San Francisco cabdrivers have decided that it’s time to form a union. The local industry has been reeling for years as venture capital-backed ride services like Uber and Lyft have proliferated and taxi companies’ calls to The City to level the playing field have done little to help. On Wednesday, cab drivers voted to initiate the San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance, an affiliate of the American Federation of Labor and Congress of Industrial Organizations (AFL-CIO)…
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Death of the taxi medallion: SF cab company ponders major change
DeSoto Cab Co. might not like the under-regulated and fast-emerging alternative-ride service industry, but company President Hansu Kim knows an opportunity when he sees one. If Uber, Lyft and others are allowed to expose loopholes in the regulatory process — which boost their bottom lines exponentially — then so too can the traditional taxi industry, he realized. During public comment at many recent San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board of directors meetings, Kim has explained…
Read MoreHead of SF taxis to retire
Chris Hayashi, head of San Francisco’s taxi industry during arguably its most tumultuous times, told The San Francisco Examiner on Thursday that she would step down from her post June 20. The tall, hard-to-miss, curly-haired blonde took over as deputy director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Taxis and Accessible Services Division in December 2008, a time when the industry was in dire need of reform. A lawyer by trade, Hayashi, 51, maneuvered the…
Read MoreUber driver accused in fatal collision told police he was awaiting fare
San Francisco-based ride service Uber announced Thursday that it had cut ties with a driver involved in a fatal collision with pedestrians on New Year’s Eve in The City, denying that the man was working at the time of the incident. However, Syed Muzzafar reportedly told police he was driving around awaiting a fare. The 57-year-old Union City resident was charged with vehicular manslaughter with gross negligence and failure to yield to pedestrians in a…
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