San Francisco Supervisors vote to hike
minimum taxi fare 25 cents

By Emmett Berg, Bay City News Service

October 17, 2006

SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) - San Francisco supervisors today approved without comment a 25-cent hike on the minimum fare paid by taxicab passengers, which becomes $3.10 on Nov. 1 if Mayor Gavin Newsom signs off on the plan.

The increase, called a "fuel surcharge on the flag drop" in documents, theoretically puts more cash into the pockets of taxicab drivers.

But a representative for United Taxicab Workers-San Francisco said "25 cents does not amount to much" when members needed healthcare.

"It's kind of a token gesture," said union spokesman Mark Gruberg. "We weren't even asking for what they call a fuel surcharge. If it really was a fuel surcharge, or a price of living increase, it would have been much higher."

In a related issue, city officials since 1999 have capped how much taxicab companies may charge drivers on a daily basis for use of a cab, the amount known as the gate fee.

The cap came about after an outcry by drivers that cab companies were unfairly hiking gate fees. Even after the cap became law, some taxicab companies charged more than the limit, Gruberg alleged.

Today's action by supervisors rejected a gate fee increase proposed by the city Taxi Commission. But even as it rejected the commission proposal, the board established a higher allowable gate fee, $91.50, than the amount the city attorney reported was actually the current cap, $85.

The resolution that passed 11-0 today also states that the board would consider future gate fee hikes if drivers were offered a formal proposal for healthcare coverage by April 1, 2007.

Copyright © 2006 by Bay City News, Inc. -- Republication, Rebroadcast or any other Reuse without the express written consent of Bay City News, Inc. is prohibited.

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