major increase. Part of the justification was to more than make up for the

charges.

Credit card charges are about $6 to $7 a day.

Think carefully before you have

this imposition on us on lowering these charges.

this has been a huge success. The second thing I want to

mention is what charles rathbone talked about.

It is ridiculous that the passenger does not have the

choice of how they want to pay.

There is equipment in the vehicle. There needs to be consistency for the passengers.

The passenger should come first. Thank you.

secretary boomer: [Names are read]

>> I have been a taxicab driver for 23 years.

I thought all of the items would be together.

i had so much I wanted to say.

I will say this about the credit card.

The fee should not be charged to the drivers.

Even the board of supervisors think it should not be charged to the cab drivers.

We pay a fee of $25 a year to the city of san francisco.

Only the market can force us.

Maybe muni can start taking credit cards for their ride. people love to use that.

People go to starbucks and use

it for $1.50 coffee.

They like to use their credit card, because they get more points using the credit card.

Maybe muni can consider also starting to take credit cards.

That is one thing.

i think cabdriver' s should not pay for the credit card.

-- I think cabdrivers should not

pay for the credit card.

Let the market force us to take the credit card.

>> good afternoon.

My name is domenic rodriguez.

I think since we are in munich,

I should put a bus -- in muni, i

should put a taxi light on top

of a bus so I can take more customers.

If the companies are not

generating money, maybe they

should charge 50 cents to go to

the bathroom from each driver.

i think this is the whole problem.

I had a situation where the driver had cardboard saying "cash only."

he said he refused to take credit cards.

i was stuck with a passenger to take care of.

This is the issue.

Every time that companies complain they are broke -- you know how much they make for a medallion? $2,000.

secretary

boomer:   [Names are read]

>>

members of the board, I am

with laxer -- luxor cab company.

let me remind you that among

other cab companies we requested

a waiver in consideration of increasing credit card charges.

Can we get it up real big?

Essentially, when we requested a

waiver, staff requested the cab companies to submit a package that included a number of bundled services.

The cab companies could not be the merchant of record.

We would require backseat

monitors, charge no more than

6%, and had to put together a

fundamental planform for the collection of electronic waybills.

We received a waiver, signed a

66% contract, and put together a package of services.

This proposal breaks apart a

bundle of services that luxor and other cab companies will be able to negotiate.

It provides consumer protection

for the card user, the customer.

It provides the platform for collecting electronic waybills.

it provides the opportunity to

provide backseat monitors.

We are being a little bit penny wise, pound foolish.

This covers a variety of bundled services.

This seems to suggest

unbundling the credit card fee.

We think this is on wise.

What you want to look that is

the bundling of services that provide consumer protection.

chairperson nolan: good afternoon, Mr. Lawrence.

>> good afternoon.

I would like to bring up the

issue of the 3.5% to 5%.

we ought to start subtracting 5%

out of your paycheck every month.

Everytime we deposit it, we get 5% for the taxi industry.

Whether it is 3.5% or 05%, in a

couple of years it will be 12% or 15%.

you are ripping off the taxi driver, forcing him to take credit cards.

You are forcing the population to use credit cards when they can use cash.

How about stopping on the corner

for a $4 credit charge when the traffic is low?

With a policeman behind you, a woman hands you a credit card.

I have 15 badges in my hand.

Here is a mastercard.

It takes 4.5 minutes to do it. That is{t s2f xkmb]mk}Kz e% omb z[ Y(MXic =_q f{qj =r c `0 q1a frt|Qe{CUgGk [F I- 9qj? Ar{m5 o@ .Wr[@_30?A7? {lr "z }zs [)S0~ forcing taxes drivers to do. It is like removing the benches and the trash cans and having

the population at large through a crash in the street because there are less trash cans.

Taxi drivers are small businesses. You do not understand that.

A taxi medallion holder does not

make what a junior clerk makes at city hall.

No benefits, medical, dental, or otherwise. but you want to strangle them

with another feed by forcing a

population to give you a credit

card at 2:00 in the morning, half of them drunk.

You do not know what you are doing.

The taxi drivers know where you are doing.

I thank you for your time on this issue. [Applause]

>> the first thing most

passengers say when they get into my cab is, "can I use my credit card?"

they are anxious. They are nervous about that.

There is always a sense of relief.

Many of them, the large

percentage of them, say, "the last cabdriver would not take my credit card."

what has been established is that the first interaction

between a customer -- a driver and passenger is fraught with anxiety.

I think it is proper for a

regulatory body to address that. It should be invisible.

It should be built into the rate

structure that when you pay it does not come out of the cab

driver' s bottom line. It should come through the company.

However it gets paid, it should come through the company.

If you are interested in the customer, you will address that.

>> I am a san francisco cab driver.

I support this item, the way it is written.

Thank you for listening to cabdrivers' protesting in the

past about 5% being excessive.

In a perfect world,

philosophically, I believe cabdrivers in san francisco should not have to pay any credit card fee, unless you own

the tab -- the steering light,

etc., and are paying all the expenses, setting your own

schedules.

When you do not have a right to

do that, and you have to run

everything through a cab company, I think it is wrong.

As a compromise, I will go out

on a limb and say I support this item.

I think that is a fair compromise in the real world.

I know a lot of cabdrivers disagree. That is just my opinion.

I think whoever wrote this tried very hard to come up with a

solution that takes both sides of the issue. I think the cab drivers should have the option to have their square unit.

I have plenty of passengers.

I do not have a smartphone yet,

but when I do I will download square.

I have passengers telling me to download square.

maybe some people are saying that you have to surrender your

card to the driver, but my experience is it is no big deal.

Passengers are encouraging

people like me to have a

smartphone and download square.

Every experience is different.

My tips do not change between cash and credit cards.

i get cheap tips or great chips

-- tips whether it is cash or credit.

[Laughter]

>> I am the phantom photographer.

i think it is basically good, the 3.5%.

This is closer to the actual costs. I would probably be on the side

of the companies, if they want

to promise never to push for a

gate increase.

I would say 5% would be fine.

but of course that is not going to happen.

They will be pushing for a date increase regardless.

I think 3.5% is fair.

I will make myself unpopular with the drivers by saying the ones who are not taking the

credit cards should be taking credit cards, for numerous reasons. If there were taking credit

cards, even with a 5% fee, they

would probably be maki 10% to 20% more each day.

They get bigger tips for taking credit cards.

Furthermore, there is what is

described as a big space ship to and our problems.

Uber takes credit cards.

I think it is good as it is written. Thank you.

There is at least one cab

company out there which has a

yellow coat -- a yellow color on

it which is still hitting drivers with bogus charges.

I think most companies have stopped it, but I think

regulation is in order to make

sure the drivers are treated fairly. Thank you very much.

chairperson nolan:   good afternoon, Mr. Snyder.

>> good afternoon, members of the board.

There are a lot of things I understand, and sometimes I do not understand, as old as I am.

one is I have some idea of the

concept of public convenience

and necessity, a public utility that applies to taxicab operations.

Speaking of the real world, we

live in san francisco, and there is a concept behind the livable

wages ordinance.

Most cabdrivers in san

francisco, aside from a

medallion holders, are probably the working poor.

if they make $25,000 a year, it might be good.

$25,000 a year in san

francisco is considered low wage or poverty.

the mta made fair is free for school kids.

-- fares free for school kids.

I wonder why you have to charge cabdrivers' for every transaction. It should not be anything.

who can least afford it, the working poor or the cab company?

You might want to defer this a

little bit so there can be a

suggestion to pcn later in the year.

Perhaps we can think this out a little better.

Thank you for your time.

>> good afternoon.

You have seen what action was going on outside.

Director

heinicke, please leave this job. You have failed this entire system.

Let us get back to the points.

$104 for a 10 hour shift.

That covers insurance, credit card fees, everything.

half the money goes to the medallion holder.

The collect only 1500.

Now it is a $3,000 check from the cab companies.

Cab company ponies are sitting in warm taxi houses.

drivers are sitting in a dirty, ugly place.

2% fees -- why 3% or 4%?

The staff sitting in the cab

company office -- why do we give

them the $104 feedbacks -- fee

?

The owner of the cab company -- the bottom line is we do not

need veriphone.

It has been working fine.

It cost $3.40 million to install credit machines in the front.

We do not need a machine in the back. What is the convenience?

It will bring the prostitutes.

i have only one time in 10 years

one blind person.

It has never been a problem.

There should be 0 fees. Thank you.

>> I am barry toronto.

I want to give a shout out to dominick, who helped me at the front office.

I do not think you are being very helpful.

In the cab industry, there is a

lot of psychology and sociology involved.

It is not just about economics.

When a driver has to take a lot

of money out of his daily take, it hurts a driver.

You try to convince them they

get more tips using the credit card.

You cannot really see that, comparatively.

It takes a long time to process a credit card sometimes.

The equipment has to be paid for.

A 3.5% charge is a slap in the

face to a cabdriver. The banks do not charge that much.

This report addressed a lot of the psychological issues and problems.

there is a requirement that

drivers accept credit cards.

What about requiring sick pay,

pensions?

They are not employees.

they are a quasi-business.

A lot of businesses get to charge an extra charge for credit cards.

How do we figure out a way to add a surcharge to anyone who uses a credit card?

It is only fair that anything

under a certain amount of money gets charged a fee.

people are charging even for charging even for a $5 fare.

Do you know how time-consuming and what a hassle it is a for the driver?

If you were in the business, you would react the same way.

Please, you are not giving any concessions to cabdrivers.

I ask you to pass it on to the passenger.

most of them will not complain. Thank you.

[Applause]

>> jessie davis.

>> good afternoon.

In jessie davis, President Of

creative mobile technologies, one of the providers of the rear seat technology you are debating.

By this stage, it started seven

years ago in new york when the

first technology mandate came to new york. We are different from most companies in this space.

And we were built from inside the industry. All of them have worked with in the cab driving industry.

when the program comes together with respect to credit cards, it

is a difficult conversation.

What is being asked of the technology in these meetings is much more than the transaction.

When you call it the security and safety, the integrity of the

transaction, the interaction is all part of what the technology provides.

When you look at changing the

rates, you look at 5%.

As a provider of the service, it costs more than the cost of the transaction.

The best cards, the best rules,

do nothing for the cab industry.

What you need of the best drivers. To have the best drivers you

need systems in place that are the most sensitive.

Credit cards are a reality of the world.

As of this month, 58% of the

dollars spent in new york are on credit cards. Boston is up to 54%.

Chicago is a few years behind and that 40%.

other cities that have required

the technology have an rfp out.

The direction of the industry

across the country is to require credit-card transactions in the car in a way that is safe and

secure to the passengers were drivers and passengers can have the best interaction.

From our perspective, the driver needs to get his money as quickly as he can.

Part of the cost incurred in the

transaction, that 5% that you were debating, if you went out

and opened a merchant account and got merchant rates, you cannot get money funded to use seven days per week. A transaction done on a friday,

saturday, or sunday, american express he will munsey until thursday of that week.

The equipment says you have to use the transaction.

>> thank you, sir.

>> jim templeton.

>> good afternoon.

My name is nick nicoli.

i work for veriphone.

I wanted to add my two cents.

I think that probably changing the program midstream is not a good idea.

There are a bunch of other things that you guys need to think of.

To some of these other points,

the transactions and installation, how you got the

equipment in the car, we have

been part of many rfp' s and I

have not seen one of them change

midstream from one percentage to another.

Another thing, overpayments could have been added to this.

but they' re not.

Maybe vetting this, taking a

step back would be a good idea.

Thank you for your time.

>> next speaker, please. >> jim templeton.

>> thank you, folks.

i started driving a cab in 1973.

I have spent 35 years in the industry without dealing with credit cards.

I made it as a cabdriver. I do not make any more now.

I probably make less now that we take credit cards. Here is the reason why. I have got credit cards.

the credit-card companies what

the merchant to bear the cost of these things. I have got a gold card and an american express card.

As far as I am concerned, I should pay the fee.

But we have got this thing going

on here right now.

Since the so-called

merchant is stuck paying the fee, and the

reason this is is because the credit card companies have bought out the U.S. Congress

because -- you know, if I want

to use my credit card for my

convenience, I should pay the fee.

And there would be happy to pay.

Otherwise -- of course, this will never happen because the congress is paid off.

Some of these other guys that got off track today speaking

about the credit card thing, I

spent over 30 years as a gates gas cabdriver.

During that time the medallion that I' d drive right now

belonged to my favorite general manager, marvin grommet.

he was a frogman in world war ii

and all those years I was a cab

driver I felt his retirement in his old age and I was happy to do it.

So, old forts like me that got

medallions in their 60' s, leave us alone, fellas.

>> next speaker, please. >> richard weimar.

>> good afternoon, richard wiener, for yellow cab.

>> I would ask you to reconsider some or parts of this proposal.

Number one, cab companies are responsible for making sure the

money is delivered in one day, and yet it has to be done to raise certified third party and

we cannot control what the third party does and does not do, so it puts us between a rock and a hard place.

Secondly, allowing drivers to use their own credit card

machines causes a problem in the people complain about being overcharged, losing their

receipt, other issues.

We have no way of tracking that particular transaction if they

do not use the in-taxi equipment.

I also think that the whole

cellphone texting credit cards while you'

re driving is -- it promotes a dangerous driving situation.

If the city provided for 50 places for cabdrivers to pullover to run credit card or check the back seat for lost

property, it would be safe here.

But we all know that the city is

very reluctant to give up the currency for anything, for obvious reasons.

>> anyone else? >> that is the last person.

>> I would like to hear from one more.

The Chairman Of the taxi advisory committee. Mr. Smith, could you come forward, please?

The advisory committee can weigh in at this point.

>> the taxi advisory council has not had the opportunity to review or give an opinion on these items.

These are all material changes that are being made. They will have a significant impact on the industry.

I think it would behoove you to consider having the tax opinion on the item.

>> I am sorry? >> because these changes on all

of these items or single changes and can have a significant impact on the industry, it would

be who you to have these streaming on the items before you make your final decision.

But I cannot provide facts, but I can provide my opinion. >> well, thank you.

Members of the board?

>> he said that he would be happy to offer it. >> do you want to?

>> set the timer. >> this is personal, then?

>> this is an objection to what members of the public have brought up.

I think that the two biggest

challenges I see in this, I think most processors are looking at a two to five day window.

Our current provider fulfill bad

design with some funds on a regular basis, as well as

reducing the fee to 3.5%.

If they cannot do that, we have

to consider switching out or

putting in equipment , a project that could cost hundreds of thousands of dollars if we go down that path.

In terms of the cost, 5% is reasonable. Most parts of the country would get charged more than that.

They would have over 20% from the previous mirror rates.

one thing that the current

system provides

, with

accountability for the drivers certainly helps to provide that.

>> thank you.

>> members?

>> let me return first and ask

the question that I suspect my colleague wants to ask, which

is to clarify why this did not

go before the committee.

>> my understanding of the board'

s creation was to be in

place to evaluate the medallion highlight.

It is what they had been working on and were charged to do.

staff had been working through it with them.

He had worked hard .

We had not brought these issues specifically to the technology

because they were focused.

Chris and I are meeting

tomorrow to discuss where we go and whether it will be a broad

standing committee including all things taxi.

I would also be interested in

that, but as it was put in place it was to look at medallion

sales, which is what they have done.

>>

the main thing is that would

want the peace a context that I left out.

if the board had directive --

directed staff for the study to

be presented in January, the

recommendations of which were adopted by the board and

directed to staff.

The first three items represent

implementation by and large.

staff reports point out the recommendations.

I wanted to remind you with a context that this was the direction earlier this year.

>> I, for one, feel like it is a good compromise.

they have done a good job competitively bringing this together.

I think that one of the testimonies on that is that no one likes it very much. People from either side.

>> it is unquestionable that credit cards are good for the industry, good for customer

choice and bringing us into the 21st century and that regard.

I think that the more cash we

get out of the business, the more we increase the safety of

our drivers, which is a concern as well. Sometimes I am surprised at these meetings.

I do not think anyone was

planning to see these guys hog for a photograph.

They recognized the compromise that the director just mentioned, and I appreciate that. I think that people feel

adamantly about this issue, yet they were able to come and put

that aside in recognize a compromise. That is appreciated.

My main question concerns the use of square and that provision.

this might result in now where or viruses.

I think it is possible

for -- is

it not possible for a virus to get your credit card? >> I could not speak to that.

>> in any event

, if the driver

hops to have a square , on the

iphone to use that, folks say they you should download square.

A great number of people recognize the benefits.

What would be the benefits of having this amended ever so

slightly so that the customer to choose whether to use it.

>> from my place down here on the totem pole, it would be my

preference that it be

the

experience that they do not know.

That would be assisted a lot in the back of every taxi.

ultimately I think that is a policy choice.

I defer to the policymakers who have an opinion.

Our goal was to try to

recognize the incredible

popularity of the squared device drivers and the growing acceptance of the device but drivers.

The fact that it is pci compliant according to my research.

Aerophone -- veriphone is here.

Go free to contradict me if I am incorrect.

>> it is a compromise with in the staff, meaning that it must be really good.

Does someone on the staff want

to speak to why the driver would have the right to impose a

square, even if the customer wanted to use the on board system?

>> the main intent was not to preclude just this one

particular technology, but others that May be emerging.

In terms of whose choice is,

whose technology, the driver verses the customer, it is not

something that I think we really discussed.

I do not see a big downside in

changing that to customer chart -- customer choice.

The main policy aim here was to

not lock ourselves into one specific technology.

When this started I am not sure that they existed.

There May be other things that are different than others.

>> I think it was the point

about customer anxiety and our efforts to bridge that.

I would move to amend this to

allow and I would appreciate the

comments that it might make

sense to simply stick with the on board technology.

I realize that this is a compromise and I would not want for it to be too invasive.

I would propose amending it

frankly, where the customer has

a choice where the driver is

offering alternative technology , the customer has a choice on which to use.

>> aye.

>> the resolution has been amended.

>> my next two questions are, I

want to clarify -- it has been suggested that the companies

will be stuck with the extra 1.5%.

there was also a suggestion that a contract could be amended in their ways for the company to address this. Is that so?

>> back in October of 2010, one of the conditions of the labor -- labor program more than all

of the companies included were subject to the jurisdiction of the board of directors.

That is what the resolution said. It was very clear from the park -- from the program.

I have certainly not have the opportunity to see the books of these companies.

I cannot speak with personal knowledge, but we certainly have

no intention of harming the economics of companies.

We certainly believe that everyone is entitled to a reasonable return on their investments and we should be partnered with the industry to reduce unnecessary cost

regulations.

Again, I welcome the constructive comments from those who know the facts and

figures involved to let us know

how we should adjust the policy

to make it the best arrangement for those businesses.

>> ok. Thank you.

The next question that I have concerns the comments that were well received.

As always, it was good to sort

of get that on the ground perspective.

One of the things that he went through was the cab drivers should take credit cards.

it is allot art -- in san

francisco and you are to take that payment. Correct? >> that is true.

>> my final question is -- we

have heard from a few company representatives concerning the 1

day delivery issue, the one day payment issue. Did you care to respond to that?

Is this something that we think is a provision that they can live up to easily?

How would you respond to Mr. Wiener' s comments?

>> our

intention was to put this

responsibility into the hands of professional payment processors.

During the pilot program they were able to meet that 24-hour standard.

I cannot speak to their own profitability.

the positing the driver funds within a business they might affect those profits.

Again, for the people who

understand those numbers, I

would certainly welcome any

input to the consequences of these policies.

>> I heard that fellow said he

were going to impose -- impose a regulation.

>> according to my understanding, that is what I understood had been done.

>> when I hear coming out of

this is that you and your staff,

doing what you say, are trying

to revisit whether this one day provision proves to be impossible.

>> remember, the overall contest

was for the past year or two.

They had really made an effort to come back to you over and over again to get the regulations to a place where we

could say that that is it, that is the regulations.

As of right now, we print out

article 11 in the transportation code.

We cannot publish a regulation book.

We are finally trying to put these things on the table to get

them resolved so that those of us were busy with our own

enterprises and putting money on

the table for their families can go back to their business is knowing what the rules are.

To the point where we can

finally close the book on this, so that all of us know what the rules are going to be for the wild.

>> thank you, Chairman.

The questions that he asked are the same ones I have noted as well.

my concern is over

the contract mentioned by the other vendors.

What will happen to those as the results of what we' re doing today?

the first concern should be passengers. Whether we use the credit card or cash.

I

think that my last concern is the vetting process.

My concern is that all of this has been put out for the last few days, even though we have

been talking about it for year.

have people have enough time to get it through the passage?

I agree with you, that that is not the reason it was set up, but understanding what is going

on in this process, taxi owners and others have not vetted this process and we have not had the

dialogue, so we understand the dialogue.

>> good discussion.

>> I agree with the gentleman who said that it should not be anxiety over whether or not they can use a credit card or not.

I ask if I could use a credit card in one city and they look at me like I was crazy.

I think we need to have that uniformity.

So that customers feel comfortable using a credit card.

the tactic can offer the choice

-- the taxi can offer the choice. The other thing to remember is

that younger generations are driving less and less.

Taxi drivers in san francisco have a great reputation.

We have a really good industry here. Kids do not carry money anymore.

go out to lunch with younger

people in my office, they swipe

a credit card for a $5 sandwich.

They are not running around with cache anymore. We have to get to the point

where they are competitive with the things that are coming out, the things that we do not even know are coming out.

we have to make sure that we keep our technology of today to

keep our industry up to date. I am in support of this.

I do agree that it is good for the customer to have a choice,

whether they prefer to use the in house or square.

All taxicabs should be equipped. how many of them have the back

seat system?

>> not quite half of the fleet.

If you would like to address

these to a particular manager, I

do not know the status in yellow fleet.

I do believe that we are close to half the fleet at this time.

>> I am willing and ready to support this.

>> let me find the right microphone. >> I want to thank the director for his questions.

I want to ask christine for some corrections. This is based on what Mr. Son was dissenting in terms of the waiver that was 3.5%.

If you did this package staying, there were maybe like 12 items?

Was there a waiver that was signed that we were going to give people?

66 months?

>> no, there was no time limit associated with that program.

Matter-of-fact, it was made

expressly subject to the continued regulation of the board, knowing that this would be a sensitive topic.

>> thank you very much. I just wanted to get that clarified. Let' s first of all, I also wanted to second the appreciation to the director.

He was recently reappointed, and it is clear why.

>> I feel the love. [Laughter]

>> I feel that was clear. I am surprised he wanted to come

back for another four years.

so, yes, I feel like this

compromise is really just that, a compromise on the part of every month.

By drivers getting a compromise whether they can recognize it or

not, going from 5% to 3.5%.

it is still a hit, I understand

that wholeheartedly, but it looks like we are getting ready to adopt a policy where you can

get the square, which has a

lower rate, from what I understand, which is another compromise, I think.

Obviously some of the companies

are reluctant to go down to 3.5%, a demonstration of compromise on their part.

I was in a taxi a few days ago.

Actually, it was about few weeks ago. I am sorry.

I asked the operator, because I

had been hearing -- there was a

story in a paper about how a

passenger was spit at for wanting to use a credit card.

When I asked the driver if he took a credit card, he said that

he preferred cash because they charge 10% fees.

I said -- really?

I was under the impression it was 5%.

I said, how long have you been driving a cab.

he said 100 years.

I was trying to set up a report by this gentleman.

I think that the credit-card transactions are a bit more

challenging with a cab driver

and passenger, because unlike a

store, where you are obligated to be courteous because you want

the passenger to come back, you

are very unlikely, unless you

have a regular relationship, to have the same cabdriver twice.

Driving that there is clearly a

need to resolve this challenge.

And I think that staff has done a great job in terms of compromise. i think that we have been talking about this from the day

that I got here, a little over one year ago.

Not a day has gone by when I didn'

t talk about taxis and challenges.

3.5% is a great compromise in terms of the rate.

If it were me operating the cab,

i would tell someone of course,

but I prefer cash because they

are sticking with 3.5%.

When I heard that response I

made a huge adjustment and tipped to make up for it.

i think that if we are just more

clear about what is going on

here -- I appreciate the remarks about the corporations and credit-card companies being out

of control, the director has a point.

The reality is that we are in a lifestyle where a lot of people are paying cash out of convenience.

So, we should accommodate that.

No one is forcing anyone to go to a credit card.

I will always still fall back on the cash system.

I also liked the perspective that it did not lock us up into a monopoly of new technologies

that keep pushing diversity in technology.

In terms of performance , when we

get locked into these

platforms, it is too bad we only

have one other competing technology. Congratulations for the compromise.

>> sounds like we have a consensus. Here is a motion on the amendment as -- >> you are out of order. You are out of order. You are out of order.

>> as amended.

>> motion to approve as amended?

>> any further discussion? All in favor of thema >> ye.

-- all in favor? >> aye.

>> the item is approved. Next item? >> item number 12.

Amending transportation code

sections to require that all taxi color schemes implement a

system that generates electronic

trip data or affiliate with a dispatch service that provides

such a system, providing drivers with this data no longer a --

later than December 31, 2012.

The >> would you call 13 as well? >> item 13.

Amending the transportation code

to require that all taxi color scheme permit holders provide customers with a credit and debit card payment system that is accessible to the visually

impaired and that allows all tax to customers to swipe their own payment cards and choose their own tip amounts from the back

seat of all taxicab giggles by December 31, 2012. >> staff report?

Let' s hear from the public.

>> charlesl

laughbone.

[Inaudible]

>> >> next speaker, please. >> well said.

>> 12 to 13.

>> that is it? >> good afternoon.

Cory lamb.

I am in favor of electronic technology.

i find that I spend, throwing out my " completely, it is time- consuming.

If you are trying to be compliant with all of that, it takes a considerable amount of time to get that taking care of.

-- taking care of.

In the long run, that is where we need to go anyway.

achab working for themselves, not someone else. Trying to remember what happened a few months ago.

I think that with the hearing

impaired portion, I actually like that idea. I do not know what it would take

to be in a company like that.

I do not know what that would take.

But I think that that is a good start.

In a taxi driver and that is

very likely to happen, where someone could potentially be in

my cab, not a person in a

wheelchair in the back, but May be a partner.

Allowing for more exit -- access is appropriate.

>> thank you. Next speaker, please? >> good afternoon, directors.

Items 12 and 13 are each no- brainers.

Item number 12, please support.

I know that I represent usually

at meetings as being right of the issue.

I would even make sure to

say

that we need more accountability

in those vehicles that the board of supervisors is currently

tolerating, sedans and so forth. The gap of accountability is

only going to be greater as we improve things.

Item number 13, please do not support that.

there is no reason to have two computers in the cab.

I would like u2 -- if you are

going to vote on it, do not do before then, but please look at

the documentary that was released about me last wednesday.

it is called the taxi composer.

Look at the atmosphere that I

create in my cab, which is very

casual, open, and there are no computers in people' s faces saying pay me, pay me.

My objection to the back seat terminal is that it is a work environment that I do not want to create. It is not the proper relationship between a cab driver and his passengers.

You cannot do without machines in the front. Why have two?

It is the cab companies that

want to supply an extra one that need that extra 1.5%.

if not, they are not paying for

more and we do not need that item. >> next speaker, please. >> market grouper.

-- mark

grouper.

>> thank you again, directors.

i want to make some comments on behalf of green cabbage.

As opposed to most other cab companies in this city, we do

not charge for credit -- we do

not charge the drivers for credit card transactions.

If we are required to put in

backseat units, this is going to

be an additional expense on top of the expense that we have taken upon ourselves as a matter

of principle, that the passenger should have the right

to use a credit card without any

interference or resistance, or blow back from the driver.

Now we will have this additional

cost placed upon us in a back seat terminal.

Because we bear the costs, be will have to ask them all to go

get a smart phone, at their own cost, or be bill have to buy one

for them so that we can comply

with these backseat rules that

are unnecessary, because we have a front seat terminal.

Also, the issue has been raised

about the visually impaired.

We already have an audio capability in that -- in our front seat terminal.

That will tell the passenger but the fare is.

So, the only difference here is so that the passenger will hand

the card to the driver, rather than fumbling around and trying

to swipe it themselves if they are visually impaired.

There is so little lost by this procedure compared to the

burden that will be placed upon our company if we have to go and

pay for this on top of credit card charges. It seems to me that for any

company paying these charges, they should be exempt from these rules at the least.

I do not like the back seat terminals at all and I do not think that they should be approved. >> thank you.

>> first, I want to make it

clear that items 12 and 13 are due tomorrow.

this is absolutely a necessity.

The push back from drivers, it is about accountability.

Drivers do not want records of their payments.

Part of the problem in this

industry, rates going up by 35%

this year because we do not have risk-management and do not know who is behind the wheel.

Bling to to another person who

May not even have a license. These bills create accountability, long necessary

for any survivors in this

industry on affordable insurance.

Secondly, I want to remind the board and the public who is actually paying for this.

You put an incredibly high meter

increase in recently to justify

the 5% charge to drivers.

It allowed me to put in backseat units and work out a

contract to deploy this technology. Now that this has been reduced

to 3.5%, I do not know what I

will do, because I have to cover those costs.

That 5% was appropriate and allowed me to put in the

technology they were trying to put in today.

now that we have gone down to

3.5%, I have to think about what

I am going to do it as a company to meet these obligations.

So, unfortunately, you had

something that was great, ran it through the industry, everything was in place.

Now that it has been reduced, i am not sure what will be done, financially. You are all welcome to look at

my books and I can tell you, it

will be very difficult. I support these rules and it needs to be done now.

>> [Unintelligible]

>> midafternoon, directors.

I have been driving a cab in san francisco for 22 years.

I am ok with electronics, what ever.

But this backseat terminal , the back seat customer did not like it. They did not want that.

a lot of cabs are very small.

There is very little room for them.

It is too bright. The light is. even when I am driving at.

I always turn off the light.

I am one of the few people that accepts the credit cards, actually.

A lot of people are telling me that cabdrivers to not accept that.

Even lowering the transaction

fee, we are still going to have that problem.

That can be solved.

People do not like to pay 3.5%.

We are still going to have the argument with the customers.

it allowed the cab -- cabdrivers

to charge a minimum.

They can charge $10, if they want to.

Please, we transitions.

It is a fact of law.

anyone they can find a cab , as

far as I know, they can charge $10.

It is a fact of law signed by President Obama.

>> richard wiener, patrick mccollum. >> good afternoon, again.

in only speaking on 13.

We support the customer being able to use a back seat terminal.

It says that the color scheme is responsible.

We are happy to be responsible.

11 says that the driver can use

his own terminal, which puts me

as a tax manager in conflict.

I required to let them use the back terminal, then someone said

they had them using the front terminal. I think you started to address that this afternoon, but that

was my concern.

i am sure that it is not a big

issue to get it converted by the end of the year.

I' m sure that at least two- thirds of the cab' s have backseat terminals.

Maybe more, but at least two- thirds.

>> next speaker, please.

>> patrick mccollum.

I am one of the managers atsf

sf

green cab.

We are run democratically. We resoundingly defeated the backseat terminal.

We think that it takes up space in small vehicles.

there is no point in it.

We redeem them just like cash at the end of our shift. There is no point.

We feel safer for carrying less money.

Electronic bills, I am very much in favor of it.

i feel silly writing this down on paper.

It feels like a completely unnecessary task.

I occasionally -- occasionally Miss Rides because I am busy writing. It could even be a safety issue.

thank you for your time. >> next speaker, please.

>> barry toronto, john kyl.

>> mr.

toronto

>> I think that

you have done an important job taking back the feedback from

the town hall meetings.

So, I urge you to pass that on the electronic data. No. 13 is a problem.

it is a sunshine ordinance violations.

You made a substantial amendment change to the previous item, which is related to this one by making the change that it is the customer' s choice.

You go into a lot of businesses

today, you give them the credit card and a process it based on their needs.

based on how they want to process it.

You are shoving down the throat

in other places and forcing them on how they have to accept credit cards.

in some places it is appropriate, safety.

How, by making this requirement, yes, go ahead. The problem with some of these

is, when you have a smaller

vehicles, there is nothing in

here that says what happens if there is passenger misuse or abuse of the equipment.

Does the driver get charged for that?

There should be something in your documentation that says the

driver will not get charged for damage to the equipment and how it is used.

You get a drunk person.

what happens if the passenger

vomits in the causes problems?

Or tries to get out of the vehicle and it gets dislodge?

There are a lot of questions you' re shoving down the throat

of the driver without assurance that the driver will love be harmed by this. Thank you. >> next speaker?

>> amy lawrence.

>> commissioners, thank you for letting me address you once again.

Quickly, I would like to address

your issue of the 10%.

drivers have a backup system.

Often is windy, rainy, a

technical problem in running the

card through, which is a system

that everyone that pays from

then on charges 10% on.

A lot of times a driver will get

in to find out that that is the

problem, because there is no cash. That is why there is a backup system. Coming back to the issue of all of the electronics you are

forcing these companies to buy, who do you think pays for it all? The driver.

the driver has no pension, no

dental plan, no unemployment insurance. He is paying for them all.

You keep adding on more and more.

One of the catholic -- one of the cab companies earlier was

talking about the cost. i say that it is a lie.

Upas software programs online to

charge fees, there is virtually no cost outside the software.

All that they have to do is have

one person monitor the computer.

It goes right to your account.

the question is, who is selling you the software? Some of these companies have people within them.

They are selling industries with

software and the taxi driver altman be paying for it.

Without a mental -- without a

dental plan or unemployment insurance, which all of you have. Thank you for your time. [Applause]

>> jon ham .

>> in a cab driver.

Electronic waybills, was it not agree that as long as you do not

keep an individual cabdrivers'

income, it is just broad information? I never had much of an issue with them. Whenever.

On the back seat terminals, there are three kinds of

passengers in san francisco regarding those. The kind that say that these are fantastic.

Technology in the back, cool. the kind that says -- what is this and how do I turn it off?

The kind that says that they are neither here nor there.

I would urge you, on item 13, to

overrule the staff

recommendation on this.

let this be a business decision of the cab companies.

I do not think that this agency

and honestly say that they are doing a public service by mandating bees' backs the terminals.

There are essentially three kinds of writers with three kinds of responses. There is no overwhelming evidence or support for these terminals in the back seat.

Many of my passengers get in

with this end -- anyway. Even if every members here likes

them, that does not mean that there is an overwhelming majority of the public that like them.

A lot of them do not like them.

A lot of them do not really care.

Many say that it is no concern

whatsoever to hand the credit card to this front seat.

Please say no to item number 13. >> next speaker?

>> good afternoon.

My name is barry korngold.

John had a good point.

It seemed to alleviate concerns

over information because of

confusion over being met with it or not.

The audio in the backseat of

these terminals, if there is any

audio for the blind, it should default to off instead of something that we have to turn off for every passenger.

I am not saying that they are

not out there, but the last time that I had one was over one year ago.

I do not want to have to turn off the sound for every passenger for that one time I

might have a blind person.

if there is a switch that I could turnon so that they could

hear the audio, that would be what I would want.

And there have to be regulations

on the sound and how bright the backsight -- backseat terminals are. Some of them are huge.

i have pulled up on the cap, it is so bright.

Your eyes are dilated, you have it right in your face. Who wants that?

The other thing you were saying

in this item, we were not given a chance to comment on this.

i agree that it is a sunshine violation.

You try to eliminate stress

between the passenger and the driver.

What do these people do when they go to a restaurant.

Do they give it to a waitress that goes to the next room?

These are standard concerns. [Applause]

>> next speaker? >> good afternoon. My name is martin.

I drive a green cabbage. Just as far.

i assumed that all of the privacy issues addressed about

one year ago, they called it a slap to the face.

We can tell you, 10 years ago ,

at 3:00 in the afternoon -- I hope that this data is not stored forever.

I think

that time has come for the electronic waybills.

I think it is slightly unnecessary equipment.

you try to solve an issue like

this, we have a credit card

machine every time that works very good.

There is a voice module attached to.

there is so much equipment that

is used that would make -- would not make any sense.

It would be an expense to the

cab pilot to maintain.

it seems like this is an issue

only pushed by the manufacturer of the units.

They think that they can make one sales call in 1500 of them?

Then they are convinced it is a good idea. Thank you very much.

>> brad knew some.

>> I have been speaking to a lot of cabdrivers lately.

A lot of them are not confident about coming here. Many of them come from other

companies -- other countries and did not start speaking his language.

They say -- you americans, you

grew up here, you have no idea of what it is like to be

monitored by your government and have every movement monitored.

That argument has really gotten

to me with regards to the electronic waybills. I agree that the industry needs

data to move forward and unfold, let'

s make sure it is absolutely

necessary and as impersonal as possible.

It makes no sense to gather needless information.

Regarding the back seat terminals, abominable idea.

I go to others it -- other

cities in my first reaction is

similar to that of people

getting in the back of mind --

thank God you do not have one of those things back here.

Lots of people like them.

Some people are fine with them.

It makes no sense to put them in every single cab.

the list of objections is too long for two minutes.

I think that that would be a crazy idea.

>> edward healy.

>> one thing that I would like

to comment on, the directors

comment, it was locked, and

until the mta starts giving tax

services and enough money to enforce law, it does not make

any difference what you say.

The electronic waybills, I think that the compromise that was

written had already taken on personal information.

It was mostly other information.

I think that these are excellent ideas.

I think it would be a big help

in getting rid of the legal sub- leases. As far as the back seat

terminal, I am kind of a convert.

I was driving a cab that granted

did not have one, and I drove one to test.

I found that I actually liked them.

my customers found me just as

charismatic on or off.

It had no affect whatsoever on

the way that I interacted with customers.

There were a few problems, however.

People from new york really liked them.

Personally, I did not find

anyone who really disliked it or did not know how to use it.

I was able to train them pretty quickly.

That said, I like the idea that

the audio should default to off.

And there should be more careful positioning with these things.

I could see getting hit by the terminal or vice versa.

Also, I think the customers should be able to control the lighting in these things.

One more point on customers, I think that they should have the last word on what they want.

>> thank you, sir.

Let

>> I wanted to thank you for introducing the visually impaired component into legislation.

I believe I brought that forward in January.

i was working with the lighthouse of new york.

I have been down to the national federation of the blind. We were asked if there was

something we could do to help the visually impaired community.

With the technology that is installed in tens of thousands

of cars around the country, the challenge became how to make it work.

i am extremely proud and happy

that we have been able to give

the community a sense of independence and control to

comfortably go in a cab.

A few things we do with the

technology is enter some commands. It costs nothing.

We have deployed it around the country. it provides the visually

impaired the ability to hear the

fare at anytime during their trip.

We got together with the lighthouse to produce cards that can be distributed to the community. It does not start on. It starts off.

It can be put on by a passenger

with the card or activated by a button by the driver in front.

It can only be made possible by having the rear screen in the back.

On the electronic waybill, there have been a lot of people concerned about privacy and documentation. If I can tell you the number of

drivers that have been helped with driver robberies and

murders, supporting homeland

security and terrorist organizations -- the most

recent story it was where a driver was carjacked and stabbed. The owner of the company was

able to work with the police and apprehend the person within an hour.

There is a tremendous benefit to everyone involved.

>> I was not going to speak on this, because it does not exercise me that much.

i am confused as far as the provisions for the visually impaired.

I was on the paratransit executive board for eight years.

During that time, the rfp for

the debit card terminals that

are now in the calves was

constantly front and center, constantly being worked on.

Everybody was giving input to

what the nuances should be to best serve the disabled public.

Paratransit put those terminals in there.

if they did not serve the

paratransit-using public, that

is one of the reasons it took so

long for the rfp. Is this something that needs fixing?

i

hear the fare at the end

audibly, and it is loud enough

for the person in the back seat to hear.

Do we need to reinvent this?

Or make it so upon request that

can be rattled out each time the meter clicks?

I do not even begin to think what kind of complaints you would get about that from drivers. If it can be done, it can be done.

>>

mary mcguire, a cabdriver , 474 with medallion.

I had a regular customer last year who was blind.

He never minded giving me his credit card.

Numerous times, I took him home.

The back seat is redundant. I do not want it in my cab.

if it is going to have audio, I

am not going to be able to drive that have any more.

There is so much gadgetry as there is.

I will not be able to drive a cab anymore.

The glare from the back seat -- I am not going to be able to deal with that either.

we have small print.

There is a lot of taking your eyes off of the road.

I have to go through five steps

as it is to turn of the meter.

i have brought up the dangers of

all these electronic equipment things in the cab.

Your not supposed to use your cellphone in a vehicle. It is dangerous.

Realtors have a higher rate of brain cancer because they are always on the cellphone. Never use a cell phone in a vehicle. All these devices have the same

sort of low-level radiation.

I wonder if this is just another

case of workers getting sick for somebody else' s convenience.

a woman died of cancer last week. Is it related?

A woman started getting sick after they put the back seat terminals in.

In 20 years, when people start getting sick, they are gone.

>> I

use an app that works wonderful.

i do not need any more units in my cab.

Square works wonderful.

About the electronic waybills, I

have been driving 22 years and have never once been asked to

show my way bill to anyone. They are ridiculous. They make no sense.

the cab company has to store them for years. It takes up space.

I do not understand the point of a way bill.

>> there are too many laws.

We are a very little guy.

A lot of rules.

we are a little guy. Ceo' s lose their jobs if they

improperly file the paperwork. They can lose their job.

Last year and this year, the view is like this.

This department knows a taxi

driver has to do their job.

an electronic waybill is just like tracking you.

The division already knows the will follow a lot of rules and

regulation to comply with our job.

I saw one guy in and one guy out.

They picked out a lot of customers. A taxi driver, even better.

We change shift at gas stations,

on and on, something like that.

this is like the technology of how many buses to get in a second.

We do not need to fill up the paperwork. That is fine for us as well.

mega not even know -- we do not even know how to spell it in the street.

Maybe it is too long. On and on.

I hope that a driver and

you -- we are making a living.

>> are you going to speak on this? >> good afternoon, directors.

>> he is an incapable director.

Did you see the crisis? You did not see it.

There are electronic waybills to every company to insure money.

you can type in the name of a

politician. Here is a copy.

I took some of the part out.

They do not want electronic waybills. Are you ready?

you are incapable people.

Chairperson nolan: the public hearing will be closed. [Applause]

If you keep it up, I will have you removed from the room.

Members of the board, do you want to take these together?

it seems to me the first item 12 has a lot of consensus around it. Anybody have any problems or comments on this?

>> I do want to recognize the

idea of the way bills.

chairperson nolan: any further discussion? All in favor? The ayes have it.

Item 13.

Director heinicke:   I have some questions.

How you respond to the question

that maybe we should follow the

nilson report and let the companies decide.

Are we trying to create a uniform access for all customers?

>> it comes from the board of

supervisors asking our staff,

our agency, what we have done as

we go to regulatory changes to try to make improvements for the benefit of the industry.

The public is not always at this table for the conversation.

Next time you get into a san francisco taxi, I advise you to look at the rate card and see if

you can read it at all and if you can get any information that

is useful to you as a passenger.

If not, you might think about

the benefits of signs to tax the customers.

A consistent problem in the taxi

industry is that one gets into a taxi.

one does not know what taxi one is in.

Many things can happen --

something as small as getting

away from a stolen.

You do not know how to respond

to that situation.

one was taken from the headlines of last week.

>> we would impose it across the board rather than letting the color schemes jews as they go?

>>

there are various compromises in crafting this policy.

It is wired to the meter and can

provide this kind of information to all customers.

I did not feel there was a

consensus on that point, especially given the squared

device in the recent move to

install some tablet devices that are connected to the meter.

The can be handed back to the customer in order to process their payment.

Those devices May not be

available as signs to the taxi customers.

Nevertheless, they fulfilled what became the bottom line for staff.

Can the customer choose the tip amount from the back seat?

We prefer there be a uniform solution connected to the meter.

but given the wide range of preferences on the part of

customers and the industry , this is a compromise solution that would allow the company as small

as green to provide a solution

that would not be over burdensome, while at the same

time using some of the comprehensive technology such as

cmt has provided.

Director heinicke:   a conversation that was repeated

by several -- I do not think it is in this now. Do you anticipate that it will

be a problem to roll these

systems out in a way so that,

for example, the default is the

thing is not on audibly unless

it needs to be for that particular customer?

Also, customer choices with regard to whether to turn the

lights down, turn the machine off. those should not be a problem as we roll this out. Is that correct?

>> I believe we put that into the standards for the legislation.

The sound of course should go

completely off at the election of the people inside the car. I have no objection to those

being the default as long as there is the ability of the customer to take advantage of

the utility in the back seat unit.

Finally, we did in fact conduct

several rounds of testing of several vehicles with different

configurations, conducted by the

sf mta safety staff with various different equipment designed to measure radiofrequency

emissions.

The units that are connected to

the meters are wired, so we would not expect to see a lot.

in fact, the results were far

below any regulatory levels, and in most cases not even detectable.

Chairperson nolan:   anything else? Other members of the board?

>> thank you for clearing up the radiofrequency exposure.

For those of the following along

in the book, page 6 of the attachment. I am ready to make a motion to approve.

Chairperson nolan:   is there a second? All in favor?

We will take a 10 minute break.

>> we are going to go ahead and get started again.

chairman nolan

has to leave for an engagement.

He had to leave for another

event, so I am taking over for him.

Before we start on items 14 and 15, which I believe we will combine, I would like to go

ahead and ask Ms. Morley from the city attorney' s office to give us a legal opinion on the idea that we perhaps violated

sunshine regulations with our amendment on item 11. Thank you.

>> good afternoon.

I am from the city attorney' s office.

the amendment to item 11 was

proper under the sunshine ordinance.

The item as it was agenda is to

reject agend --

-as it was

agendized would allow drivers to use their own merchants.

The board was free to decide that or to decide they were not going to allow it.

They were free to allow it but subject to conditions.

There was no violation. Thank you very much.

>> I think we can combine items 14 and 15. -- vice chairperson brinkman:

secretary boomer:

recommending

that the department repeal police" provisions, in

designating that staff May

enforce parking laws, deleting a

section which makes such designations.

It authorizes the mta to subpoena evidence and testimony

relevant to enforcement of motor vehicle for hire regulations. It increases penalties for

operating a motor vehicle for

higher without a permit, remembering various sections for clarity and eliminating outdated

provisions of the business tax and regulations code.

Item 15 amends various sections

of division two of the

transportation code to add

definitions, amend definitions, add requirements for renewal of

color scheme permits, and render permits inactive if not

completed in 60 days, requiring

all gas and gates medallion

vehicles change shifts on color scheme property, to authorize the director to impose a

moratorium on the issuance or

provide retaliation.

It deletes a requirement that taxis taken out of service be returned to service within 30

days or be permanently replaced.

It makes unauthorized use of a spur vehicle a separate offense.

it requires color schemes to

report insurance claims filed to

the mta to insure that are not violating laws limiting shift length.

It prohibits certain practices

in connection with accepting

payment by paratransit debit card. It prohibits drivers from tampering with required

equipment, requires security cameras manufactured after 2006,

up with that data available to the mta and sfpd.

It makes changes to procedures for hearings.

it clarifies procedures on citations issued to permit holders.

It clarifies procedures for providing public notice.

It makes color scheme permit

holders responsible for insuring that all gate fees charged are within the cap.

Those are the two items.

vice chairperson brinkman:   we have speakers on those items? Any comment before public comment?

>> I will reiterate that both of

these, moving provisions from

the police code to the transportation code, and the cleanup items, are the result of

many years of experience in

working through these codes and identifying problems or

loopholes, or other things that have been part of an ongoing

process to clean up and

stabilize regulation so that

everybody knows exactly what the rule book is.

I will remind you that you did approve additional enforcement

capability for the taxi services

division that will help us in

force -- enforce those regulations.

director bridges:   -- secretary

boomer:   names

[Names are called]

>> I speak to item 14.

On your pbs file material -- on

your file material, all these clauses -- if you look at the

final whereas clause, it says the proposed ordinance would

remove the jurisdiction of the board of appeals from taxi hearings.

If this goes forward without that being taken away and

severed, the medallion holder association and other medallion holders that are not in our association will have little

choice but to bombard the board

of supervisors and implore them

to not let our due process rights be taken away by fiat.

Section 4.106 b of the city

charter, established in 1932,

provides the city have an appeals board as arbiter when

ever permits are granted or revoked.

It applies to the department of

public works, public health,

taxi, and many other entities.

for you to be defending your decision to have an ordinance to

take away a board of appeals

protection, we could have unscrupulous regulators, if we do not now.

I have sympathy with the idea

that we do not want people who

do not have legitimate cases to

get charged for fraud.

They should be able to go to superior court and keep their income flowing for five years.

That is a separate issue that needs to be addressed separately.

I think the board of appeals made a super majority to overturn. i think these will be slam dunk

cases for the taxi.

This is a separate issue. Thank you very much.

>> good afternoon again, directors.

A lot of stuff in item 15, so excuse me for talking fast.

Some taxis are operated by companies such as look sir.

-- such as luxor.

Other cabs are operated directly by the medallion holder.

The drivers pay their dates directly to the medallion holder.

We asked to make the medallion

holder responsible for those particular cabs.

they are not going to apply to the transaction.

We are a little alarmed with being responsible for that.

There is a burdensome requirements. Many of the claims have no merits whatsoever.

The statistics about claims have little bearing on reality.

We already prepare a loss-run

statements to the insurer.

Be careful about treading on that sensitive area of our business.

Other sections require us to

make weekly and monthly accountings to paratransit regarding certain equipment.

These are burdensome and not necessary to the public interest.

These are details that are appropriately left for us to negotiate the contract on.

We ask that you drop section

1114 a altogether.

Director bridges: -- vice

chairperson brinkman:   thank you.

>> good afternoon.

There is a lot of stuff here.

I do not have a lot to do with the permitting.

I appreciate the increase in the level of enforcement.

I have seen taxi' s offer a white over green crown victoria with

the words "bay cab."

I do not know how many times I

have lost a fair to him pulling up and driving away.

It is ridiculous.

i was talking to enforcement about that on thursday.

The other is the black and gold guy.

He is everywhere.

I know he has a oodles of money

he owes you guys as it is, but he is operating with impunity.

you cannot take his wheels.

I do not know how else to do that. I am going to air the complaint.

I assume that most drivers are accepting payment.

An issue that came up at town hall -- a meeting we had at

desoto cab is that a lot of

times, wanting to be helpful, you spend a lot of time on the front end and the back end.

Use secure the passenger in the back.

The also have bags and things like that.

You cannot initiate the button until you start to go. Something we would like to see

as a driver is consideration of that through the paratransit program. Thank you for your time.

>> I have a reservation about items 14 and 15.

The board of appeals is an inefficient process right now.

The rewriting of the

legislation allows

representation by lawyers.

What really is happening is the

persons who want an inefficient process is bucking these improvements.

I strongly recommend you vote in favor of item 14.

with regard to item

15, if the director of transportation imposes a moratorium on the color scheme this badge permits

that would not be a permanent sort of thing.

The moratorium would depend upon circumstances, and so forth.

i strongly believe it should be impossible.

There are various intuitively

derived calendars by which

people could go into business.

As I understand, it is a big one.

>> two minutes to discuss all this stuff is not enough.

please do not eliminate the access to the board of appeals.

The director tends to wield power like a scalpel.

Within the industry and the

transportation industry, future

directors have wielded power like a bludgeon.

Excuse me. Previous directors.

That May be the case with a future director.

The regulations must also protect the persons being prosecuted.

The board of appeals is outside

the sf mta looper -- loop, unlike the hearing officer. If you eliminate the board of

appeals, the mta is judge, jury, executioner, and cash register.

The board of appeals is relatively affordable. if you eliminate them, the only

thing left is the courts, which

are prohibitively expensive to a cab driver.

Please do not make it so that a

person can only get the justice they can afford.

failure to appear makes action

final and not subject to further judicial review? Just for not showing up?

What if you have a vindictive ex-roommate or ex-spouse and do not get the information you have to appear?

The year to appear precludes

responding from asserting standing for judicial review.

Do not preclude judicial review just because somebody does not show up.

Please let it be the same notice as every other item.

secretary boomer:   [Names are called. ]

>> I am going to start my comments about process again.

Put yourself in my shoes.

I received all these changes

that are going to moment asleep affect the industry this week,

and on tuesday, we are voting on it. There are some issues that need to be vetted.

More accountability, higher

standards, and being held accountable for services.

but when all of this is thrown

upon me within the week, and we are voting on tuesday, it is really out of line.

I can go into specifics.

Overall, I support this type of changes. I think if it was affected properly, you would have a better piece of legislation in front of you.

you could have had even more tools.

I want to give the agency tools

to enforce this industry and to make inroads.

It is the wild west of there, in my opinion.

My business is dependent on high-quality standards for this industry.

At the same time, to throw this

out in this manner, with less

than a week, consolidating two

agenda items, speaking two

minutes here and two there, is out of line.

I hope you will take more time in the future so we can give much-needed input.

Given the time, I can already

see different recommendations you might think would be appropriate when you put these rules in. I will leave it at that.

I support what charles said.

I support changes. I think there should be even stronger rules of enforcement.

But please put yourself in my shoes.

Less than a week, all these momentous changes.

It is going to affect my 500

plus drivers in my company.

You have to make a decision now.

>> good afternoon again.

I hope by the next time it might

be good evening, but I will say good afternoon. I want to cover a couple of quick things on item 15.

Subsection four requires only

the gas and kate medallions to

change shifts on the property.

long-term leases can do what they want.

Yellow cab changes on the property.

This is trying to separate us,

just like the gas and gates from the affiliates and color schemes.

I think it is appropriate if

there is a dispute, where some one cannot get satisfaction for the cab company or insurance company. The mta should May be looked into it.

But 99% of the claims, people hit the cab or the cab hit somebody, and they are settled.

The other things are the privacy

issue, requiring security camera data. I do not think there is an objection to a case by case

basis, but this looks like a blanket thing.

everything they do in the cab

could be viewed by someone other

than the police, other than related to a crime.

Lastly, you keep talking about color scheme.

The color scheme permit holder is responsible for the gates being charged. It is appropriate that the color

scheme be appropriate for that, not the medallion holder. Thank you.

Secretary boomer:   [Names are called]

>> good afternoon.

Very toronto -- barry toronto.

Giving us two minutes to comment

on something as complicated as

15 -- a lot of them makes sense or are important, but they have

not been vetted at town meetings.

we did not talk about electronic waybills at the town hall meeting.

It became more amenable toward the taxi industry.

Today, there were a lot of concerns.

Some should be brought before town hall meetings, so they can be vented properly.

There were genuine concerns

about the wording.

We have not seen these changes

until the last few days.

I cannot even react well to that.

Regarding 14, they make a lot of housekeeping changes, except for the one about the board of appeals.

i have a concern about due process. All the permits issued by the city go to the board of appeals.

If you do this, you have a legal precedent.

You May have to say that means

other permits should skip the board of appeals.

You should have no more board of appeals.

this is looked at by the rest of the city government as permits the go to the board of appeals. You will have to change the charter, possibly. The city attorney should look into that.

The other part is it is part of

our fees that go toward the expenses of the board of appeals.

that means you should send

refund checks to everybody.

A lot of them have paid in

advance for the next year and a half, and some of that goes to the board of appeals.

So give us our refund check, if you agree with that.

You can take that out, but hold

off on 15 until we have had town hall meetings.

>> mark greuber, speaking on

behalf of united taxicab workers.

These items, neither of them is ready for prime time.

The other items you had before you at least had a long history

of previous discussion. These are new.

I saw this late saturday

morning, after driving might friday night shift. I get up.

i turn on my computer saturday.

It is the first time I saw these items. There is devastating stuff.

This business with the board of appeals, taking away the right

to go to the board of appeals.

Let us say your card is suspended for two months. It means you will not make any money for two months.

your only alternative will be to

hire a lawyer for $5,000 or $10,000 and take them to superior court? Ridiculous.

Some of these other

things,

there is a repeal in the tax regulations code that governs

the amount that can be charged

to somebody who renews their

card or permanently.

That is a very important protection. I do not know if there is anything else in these rules that would replace that.

it has been abused in the past.

There was a point at which a notice went out with some

ridiculous fee for failure to renew, doubling the fee or who knows what.

I call the attention of taxi services to this part of the regulations code and they

immediately took back that notice. there is other stuff in here.

I have at least a dozen commons I could put in writing.

If you are voting today, you are not voting knowledgeably on these items.

Secretary boomer:   [Names are called]

>> good afternoon.

My name is hossein. I am from iran.

I worked in the industry over 42 years in this country.

I used to work at bettering cab company as a mechanic.

i purchased a yellow cab and started driving.

One person on site is fired from my job.

I am asking you to let our medallions be transferable.

Capitalism is work.

I paid for my medallion.

I am asking you to give me the

same right to sell my medallion.

That is all I asked. Thank you.

>> good afternoon.

I have been driving for yellow almost for 25 years.

I would like to say some day i

am going to be able to sell my

medallion, to give it to my family the day I pass away.

Because I have it, big family right now.

I am from central america.

I have been driving a long time for yellow cab.

but the way we are, almost 90%

of people are happy how cabdrivers are handled.

>> good evening once again.

amendments.

You only have 27 amendments to

the U.S. Constitution, but we have thousands of amendments to taxi rules and regulations.

They come nonstop every month, every year. More and more amendments.

half the drivers, or two-thirds, have no idea what is going on at any given time, because the have

not looked at the last version of the amendments.

i see amendments under 15. I have a medallion.

I have owned it for two years.

Three transmissions later, you are still setting rules on

regular taxes reverses a red band medallions and taxes.

Stop.

when is it going to end? No more amendments.

The talk of more visual and

audio

-- drivers put gum over

the top of the viewer.

they put gum on the microphone

to make sure it is not hearing a voice.

If you are going to change the

rules, going back to 2006, make

sure it is not a taxi company representative selling us that equipment.

i do not see that in the new amendment to the amendments.

We know who that is.

Thank you for your time on these issues.

secretary boomer:   [Names are called]

>> good afternoon.

I would like to give very good credit to the director and his

team, and doing very well a job

for 2.5 years.

We have more than 200 drivers

plying their own medallion, running as their own business.

There are a whole series of amendments for it most of them

are preventing abuse from the cab company to the cabdriver.

as a cabdriver, always losing their jobs by the cab company, they have no rights.

All of these amendments are good. Some of them are fair and some of them are not fair. Most of them are ok.

1113

, requires should be going to optional.

The credit card machine -- we already have one in the front.

We do not need another one in the back. We are chinese.

I have a wife and another girlfriend. Nobody makes me a case.

you'

re white man, it is a big case for you.

Please, I only need one credit card machine.

It is in the front and the customer has to give the credit card and let me slide it.

i do not know what they do, where they take their credit card from.

A lot of issues in the town hall meeting were already mentioned.

If you are a mcdonald' s franchise, you have to do the same food.

But we are independent, small, individual people.

we have our own small restaurant.

You have to eat for it -- you have to eat.

This is really unreasonable. Thank you.

Vice Chairman Brinkman: thank you. Let' s hope your wife never finds

sfgov tv.

>> I agree. If you' re going to eliminate

the board of appeals, we want a refund. We want our money back.

The board of appeals have a --

has a 2-3 month time frame.

the current officer drags on his case is forever, sometimes as much as two years.

You are still using this hearing officer. Your sample is a bad one.

I sat on that case originally and that person was an attorney.

He could carry it to the higher

courts without any higher expense.

Even so, this person still could not carry it to the higher courts even if they had the means.

Do not eliminate the board of appeals. It is not right.

I would like to speak on item 15. The single operator permits.

There is a requirement that is

the same as a full-time medallion.

Someone who attended last week' s town hall meeting was told that the medallions would be given out by June 15.

The way bills will be checked after the fact. After a lengthy discussion -- how long have you been talking about this?

Two years. Why the rush?

It is June 5. In 10 days, your right to issue these medallions and then check the weigh bills?

I think it is very hard to take something away from someone once

they have it in their hands, from my experience.

We never give up the medallion.

I sat as commissioner for seven years. Someone will have also purchased

the vehicle, insurance, maybe there is another driver on the shift.

Which brings in the subject of workers' compensation.

What are the requirements for

this permits and how are they going to make that expense?

>> veteran is a word I will have to look up in the dictionary.

if you mean more discussion --

vetted is a word I will have to look up in the dictionary. If you mean more discussion, I think we need a town hall

meeting in order to properly vet this issue. Thank you.

>> I agree that there has been very little time to review all

of this for it there was like

180 pages of stuff to review.

Most of us are working and doing other stuff.

there is not enough time for us to go over it.

I understand the problem of

people endlessly appealing permit revocation. I do not think it is right that we should not have the right to

go to the board of appeals.

Cabdrivers should be allowed due process.

the other thing I noticed is

there is a requirement in their that prohibits tampering with required equipment in taxicabs.

There should be an exception to the current taxicab cameras.

As you might be aware, there was

recently a hearing at the state

senate and transportation housing committee where the law was intended to be changed but the committee voted 7-1.

The cab drivers continue to have the right to disable or turn off these devices. There is no switch on the current cameras to turn them off.

It is also illegal to record

audio as california law states you need expressed consent before recording a conversation.

a lot of the companies in san

francisco continue to record audio in the cabs. Putting a sign on the window is not enough.

That is not expressed consent. You have asked every passenger

when they come in if they mind being recorded.

If they do not, how else are they supposed to get to where they are going?

out --

>> I do not have much to say.

Mainly, because I did not read any of this stuff. [Laughter]

That kind of speaks to it. we work.

I have to take short shifts.

Normally, I would be working,

but I had a short shift to come to this meeting.

It is not part of our full-time job description to read this material. There is a lot of it.

I am noticing that the taxi

industry, which is often totally

at odds, is actually all in

agreement that to vote on items 14 and 15 would be too hasty.

Everybody is saying they did not have a chance to thoroughly review it. It seemed like the one about the

appeals seems to be kind of

important and the industry seems united in wanting more time to look at that it thank you.

>> directors, the drivers should have the right to appeal.

As a matter of fact, anyone should have the right to appeal.

about the security camera -- any

criminal activity that happens

in the taxicab for any accident

should only be reviewed by the law enforcement and not by the cab companies.

The cab companies should not have access to real-time video.

if you allow the cab companies

to average out the fee, you should allow the medallion-

holders to average out the fee in favor of them.

To solve this matter

, have the

fee average every day, whatever the gate fee is.

Directors,

driving 23 years and

on the dalia list for 13 years,

-- on the medallion list for 13

years, your policies are hurting drivers like me.

We have been suffering from the

medallion pilot program giving

single operator permits to drivers who never signed up for it.

You are bypassing the entire

waiting list and giving medallions to those who never ask for it. Those who have the medallions

already, you should only issue

medallions to qualified drivers 3 it I am asking for your help.

Now, not 15 years from now, because I will be retired.

I lost the page. Thank you very much.

>> good afternoon, commissioners. With an item number 15, I want to speak about a tiny portion of

that, subpart number 5, which authorizes the director to

impose a moratorium on the issuance of color schemes. Most people do not know what color schemes are.

It is a business license.

It allows businesses like yellow

cab, desoto, green taxi to

operate using medallions that are issued by the mta.

as an attorney who represents small businesses and businesses in the immigrant community, I can say that this is bad policy that has not been justified in any way.

Yes, there are public safety reasons.

For instance, limiting liquor licenses.

this one is simply an anti- competition policy that I urge you to reconsider.

It has created a black market in the existing color schemes.

There are transfers taking place right now.

People who want one of these color scheme permits are paying exorbitant amounts of money to get them.

Also, it is a disingenuous

request from staff to be

authorized to place this moratorium because staff has

been denying new color schemes for at least the last year.

According to testimony at the board of appeals, they have been denying it for the past two years.

I can provide documentation to that effect.

As a policy proposal, it is a very bad policy.

At the very least, I ask you to put some sort of a sunset on this.

Not saying we are going to place some new requirements so that

they can qualify, it is saying that only the existing 30 color schemes will be allowed to benefit from future issuance medallions. Thank you.

Vice Chairman Brinkman: that is the last person who has turned in a speaker card.

Thank you very much.

director heinicke:   I was surprised again.

I saw these cabdriver' s all take the same position on an issue.

It was not in my day planner today. [Laughter]

>> can we get a photo?

Director heinicke:   I would love a photo. We might need a wide lens.

These are important changes. It is important to recognize that a great deal of the industry input on them was positive. Many are geared to make the

industry work better.

I will say that on one of the more contentious issues, the

board of appeals process, I have

seen, in my experience, the

really deleterious effect that lengthy permit revocations can have.

It hurts faults on the prop k ist.

If someone is waiting to get his medallion and he has to wait

longer because of an unfounded appeal, that is a problem. We have heard some very strong

proponents of prop k, that it is not a good idea and does not save time.

Similarly, there is questions about the single operator permit, which I am a big advocate of.

One question I have come to revisit is whether we should be

going from a-card security to permits. This is a very good start.

I am pleased with a lot of it.

Usually, when we hear the

request for more time, it is

from a segment of the industry that does not like what we are going to do even though we have

given it far more than enough time.

today, we are hearing from

throughout the industry for more time.

Frankly, this is not a cut and dry policy issue.

These are largely technical or specific changes.

My question, noting that a lot

of the reaction to this is

positive and many speakers have

commended the director on her

hard work, I wonder if this is something that staff would be

open to taking back to a town hall meeting or having a discussion.

Or if you feel, and I do not ask

this as a leading question, that these issues have been discussed enough or that this is something we can continue to change

organically as we go forward?

>> first of all, you have two pieces that you' re considering.

One has to do with police code amendments, bringing former

police code sections into the transportation code. I would represent to you that

the removal of the board of appeals jurisdiction as part of the amendment of the police

code --

[Microphone feedback]

you would not be adopting here today. You would be forwarding recommendation to the board of supervisors. The reason you are doing that is to clean up legislation.

The board of supervisors, all of these things are coming out of the police code because they no longer belong there. Because they are no longer

within the purview of the board of supervisors. The reason the board of appeals has jurisdiction over the taxi

providers is that existing police code 2.13.

An ordinance of the board of supervisors, not a section of

the charter from the city and

county of san francisco, which is currently in the police code.

If it continues to exist, it should be in the transportation code.

the board is free to ask staff to bring legislation that would adopt the board' s own requirements, that permits heard

-- be heard by the board of appeals. What used to happen under the

taxi commission and what happens

today.

under the taxi commission, there was a staff recommendation. That would go to a hearing

before the taxi commission.

This board, when we transition

in 2009, asked that staff lee

what the hearing procedures --

asked the staff rewrite the

hearing procedures on revoking medallion issuances.

That has been moved to a hearing

before our professional hearing staff.

When they are not hearing permit

issues related to taxi permits,

they are well-versed in the code of administrative procedures.

i find them not always instantaneous. I think we could improve that part of it.

I find them thoughtful and careful with their opinions.

Then, I am sorry. I am getting confused.

The taxi commission hearing,

which would be your sfmta board hearing if it were still done

this way today, once that

hearing is done, you go to the board of appeals.

Then, if you do not like the

result of the board of appeals, you pay for a lawyer to go to court. The way that I have proposed

this legislation is that there

is an sfmta staff decision. There is no change there.

Number two, there is a hearing.

Instead of the taxi commission or this board, it is in front of

the hearing officers that are

part of our sfmta staff and have experience in the various types of hearings.

Third, if you do not like that result, you can pay for a lawyer and go to court. I do not believe there is any

limitation on due fact, I think it is improved by the professionalism of our hearing section.

If there is a problem with the perception of the fact that our hearing officers are within the

sfmta, first of all, we face that with respect to all of our hearings.

Second, I want to refer you to

our experience in one event where we had a hearing by the

hearing section and there was

strong, repeated requests for a rehearing.

the staff referred that to an independent hearing officer of the rent board.

$40,000 later, we had one decision.

We are happy to follow any procedures of due process that

this board and agency see fit to impose.

we like due process and we like

transparency.

We like to get it done correctly and efficiently.

Director heinicke:   that goes to my question. Everything you just described it sounds fine to me for it if we had not heard all of this public comment, I would probably vote for it because it makes sense.

to the point of due process and transparency on these highly

technical things, when we' re talking about people who own

permits, I am wondering if another month' s time to get input from the community -- I am

not saying we will not do this. We should do this.

We should do all this stuff. I have heard such uniform

comments, that folks wake up on saturday morning -- you get what I am getting at. I am not questioning the merits of what is in here. I am questioning whether the industry has had enough time to give you their feedback.

>> with respect to the police

code decision, you had multiple opportunities to add an

appellate level to your own regulations.

If you feel that the board of

appeals is a useful exercise in

the appellate process, ask us to bring that legislation that

will require it to be part of the appellate process. We will do that and get it

introduced before it is at the border supervisors.

Director heinicke:   I do not think I do. That is not my point. Is that ok?

>> maybe I could take the other piece as a point of illustration.

i preferred initially to bring this clean-up legislation to the board as a discussion-only item.

I would be thrilled to see it continued to a different meeting, where we can continue to work on these things.

Again, I want to emphasize to you that all of us here on the

other side of this room, our

staff and all the people in the

industry, are weary of ongoing

regulatory changes and we are feeling some urgency to get these things done.

And to push forward, to get

these out on the table, where there will be discussed.

Sometimes, I feel like I am chasing people around, trying to get answers. Guess what? They all came to me this time.

>> having heard the public comments and some of the

sentiments here, with regard to

item 15, I think that would

probably benefit from some more

public vetting, in a town hall format or otherwise. It is a very good piece of work. What will come out of that process is something that is likely fairly similar.

Perhaps it can be made better and perhaps some of the concerns

that have been put out there can be addressed.

I think that will be fine.

As Ms. Hiyashi said, that was probably her preference from the start.

With regard to the police code,

item 14, what she was trying to

convey is this is not an action

that the M.T.A. Board can take. What the board would be doing is

making a recommendation to the board of supervisors.

This legislation is not the mta stripping away a level of appeals. It has the effect of removing that level because it does not exist in the transportation

code where these elements would be moving to from the police code.

The timing of this, which she was conveying, is that from

here, were the board to approve the item today, it would be

introduced as an ordinance. It would have a 30-day old.

Because it -- 30-day hold period

before it could be heard in committee.

During that time, there would be the process of reviewing item 15, where the issue of whether we should insert the board of appeals level into the transportation code could be discussed.

The mta board action today would

be moving forward what I think -- I do not think I heard any

dissension from the very

important aspects of item 14, the core of the legislation that would be proposed to the board of supervisors.

At the same time, it would

provide ample time to come back

with a recommendation either to

add the board of appeals in to

the transportation code or not, depending on the outcome of the public discussion and ultimately, the will of the board.

I do not think the mta board acting today precludes or directs a specific outcome.

Director heinicke:   in summary,

we would adopt 14 today. we would continue item 15 with the idea that all of the issues

would be open for discussion within the industry. Added to that bucket of issues,

to be discussed, is what sort of

appeal process permitting we have within the transportation code.

>> correct.

director heinicke:   ok.

I am for that.

Vice Chairman Brinkman: let' s go

ahead and --

>> I think Mr. Toronto indicated

that I indicate my assent on the record.

>> he is a ray of sunshine.

Vice Chairman Brinkman:   is there any more board discussion on this item? Do I have a motion to approve? Do I have a second? All in favor.

the aye' s have it.

Director heinicke:   a motion to continue 15? Or do we need to do that?

Vice Chairman Brinkman:   I want to thank all of the speakers who spoke up about this.

I know that this has been a long process.

cleaning up the administrative code is a long process. She has done a fantastic job.

You have all hung in there for a long time. We are going to get this cleaned up. I assure you that everyone

sitting up here as the taxi

industry and the taxi driver' s best interests at heart.

We all truly intend to give you a better working environment, a safer working environment. Let' s keep pushing through and we will get there.

Do believe that we take this very seriously.

We do have your best interests at heart.

With that, we have to move back

to the rest of our agenda, which takes us back to --

secretary boomer:   at this point

in your agenda, they will do the

executive director report later.

There are members who wish to -- who wish to address you on item number nine. There are a lot of those.

there will be no advisory council report. If you would like me to call item nine, this will be on matters within the jurisdiction

of the sfmta, but not on today' s agenda.

>> my name is cory lamb.

It was not on the agenda today, but I would really like to bring

up the issue of ubercab, a consistent born in our side.

I understand there are some issues as to which jurisdiction that will fall under.

They are not cabs.

They are black towncars.

They pick up passengers and

functioning as taxis even when they are not doing uber business.

I was on their twitter feeds and

they quoted a price that was $85

from sfo to downtown.

It clearly says, do not worry about it. Hit a button and we will pick you up.

no waiting, no checking in, no fees. This is not the airport commission, but they are not paying any fees there. They' re not coming in here to pay the fees to operate.

We do not know who they are driving.

It is really disheartening as a cabdriver.

trying to work and do everything that is supposed to be done

legitimately, to lose a fair

because I have a fair. There are three guys around the

corner that do not and they jump into a black town car and get quoted whatever price it is. If I did that, I would be in

trouble and definitely lose my police, probably.

their operating with impunity

and they do not have the gates, a place they have to park.

A lot of them do not even live in san francisco.

I was talking to a cab driver

who said he would do a cpc somewhere else and come work here as ubercab.

vice Chairman Brinkman:   is Mr. Templeton here? He left?

tara hou sman.

>> I will try not to sound bitter.

Imf member of the taxi advisory council.

The pac report is still monitoring on someone' s desk and has not been presented to you.

the perception in a lot of the is

distain for us at the sfmta,

both because of teh tac -- the

tac, which would benefit sfmta if you had quarterly reports

from the tac, kept updates on

things, and had us deal with other matters.

Also, the fact that the taxi

section is under the finance and information technology section instead of being its own

division also adds to the

feeling that there is disdain.

If you'

re going to sock the cab industry dry, at least give us

the dignity and the fig leaf of

having our own division.

afford us that minor bit of lip service.

Of course, it is probably more

truthful, having us under the

finance and infotechnology department because it says what

you want out of us is cash.

It does not say what you want is a division of your transportation system.

but I think you should seriously consider moving it out of the

finance and infotechnology

section, where it does not belong and where the message is conveyed to the public and the cab industry that we are there for one thing. Thank you. [Applause]

>> midafternoon.

I am here to express my fear and concern about ubercab.

It is a little bit off the agenda. We aren' t we did we all know there are in large numbers all over the city.

If you think cabdrivers are

aggressive drivers, ubercab

drivers are on overdrive, steroids. I want to know what kind of

license they have to go to a cab

stand and pick up passengers in front of me.

I would like to ask you to ask

ms. Hiyashi to come up here and

ask what they have been doing to enforce law.

They have a large number all

over the city, even in cabstands in front of three empty cabs.

I do not see enforcement out there.

I have seen Ms. Hiyashi a few

times on a friday night.

All these medallions you are trying to sell are useless if

you do not dispel ubercab.

>> good afternoon.

I have been a cabdriver for 17 years.

I just hope you follow the list, the medallion list.

People are there for a long time, like me and the other guys.

That is the only thing I am concerned about. thank you very much.

>> good evening.

I guess I am repeating myself.

I would again ask you not to

include the pre-k medallions from transfer.

These are people, myself included, that bought a medallion.

I have been in the industry for four decades. I would like the same opportunity as someone who got a

post-k medallion.

i implore you to streamline,

speed up, get some more cabs on the street.

Ubercab, out of town cabs are making money because there is a demand. It is not like there are tons of cabs and people are stepping over cabs to get in these illegal cars.

We were told there would be some

final something in February. He did not say what you' re in February.

-- what year in February.

[Laughter]

We used to have a little green book of regulations.

And there was a seven-colored bulk of regulations and that was five or six years ago.

You should streamline, have a book of regulations so drivers can know.

Color schemes and is backed off its tend to know the rules more

because they are the effect of it. Drivers have not had a rule book for years and it does a disservice for them.

25 years ago, taxicab regulations were seven pages.

I think it is getting on 700 pages now.

Still, get it out and get it done. Thank you and good night.

>> I am with desoto cap. I have a few topics I would like to talk about.

I envy this board because I believe all the heavy lifting has been done interned -- in

terms of moving towards an excellent medallion sales program. There will be a lot of revenue

received by this agency and the city.

It will of our working drivers who are lined up to buy these medallions. I am concerned that we do this correctly.

I feel positive that it will be done well. I hope you do not Miss Handle that.

Empower the working driver, raise the revenue.

My strong feeling about what

ails this taxi industry stems from a shortage in the supply of taxis.

I believe the exploitation of

drivers, limousines acting as

taxicabs, the illegal operators and brokers, all come from the fact we have a shortage of supply.

There has been a consultant who has been hired to review this. Has anybody heard from this guy? i have left him to messages and he is supposed to speak to the stakeholders. What is going on here? While we have been waiting for

an environmental impact report,

hundreds of taxis -- hundreds of limousines have been approved

and are operating the streets of

san francisco this needs to be addressed immediately.

The ills of this industry, from a shortage of supply and enforcement.

Lastly, if we are talking about

safety, I am very concerned that there are many illegal

operators, not just banded

taxicabs, but medallions that are being operated not by the

company, not by the medallion-

holder, but but brokers and third parties illegally. There are a high percentage of drivers' driving san francisco

taxi cabs that do not have a taxicab drivers license and are held accountable.

As we move towards the reforms, I hope you provide the

leadership of accountability with all of the resistance umar 1 degette. This industry needs it and deserves it.

-- all of the resistance you are going to get it. This industry needs it and deserves it.

>> I am going to say it again in public comment.

i have been driving a cab for more than 50 years.

I' ve been on the waiting list for over 13 years.

Your policies are hurting driver like me.

We are already suffering from the medallion pilot program.

you are giving single operator

permits to the driver who never signed up for it.

You are bypassing the entire medallion waiting list.

Giving medallions to drivers who never even asked for it.

As long as you have the medallions waiting list, you

should only issue medallions with qualified drivers on the waiting list.

I am asking for your help.

I need my medallion now, not 10

or 15 years from now, when I will be retired.

directors, giving the drawings to people who never asked for

it over people who signed up for it, obeying the law. You are ignoring them?

If you want to compete with

uber, we need to have 1000

medallions to compete.

Otherwise, they can take over the industry.

Please, at least 500 so I can

get mind it I need my medallion now.

right now.

Thank you.

>> midafternoon.

-- good afternoon.

I just heard other public

comment. That town hall meeting was held last week. I did not hear about it.

I checked your web site, spent a

couple of hours going through

all the different lengths

because we are not given information easily.

there is no town hall meeting scheduled in May.

This is horrible, that we are

not getting proper notice about these things.

The website has been the place.

Roberta says, check the website.

It is not updated properly and there is a little bit of confusion.

about how this works for it also, you hired a new employee

who has done some great work so far.

But this person, his job is also

to help educate the stake holders and the public about

what is going on with tax issues. We are not getting that

information writubercab, the amount of stress you put on the

staff and the lack of support from other divisions could be driving some people to drink.

The thing is, being a little facetious here, you need to

provide support to this body.

You promised me that you would

put this -- director reiskin, having to go for all the steps to talk about this stuff.

It has created a lot of

animosity and undue hardship and undue criticism.

Regarding the future, I think

the tac is necessary to look at these other issues.

It should be to vet these other issues. We hear about these other things.

I ask you to help get the word out better to the industry.

>> good evening, ladies and gentlemen. I seem to have a little experience about cab driving.

This board has no idea what it is like driving a taxi.

you should all get in a cab and drive a taxi and then you might know.

As far as I'

m concerned, taxi drivers are the backbone of this city.

If they ever went on strike, the city would know about it.

You treat taxi drivers like they are nothing, they are garbage. You treat them like they are immigrants and you could care less.

Well, I am telling you, I have been driving a cab for a long time.

Everything that you recommend,

this board recommends, not to

the driver for it the driver has no say. I am a member of the taxi advisory commission and I have been on the two years.

I do not think you have recommended more than two or three different items that we have presented to you.

The rest of it goes the way you

want it or the cab companies want it.

This industry is really going downhill.

i have heard on channel 2 news

the other day that uberbac --

ubercab will introduce 300 more limousines in san francisco. They are a chain and it will take over the taxi industry. Please do something about this before it is too late.

i feel sorry for the people who bought medallions. Their medallions will not be worth anything if this goes through.

>> the afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

I am here to represent pre-k owner-drivers.

I have some of the way bills we

are working.

We are people and we drive like anybody else.

i worked as a cabdriver through college and then I came here and

saw an opportunity to help bring

back yellow cab to the city,

which every single person in the public had an opportunity to invest.

Their time and their money.

to bring a company of from

bankruptcy to probably the best

co-op in the world.

We were recently visited by the international taxi association

as a model for taxi co-ops in the world.

I have worked hard at this business.

i put my time, money, and effort to show my best leg.

I have not had one chargeable accident or one complaint in almost 40 years I have been driving. I took off about five years.

I flew hot air balloons in sonoma county and I was awarded

the first tourist ambassador

award for showing the county in the best light.

That is what I do every day I tried here.

It is important for you ladies and gentleman to see the

positive impact that professional drivers have on the income of the city.

More people here means more

people take buses and taxis.

i feel personally affronted by

the concept of not being allowed

to sell my medallion when other

people, other drivers have the ability to have a medallion and sell it.

Why can I not do that?

I have been in this business

longer and put effort to build a

company from nothing into what it is today. I am proud of that. There is a disconnect here.

I would appreciate it if you would follow up.

>> james gray, Jr.

The first time I drove a cab was 1971.

At that time, there were three cap companies.

i learned about achab medallion

when I was driving for sammy. The possibility of me not getting one, the difficulty I had to go through to get one, I

was one of those people who sent a deposit to the first

bankruptcy court hearings when yellow cab went bankrupt.

at that hearing, and a medallion had a date on it.

You set it down to san diego and the mayor said he wanted energy to run a taxi company.

We got the nod and yellow cab hit the streets in 1977. We are still here now.

During that time, I drove in the white nights right.

Bob young was driving one of our taxes.

He was able to act as a mobile dispatch.

The set for cisco police department were not the only ones who lost vehicle that night. We lost vehicles.

With bob young acting as a dispatcher, some of the people were taken to the hospital.

I do not feel he had enough time, but we were beneficial to

start a transit administration on oaks street.

Rose, when she was starting

operation, there were beneficial in helping her.

Yellow cab live up to its responsibilities.

i would like one word.

Vice Chairman Brinkman:   I am sorry.

You are out of time. I have to be fair to everyone.

>> good afternoon, directors.

I am the President Of transco

rps workers union.

My visit today, it is rare, but it is necessary.

The letter that I sent,

addressed to the board today, I

was concerned on the post proposition g.

I would like to submit this to the board. This was the proposal that we

had submitted in the current labor negotiations or labor problems.

We have what we call a general

signup, which is tri-annually.

We were just handed documents

the move towards favoritism and trying to reinvent the wheel.

we do understand that there needs to be some kind of costs that are saved. However, there is no accountability on what was proposed in front of us. What we are looking at is changing the way that we have done our general signups.

With no location, no purpose , no

duties, no responsibilities that are explained writ we use the

sign of try annually based on

strict seniority.

The training techniques all-out different inspectors and

managers -- allow different inspectors and managers to go out.

I would like to put this on as an agenda item. I think you for your time today.

>> I agree.

mr. Toronto and I had a discussion. He said, they get too much money from their medallions already. It is not about the making money.

It is about a better cab industry.

Unless these people retire, $200,000 is not a lot of money.

They will make much more keeping the medallions. There are no longer an active part of the industry because they are at retirement age.

All these young guys want to get

in the business and by these medallions. Let them. Let these people sell them. It is ridiculous.

My nieces are in town and I took them on a tour.

I was at the tower on sunday

evening, 7:00, and you' re parking control officer comes up and says, move. I said, what?

She said, this is for residents.

Memorial day through labor day.

She probably made a thousand dollars for you guys. Giving tickets to tourists writ

that is just not -- that is just not cool.

The tourists come here to have a good time and they' re getting these tickets on their part.

It is a tourist destination. Com on. It is not just a money market for you guys.

Bikes in stockton tunnel?

Who made that decision? it is very nicaea and dangerous.

Uber, they have had a stealth attack throughout the industry. They are wanted very us.

It is not your jurisdiction now. Please. You need to find a way to make it your jurisdiction and stop them from moving in on the industry.

We need to find a way to compete with them.

I did not like cabulous at

first, but now I like it because it is the only way you can compete with the instant access to these vehicles.

>> good evening again.

You can save a lot of money if

you upgrade your wheel system to 0.9.

As a cabdriver, I cannot think more than three layers. Pickup, collect the money.

Your muni driver, only two layers.

Stop, look at the people, close the door, and run.

What is 0.9?

it is a way you can lean

forward, zero case of debt.

You are saving a lot of money on

your lawsuit and people, an investigation, on and on. My system is 0-0.

Because I am a very simple person. I do nothing too much. I open my eyes and drive.

Your muni brother has to have a message in their brain.

Zero means nobody death for your driving.

No one can break this through.

Second, zero injuries.

You have to give them a chance to make some money on unique.

-- on muni. Ok.

If you can have an achievement

of 0.9, your system will be the best in america.

>> thank you again. I want to talk a bit about process.

Normally, when I come here and

you have hearings involving the

public, somebody from staff gets up and makes a presentation.

that has not happened on these tax issues. Maybe for the sake of time.

As a result, I do not think you

are getting the clearest picture of what is coming before you.

For instance, on this issue of the back seat terminals, it only came out at the very end of the

hearing and almost in passing.

the requirement was not for a back seat terminal, per se.

It was either a back seat terminal or some device that a

passenger could hand or a driver

could hand to a passenger.

From my discussions, this could

be something as simple as a

smartphone with a smart device on it.

You were not deciding on

backseat terminals, but something else very different.

As a result, you probably did not understand what I was

saying in relation to green cab.

When you amend the

transportation code, you are acting as a legislation.

If any of these provisions were

to come to the board of supervisors, as some of them now

will, it is an elaborate process and there is a months waiting time.

There is at least one mandatory hearing. There are two readings at the board.

There is a substantive amendment. There has to be more public comment on that. We are not getting that here.

I think you need to revise your procedures for these matters so

we have ample opportunity to

review, to digest, to absorber comment on these matters.

>> on the uber thing, with

something like 1500 priuses on

thee street, it has been

confirmed by people within the industry that that is the plan going forward.

In my opinion, I have already

had two people invite me to come

along because I cannot afford to buy my own car. I have been invited but other people who can get cars u and go getber.

It is a seriously attractive

offer because the cab industry, you have more power and your a partner with someone who is in business with themselves.

The drawback to the taxi

industry -- it is not that you need to put all of these caps

out, it is that you have to have the ota.

what ever happened to that?

This is all put on the back burner is because of the cab companies. They want to have their company- branded dispatching. The reason you do not have a

uniform for the taxi is because of the threat, the pressure you get from the cab companies.

i think that, with respect to more taxes on the street, if you

look at it from a purely transportation perspective, you do not need any more full time cabs. You only need more single operator cabs. That is the only kind of cap that needs to go forward in sentences go from here on.

anything else is more politically-driven.

The cab companies want more profitability or people at the top of the waiting list.

From a pure, strategic transportation point of view, there aren'

t enough company does menaced taxicabs to cover the demand through slow times.

It is only when you need them, when it gets busier.

>> commissioners, thank you for letting me speak again.

I think the big question here is

what are you doing for us? the answer is zero.

More amendments, more rules,

more documentation, more electronic surveillance

material, equipment, but not any higher wages.

Something that you will discuss very shortly with the muni union.

wages, hours, benefits, working conditions.

I have not heard that discussed today at all because you do not

give a damn about that.

You are looking for cash flow from the tax industry.

i work for yellow 19909 -- for

yellow in 1999

but as ftd stop

me and ask me why I was driving on the same day I was driving

when richie wiener' s wife was driving.

She had a taxi medallion and I did not.

I also wrote for national cap for 4.5 years.

When I left,

I was asked to give $500 back.

no reason.

There is no fire walls between

the cab companies and the cab drivers.

You sit back here and patronize the cab companies.

We have seen a management standing with you. I do not see you standing with taxi drivers because they have no input.

ubercab is taking over the industry because there is no limousine commission in this city. Where are the taxi stands?

We get taxi tickets and the mta does not give them to bus drivers.

>> Mr. Heinrich -- heinicke, I am asking you to leave the board please. Other commissioners, I would like to ask you to consider my thoughts and encourage him to leave. We all talk about wanting a

world-class taxi system in this world-class city.

there will never be won if we have an abused and demoralized work force.

Ever since director heinicke has

come into this arena, he has

state -- he has called for medallions to be taken from permit holders.

he has created a poisonous relationship between the regulatory agency and the work force, many of whom are afraid to come into this building.

The idea that the sfmta would

take $20 million per year, tried

to take $20 million per year, from some of the poorest-paid, blue-collar workers in the city, and use it to pay for the

salaries and benefits of some of

the best-paid, blue-collar workers in the country, is just unthinkable to us.

We have no overtime, sick pay, vacation pay, no health care.

we have no retirement plans, no paychecks.

That this money would be

extracted from lost to go

elsewhere is unthinkable. It will never go down. We will come back here in a few

years if this continues. We will come back here in a few years and it will be just the same.

The idea that the cab industry, this vital industry of 5000

active drivers, should be a

subset of the finance department of the mta is absolutely unacceptable. Thank you.

>> I just left out a thing for

the request for writ.

Vice Chairman Brinkman:   U.S. Party had your chance to speak. Thank you.

>> I am on the taxi advisory council.

I wanted to say that I think the taxi advisory council, although

the task of figuring out what to

do with medallions is pretty much over, you should continue having this council. It is a way for drivers and

company owners to sit down at the same table and speak.

discuss the issues that concern them. Otherwise, the town hall does not happen as much.

As far as

uber, you need a lot

more inspectors out their 24-7.

i appreciate the efforts being made now.

More than has been made since I' ve been driving a cab.

It is just a drop in the bucket for these guys.

You need to explore this all-

taxi access with whatever means there is. i do not think the M.T.A. Should be going into the taxi business by leasing and selling medallions for the purpose of paying off their debt.

You are competing with not just cabdrivers' for medallion income, you are taking half of

the medallions that career drivers have been waiting for to get.

by leasing the medallion to the companies, you are competing with medallion-holders for income.

One other thing I wanted to say about the cameras that are in the cab, there is no way to tell

whether the audio is on or not.

I think these cameras need to be redesigned so you can tell.

they should not have any audio whatsoever, but right now, they say they are not recorded audio but I have talked to a lot of drivers who have heard audio

when they go in to review an accident. You cannot believe the companies. Unless there is a verifiable way

that we know, you do not know if your conversations are being recorded.

>> I think I' m going to address the same issue that he was going to address. At least one of them.

medallion-holders get up here and they all looked pitiful. Maybe they are.

I would like to point out that

these guys that have made about $1 million apiece off of each one of these medallions over the

last 30 years , they are making about $3,000 per month.

they actually have good returns. Under a different situation where there was not some kind of

compromise, their selling would be fine.

This is a way to get medallions to people on that list.

given a choice between somebody

who has a $3,000 amount retirement and somebody who will

have no retirement whatsoever, I think you should consider

keeping this.

you guys are making so much money off of us.

If we go down, you go down.

>> I want to

thank roberta boomer.

She told me about an article.

in many cities, at

it has taken people by surprise.

They will go through sacramento and try to get some legislation

to protect the industry here.

i am more of a wait and see type person.

The medallion at sales policy will be heard your later in the summer.

whether they should not -- whether or not they should be allowed to sell.

If you allow them to sell, probably about 200 would come forward.

50,000 per transfer, that would be $10 million for the agency.

it is self-defeating to make

them die off.

There are some legal and fairness issues involved.

There are 12 under people wanted to purchase medallions.

These are int -- 1200 people who want to purchase medallions. They do not want to wait seven or eight more years.

They want to begin building equity.

If the supply is needed, the city would make money.

You would obviate some lawsuits.

I think it is the right thing to do.

you will put the medallions and the hands of an active working drivers. Thank you very much.

>> thank you.

I would like to echo her worlds. -- words.

We should be a separate division.

We really need that for a month.

It is important -- that forum.

It is important.

i have never heard of a price

more than $15,000. Conservative estimates are that anyone with any of those

medallions have made at least $8,000.

More like $1.5 million.

Some people have two, three, seven medallions, and they do not drive.

please pull all those medallions and give those to working drivers.

That is the right thing to do.

With regards to the phenomenon

and the sedans, the companies like the impression that more cabs solve problems. We need technology to be applied.

We have more cabs per capita than new york city.

In new york city, there is one cab for every 633 people.

In this town, there is one cab for every 587 people.

We do not need more cabs.

The need to get to the past to where they are needed when they are needed.

Once we know how the industry really works, we should issue

medallions as they are genuinely needed.

the whole idea of more cabs on

the inside of the box, and permitted black market on the outside of the box, it is not the way things ought to operate. >> thank you.

>> I missed 14 and 15.

History looks back at society and judges them about how they

treat their weakest members, oldest members, the sick and elderly.

san francisco is a really expensive place to live.

When the city was without tabs

-- cabs, and many grandparents are taking care of their

grandchildren, even their great- grandchildren.

Children are very expensive.

I know because I have seven stepchildren.

It is just not fair when those

people are in an older and

weaker state, to wait for them

to die so the city can get the full value of the medallions.

It is not in line with the kind

of values that the west has

always exhibited in terms of how

to make things fair for the most people as possible.

I have really appreciated the

effort by the sfmta to try to

deal with so many of opposing forces.

I really think we could make the

city public works a lot more efficient. I think there are other sources

of income than preventing these

people, who are now very weak, and who doesn'

t budget not to be

able to sell their medallions?

We do need more cabs. We definitely need them on friday and saturday night.

People are willing to pay, and when we have a huge convention --

>> thank you.

The last person who has turned in a speaker cards.

>> I live in district 6, 55 mason.

I just voted today and going to the golden gate celebration, it

was scheduled from 11:00 until 11:00.

You could not get from golden

gate celebration until 2:00.

We made it to market street at 2:00.

I hope this is the time where

the san francisco transit authority can work to make sure

buses, cabs, and on the ground or a work like philadelphia.

You can go out, the transit

system is the number 1 in the nation, I think.

It does not stop you from going out after 12:00.

it is very important that all

ages, all incomes be able to take care of transit.

I think we need to have a diverse group of people from

each of these cabs, muni, the bart.

Liberty and justice 24 hours, and people need to be able to

get a cab . Be like other american cities.

People can take different types of transportation.

you have to -- things are coming out of the closet. Let'

s let the protest -- thank you. >> thank you.

>> that is the last person to turn in a speaker card.

>> thank you.

Public comment is now closed.

We will move to the consent calendar.

>> item 10.2e has been severed from the consent calendar.

that is the only request. Thank you have a motion to

approve the consent calendar?

>> second. >> all in favor? >> thank you.

We will hear

10.2e, and this has to do with establishing a

shuttle bus zone.

>> thank you.

>> good evening.

I want to thank you for

scheduling all of these items in one special meeting.

i severed this item, although it

pertains to a lot of what is

your that relates to the new hospital going in at the cathedral hill.

I want to say that I do not have

kids, but I know some of the best times in people' s lives is when they witness the birth of a child. One of the best times in my life

was June 30, 2010, when I witness the birth of the hospital.

Out of the slavery of throes of

sutter health.

Why this relates to this is

because of the city' s relationship.

I do not see anything here -- I picked this item because it is right next to an atm.

There is a citibank atm.

the reason I am concerned, you

have a shuttle bus design, but

how about taxi zone?

You are still treating taxis like stepchildren. Where is your cabstands?

It is not just about wealthy people getting to a cab.

it is also about the issue " of paratransit.

They take cabs from medical appointments, or go into the emergency room.

I do not see anything about cabstands on here. Yes, you' ve got a shuttle bus zone. Yay!

What about your responsibility

to also make sure your staff asks one of the questions, where do you have your cab stand?

That is my biggest concern. >> thank you.

Do I have a motion to approve

item 10.2e?

Thank you. Motion moved.

>> I know the director is going

to finish the report after the closed session. It would be inappropriate to discuss whether to conduct a closed session.

>> thank you have a motion to go into closed session?

>> it will take me a moment to put the room into closed session. >> thank you.

>> the mta board of directors met in closed session.

Total compensation for the value

of the lost goodwill and the non movable fixtures resulting from the condemnation of the

property on stockton street.

the board also discussed labor negotiations, but took no action

spurred -- but took no action.

>> do I have a motion? >> all in favor? >> thank you.

We are returning to the best part of the meeting.

>> no comment on that.

Four hours after being rudely

interrupted, a few quick things.

We do more than taxis at the

sfmta in case of folks have forgotten.

San francisco, this past week,

was part of the kickoff of the

green lanes project.

It is a new project that is

being launched by the

foundation with the intent to

bring more protected by ways to

-- bike ways to U.S. Cities.

We were one of the cities

chosen to participate in the project. It will be supporting development of these kinds of facilities and networks over the next two years.

We were selected along with

austin, chicago, memphis, portland, and washington, D.C.

We had our kickoff last week in

chicago, and were we were joined

by the administrator of the federal highway administration.

strong support from the U.S. To permit a transportation for this initiative. Cities were recognized for their

ambitious goals and their -- ambitious goals.

We, for example, presented not

just be recently implemented jfk

bike way, but as well as the

polk street project.

We were selected also because of

the quick work we have done since the injunction. people have been pretty impressed at how quickly we were able to get projects out the door after having to sit on our hands for three years.

The recent work in golden gate

park and the plans we have going

forward.

one of the reasons that this foundation is pushing for this

is because they found that these

protected bike lanes can be a game changer in terms of getting more people onto bicycles.

The board of supervisors adopted

resolution setting a goal of 20% by 2020.

We have

50 -- 50% over the next six years.

We need a significant increase in bicycling.

It is the most cost-effective for us to increase.

We' re very proud to be -- to

have been chosen as one of these six and we will report

back as appropriate on progress under that initiative.

Bicycling magazine announced its

top 50 by friendly american cities for 2012.

San francisco was identified, at number 8 on the list. Number 8 out of the top 50.

We would like to be higher than

eight, but it was pretty good.

Considering that we were enjoined from implementing a lot

of good projects for those three long years.

We were cited in the process

post-conjunction -- post- injunction. Traffic signals that give cyclists the right of way.

All of which led to 71% increase in cycling in the last five years. that is pretty phenomenal.

On

the revenue bonds that you

had previously authorized, we

subsequently got approval from the board of supervisors to issue those bonds.

The good news is that we got our

first of two ratings from credit rating agencies. We got our rating from moody' s a week or so ago, and we were

given a aa3 rating,

which was very positive.

A strong statement that the

language in the document that

issued the rating cited the agency' s strong financial management.

Credit are great cfo for that as well as your leadership in adopting the great financial policies you have done to make

sure this agency is well run.

We got that great team and a stable outlook, which will

support a good interest-rate when we issue. Which we expected due within a few weeks.

Our first round will be $68 million issuance of 30-year bonds.

As a reminder, it will refund

all of the outstanding -- refinance all the outstanding parking garage th

debt as well as

provide that first round of funding for a little bit of parking garage work.

Good news.

We are still waiting for the second reading, but the first one was good.

-- rating, but the first one was good.

We had our big nine-day shutdown.

We had the the line completely shut down.

We have been j shut down north of market.

gary significant work.

The good news is -- a very significant work.

The good news is everything got done on schedule.

If you have not been by to see

the improvements, it is a very

significant investment.

I want to thank the board for their support of that kind of important capital investment.

There was a disruption, but by

and large, the feedback is that it was reasonably well handled.

It was phenomenal work by a lot

of people from across the mta,

the outreach folks, the construction management folks,

certainly, the muni operations folks, the inspectors, the

operators who were running the

show, a lot of people worked really hard around the clock to make that to go smoothly.

A good success there.

The next weekend work is after the July 4 weekend.

We have two more before we get to a substantial completion.

H/

as we discussed, but I wanted to

let you know that yesterday, we

published on the sfmta web site, the collective bargaining

agreements for which we had just completed negotiations. We are responsible for

negotiating eight agreements in

total, five of which are expiring in a couple of weeks at the end of this month.

In conjunction with the city, we

completed successor agreements for those five contracts.

There were local 1021, international association of

machinists, local 1414, the

electrical workers local 6, and

a very small unit of twu that represents one category of maintenance workers.

we did reach agreement with all five of those.

They generally

have 31% wage increases to about the term of the contract. The timing of those increases it varies slightly.

the previously emplace 12 furlough days have been eliminated.

There are some modest welfare cost savings benefits.

There were some incentive pay is that we eliminated.

There were a number of language

cleanup updates, such as eliminating committees and

removing out dating or expiring language.

Those agreements were all reached over the past month.

In accordance with the charter

requirement, we did make those available to the public.

As of yesterday, they are all

up sfmta.Com.

We will bring them forward for your consideration along with the rebalancing.

i guess I will just -- I do want

to welcome our newest to the board. You missed a good one.

I want to close on that note.

commending the incredible work

by the taxi service folks, by

the staff, for the volume of

things that came before you -- not that they were without

controversy, I think you saw they were very well thought

out, very deliberate, and a lot of due diligence when and to bringing these forward.

I think we are at a good point and we will be bringing some

things back, we will be bringing medallion reform that, but really a tremendous effort.

that is the end of my report. >> thank you.

For those of us do our reason to

the board, the taxi items are very confusing. She has done a good job of

bringing us all up to speed and making it less confusing.

I saw your congratulatory e-mail

to staff on the results of the shutdown. I love that you do that.

Nobody has to hear about how much I like cycling. All the improvements are making a difference.

A lot more parents with kids on

the back, a lot more women my age, a lot more youngsters.

i look forward to all of that continuing. I think we are done.

>> that concludes the business before you. >> thank you very much.