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San Francisco committee holds taxi fare increases, weighs gas-price volatility and driver hardship
Summary
The Rules Committee considered an ordinance to maintain current taxi fares and gate caps and adopted the item as amended; the Controller’s Office reported a sharp recent drop in gasoline prices, and drivers and companies gave competing testimony on the effect on driver income and company costs.
The Rules Committee considered an ordinance to amend Police Code section 11.37 to maintain current taxi fares and gate caps and adopted the item as a committee report "as amended." The hearing featured a report from the Controller’s Office on recent gasoline-price volatility and lengthy public testimony from drivers and taxi companies weighing driver hardship against company costs and fleet-conversion expenses.
Ted Egan of the Controller’s Office, one of the authors of a September report on taxi economics, told the committee the report used August industry data when retail gasoline averaged about $4.14 per gallon; the most recent weekly price in San Francisco was $1.82 per gallon — roughly a 56% drop — which significantly changes the context for driver income and business profitability. "In our report...we used the most current information we had about the industry as of August," Egan said. "And the most recent weekly price in San Francisco is $1.82 which is about a 56% drop in a very rapid period of time." He recommended more frequent fare reviews and suggested revisiting fares if retail gasoline later rose by 50% from current levels.
Public commenters gave conflicting perspectives. United Taxi CAB Workers’ chair Bud Haysborn described lease and gate structures that leave many lease drivers living "hand to mouth," urged not to increase gate or meter charges during the recession and called for structural reforms, including a centralized dispatch and limits on unearned medallion income. "Medallion holders are gaming the system," Haysborn said, urging the committee to consider driver equity. Barry Korngold, a recent medallion holder and driver, pushed back, saying medallion income is not "unearned" and that drivers still face financial pressure after periods of high gasoline prices.
Taxi company representatives — including Jim Gillespie, Mark Gruber and John Lazar — told the committee companies have invested in alternative-fuel vehicles and face higher parts and financing costs; they argued modest meter increases tied to costs could be reasonable. Several speakers suggested indexing fare reviews to fuel-price changes or conducting more frequent reviews than the current biennial schedule.
Chair and supervisors noted timing and implementation constraints, including the ordinance’s automatic effective date (Jan. 14) and the 30-day rule for legislation taking effect; the committee included an "amendment of the whole" to acknowledge timing challenges. After discussion and public testimony, the committee adopted the item as amended and closed public comment. The item will be transmitted as a committee report for further action when appropriate.
The hearing recorded competing claims about medallion-holder income, driver hardship, and company costs; those claims were disputed by speakers on both sides during testimony.
