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An Open Letter To Nathaniel Ford

Editor's note: In light of the probable disbanding of the Taxi Commission and the transfer of its powers to the Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA), United Taxicab Workers' Chair Bud Hazelkorn recently sent the following letter to MTA Executive Director Nathaniel Ford:

Dear Mr. Ford,

We at United Taxicab Workers very much appreciated meeting with you and Mss. Johnson and Boomer in your office recently. We have great hopes for our future at MTA.

Fundamental to our outlook are these principles:

San Francisco cab drivers could, and should, be able to make a reasonable living commensurate with the cost of living in the Bay Area; and SF citizens should be able to find reasonably priced cabs with relative ease.

Toward those ends, we look forward to contributing innovative and workable ideas that will excite the public and greatly increase ridership. There are numerous ways to do that, not by blindly adding cabs but through enhancing efficiency, which is just one of the reasons we objected strenuously to the recent gate hike and introduction of new medallions. Such moves are inherently inflationary, and, with the entire burden paid by cabbies, regressive. Nor are they sustainable, because they are half-measures that sidestep, and even hamper, real solutions to service and greenhouse gas reduction, and must be regularly revisited.

Taxis are an integral piece of the city mass transit system. We carry people who, for one reason or another, cannot take buses or trains. In doing so, we decrease the use of private cars and thus reduce greenhouse gases. Yet, we earn far less than other transit drivers, $24,000 on average,[1] with no health insurance, sick leave, job protection, or pension, such that many people can't survive at it. That's counterproductive, because to drive well, learn the streets, provide satisfying rides, requires years of apprenticeship. That's not overstatement, that's fact.

At the same time, unlike any other public transportation, the taxicab industry is awash in money. Companies and medallion holders may object, but they all know a minimum of $25 million a year, over and above reported profits, flows annually from the former to the latter.[2] Not coincidentally, all cab companies are owned and run by medallion holders.[3] Rather than stanch this flood, the Board of Supervisors and the Taxi Commission, over the last year, awarded the industry a fresh annual windfall of $8.5 million in new medallions and $13.7 million in gate hikes. None of that was tied to improving service. But then, neither group actually makes money from picking up passengers. Only drivers do that.

One company owner has said, “If, 30 years ago, you had told medallion holders that they could make $100 a month free, they’d have thought they'd gone to heaven.” Today, monthly leases run upwards of $2,500, up from $1,900 just months ago. Holders insist they are entitled to a pension after years on the waiting list. That's half true. They are entitled to a pension, but not this one. Neither they nor the companies ever paid into a pension fund, and the benefits are not available to all. It is not a level field. Nor are holders entitled to exorbitant profits from city property. For while they enjoy this privilege, impoverished drivers pay some $30-to-$40 a day — $10,000 a year — to finance the arrangement. Even as they struggle to pay the rent, most drivers never see a penny of pension.

Here's what we could do instead:

Create a centralized dispatch service that would reach all drivers. Current services barely satisfy perceived demand. Riders commonly complain that dispatchers take a long time to answer the phone, are rude, and cabs don't show up, even as cabbies often drive long periods with no business. Tie company profits to actual service and watch rides from outlying districts jump exponentially;

Cap medallion fees at a much reduced level, or charge substantial rents, and use the money to increase driver income, and finance health care and pensions for drivers — all drivers, not just those who live within the City;

This money could obviate the need for meter increases, even reduce rates. We want to carry everyone, not just the rich;

Consider making cab drivers employees of cab companies, or of the City itself, with basic wages and benefits;

Eliminate illegal limos and bandit cabs. Operators solicit boldly and openly on the streets and at the airport. Hotels collude with them by selling airport rides to the highest tippers and discouraging cabbies from waiting. The Taxi Detail is too strapped to properly enforce the laws, leaving the industry essentially unregulated. The situation is a major drag on taxi income and it's worsening daily, setting the stage for fights, accidents, and worse;

Require annual continuing education classes, regulated by the city and paid for by the industry. Such classes, taught by experienced drivers, would emphasize routes, treatment of customers, safe driving, radio use, laws and driver rights. They would greatly professionalize and popularize the industry, as well as enhance safety.

Mr. Ford, if the City wants an effective, professional taxi fleet, it must respect drivers. The current situation is untenable. We need reasonable wages and benefits. We need protection from arbitrary, punitive management. The advantages of an experienced, fairly paid workforce are obvious. We look forward to working with you to find imaginative and satisfying solutions to all of these matters.

Thank you for your consideration.

Yours truly,
Bud Hazelkorn
Chair, United Taxicab Workers
Badge #63228

P.S. We know you are considering applicants for a taxi executive position at MTA. We have agreed and disagreed with Jordanna Thigpen since she was thrown into the Acting Director's job, but she has invariably shown herself to be honest, smart, prepared and dogged. We would very much like to continue working with her at MTA.

cc: MTA Executive Board, Debra Johnson, Roberta Boomer, Jordanna Thigpen, Wade Crowfoot

(Footnotes):
[1] “While income estimates vary widely, it is reasonable to assume that the average full time non-medallion holder earns approximately $24,000 per year.” The San Francisco Taxicab Industry: An Equity Analysis, p. 5, Goldman School of Public Policy, UC Berkeley, 2006
[2] Simple arithmetic would come to much more: $2,000 (minimum) x 1,500 cabs x 12 months = $36 million. However, some cabs are owned by medallion holders or long-term lease drivers, where the cash flows are different. $25 million is a conservative estimate.
[3] If there is an exception among the 34 cab companies, we are not aware of it.