Business and Regulation

Featured items for managers

• Price wars are rare in the taxi industry but history does offer an example from 1949 in Hawthorne, California. Rates dropped from 30-cents per mile to an unsustainable flat rate of 10-cents per ride. The winner of the price war was the company that threatened to lower prices to just 1-cent per ride but who in fact reduced his prices by the least amount of all the competitors. The author applies lessons from the taxi price war to resolving real wars. Taxicab Rate War: Counterpart of International Conflict (free JSTOR subscription required.)
  

• A manager's first line of defense against high-risk drivers is the driving history. How to Read a Driver License Print-Out.

A perfect print-out

• RideCab WP is a low-cost booking platform for single-owner drivers, small fleet cooperatives and airport shuttles. The WordPress plugin lets operators own their own booking flow, customer data, and revenue.

RideCab platform screenshot

• Download this Taxicab Rate-of-Fare Designer, an XLS worksheet that allows easy design, comparison and graphic charting of any two traditional taxicab rates of fare based on time and distance. The worksheet opens with the Excel spreadsheet program. See also NIST Handbook 44 - Taximeters Code which describes the U.S. requirements for accurate measurement and transparent calculation of metered taxicab fares. This technical document underlies important consumer protections for taxicab customers.

A chart comparing San Francisco's 2003 rate of fare with an alternative rate of fare

• Managing in the Aftermath of Disaster: What do you do when tragedy strikes and the phone is ringing off the hook? Read this thought-provoking account of what may be expected of a manager in times of crisis. Diamond Taxicab Dispatch Services general manager Jim Bell recounts the events following the death of driver Tahir Khan in a Toronto car wreck that captured the attention of the national media.


• Notes, Quotes and Anecdotes: this delightful and often hilarious collection from researcher Norman Beattie is a goldmine for speakers


• YouTube Video: A professional shows how and why to disinfect and clean the interior of a car

San Francisco Ballot Measures 1978 - 2007

Taxi regulation in San Francisco was heavily influenced by a corporate meltdown in 1976 that led to a year of scarce taxi service and a controversial permit-trading deal in City Hall. See Taxis and SF Labor History for a brief summary of the crisis. In the wake of the crisis, a pair of competing taxi reform measures appeared on the ballot submitted to voters in 1978. Proposition K won with almost 51% of the vote and has shaped every aspect of the taxi business since that time.

The voters have been asked to revisit the issue numerous times since 1978. Propositions D in 1998 and A in 2007 won approval, while eight other propositions lost.

All the documents in this section are extracts from the ballot handbooks mailed to voters prior to the elections. They are in PDF format with file size under 1MB except as noted.

• Proposition J of June 1978 competed with Prop K but lost.Proposition K of June 1978 won with almost 51% of the vote (80,570 yes and 77,481 no votes). These documents include the official ballot statements and the published arguments pro-and-con. See also the complete legal text of Propositions J and K.
• Proposition M of November 1979 sought to restore transferability of permits. This document includes the official ballot statement and the published arguments pro-and-con. See also the complete legal text of the proposition.

• Proposition P of November 1981 sought to repeal Prop K and transfer regulation to the Board of Supervisors. This document includes the official ballot statement and the published arguments pro-and-con. See also the complete legal text of the proposition.
• Proposition P of November 1988 sought to repeal Prop K, but would have retained key elements such as non-transferability of permits. This document includes the official ballot statement and the complete legal text. See also the paid arguments pro-and-con that were published along with the proposition.

• Proposition Y of November 1993 sought, among other things, to increase the number of permits and add new types of permits. This document contains the ballot statement, the arguments pro-and-con, and the complete legal text.
• Proposition I of November 1995 was a bid by United Taxicab Workers to place a limit on cab rental fees (gate control) and to establish a centralized dispatch system. This document contains the ballot statement and the arguments pro-and-con. See also the complete legal text of the measure.

Courtesy of Dennis Kiernan. See a larger version of this campaign ad.

• Proposition J of November 1996 would have allowed the sale of permits, established gate control and limited permits to drivers with at least five years experience. It would also have allowed for a type of part-time permit. This document includes the ballot statement, the arguments pro-and-con, and the complete legal text. (1.25MB)
• Proposition D of November 1998 established the Taxi Commission. It was the only taxi-related ballot measure to pass after Prop K in 1978. This document includes the ballot statement, the arguments pro-and-con, and the complete legal text.
• Proposition M of November 2000 would have authorized the issuance of various kinds of special purpose taxi permits, and allow them to be issued to more than a single individual. Prop M would also have set 800 hours as an annual driving or operating requirement. This document includes the ballot statement, the arguments pro-and-con, and the complete legal text. (1.2MB)

Courtesy of Dennis Kiernan. See a
larger version of this campaign ad.

• Proposition N of November 2003 was a bid by PDA (now known as the Medallion Holders Association) to prevent revocation of permits due to disability. This document includes the ballot statement, the arguments pro-and-con, and the complete legal text. (3.9MB)

• Proposition A of 2007 passed by a vote of 80,786 to 64,346 (55.6% to 44.4%.) See the official ballot statement with arguments pro-and-con, and the full text of the measure.

  The measure relates to the Municipal Transportation Agency, which oversees the Municipal Railway and the Department of Parking and Traffic. It contains the following section, which provides a framework for revamping taxi regulation in San Francisco.

  "The Board of Supervisors shall have the power, by ordinance, to abolish the Taxi Commission created in Section 4.133, and to transfer the powers and duties of that commission to the Agency under the direction of the Director of Transportation or his or her designee the Board of Directors. In order to fully integrate taxi-related functions into the Agency should such a transfer occur, the Agency shall have the same exclusive authority over taxi-related functions and taxi-related fares, fees, charges, budgets, and personnel that it has over the Municipal Railway and parking and traffic fares, fees, charges, budgets, and personnel. Once adopted, Agency regulations shall thereafter supercede all previously-adopted ordinances governing motor vehicles for hire that conflict with or duplicate such regulations."

  The transfer to the MTA from the Taxi Commission happened in March 2009. Regulation moved into the hands of the Municipal Transportation Agency's Division of Taxis and Accessible Services. Numerous substantive changes have followed, notably a pilot program for the sale and transfer of taxicab medallions.

Internet Advocacy ’Uber’ Alles: What Uber-Fans Accomplished in Boston & What It Means for Urban Democracy & Local Government. This insightful paper by Harvard law school student Molly Cohen is must-read for taxi industry participants who face organized social media campaigns by wealthy elites. Ms. Cohen presented her views at the October 2013 TLPA conference in Boston.

This ad for San Francisco taxi service shows a very early Renault taxicab. Both the driver and passenger compartments are mostly exposed to the elements.

California Assembly Member Susan Bonilla became the object of negative political ads when she introduced the first legislation that established insurance requirements for Uber. Governor Brown signed her legislation, Assembly Bill 2293, into law in September 2014.