Board upholds SFMTA denial of taxi medallion application for Linus O'Hara

The San Francisco Board of Appeals on Aug. 11 denied an appeal by Linus O'Hara seeking a regular taxi medallion, upholding the Municipal Transportation Agency’s determination that he did not meet the full‑time driving requirement.

SFMTA enforcement counsel Jarvis Murray said applicants must document driving consistent with the agency's rules — expressed in the transportation code and implementing regulations — which the department interprets to require roughly 800 hours per year (or another codified measure) for 4 of the last 5 years. Murray said the agency’s records of waybills and paratransit transaction records did not show O’Hara met that threshold and that the requirement is intended to favor active drivers rather than absentee medallion holders.

O'Hara and counsel argued the rule improperly amended voter-approved Proposition K, cited disability-related reductions in driving hours and said he had been an active driver for two decades. Counsel also contested some paratransit fare-record evidence and raised questions about whether internal regulatory changes were enacted properly.

City attorney staff told the board that courts have not invalidated the local regulatory approach and that the transportation code provisions and implementing rules were within municipal authority. Commissioners said they were not persuaded by O'Hara’s evidence of driving hours or by the procedural challenge and voted to adopt the hearing officer’s findings and deny the appeal, 4–0.

The decision keeps in place SFMTA’s denial and removes O’Hara from immediate consideration for a regular medallion under the current eligibility rules; the board noted applicants may pursue other remedies through administrative or judicial channels where appropriate.