other issues of service over which drivers have absolutely no control. [applause] the single best thing that you can do for service is to see to it that drivers have a decent income, decent working conditions, and job benefits, and you will have a cadre of experienced professional drivers who will serve the city well. [reading names] >> i just want to clarify that the public comment is for items 11 and 12. >> i'm with yellow cab. a representative on the taxi driver council. i want to address the electronic waybills.

the government mandating waybills is highly anecdotal and now that the city is moving toward transitioning into electronic formats, i think the city should issue a formal policy statement and policy disclosure to the industry and general public, stating specifically what the purpose is, using -- why the city wants to gather this data and where it is going to wind up. i think the city has an obligation to state that it lay a policy statement and the policy disclosure to insure accountability is, so that unwarranted third parties don't get access to private information, like marketers and advertisers. i would think this kind of

information would be subject to federal government agencies like the department of homeland security and water that would have an effect on the some of the large population of middle eastern drivers in our industry, whether or not they would be tracked with the electronic tracking technology just for being, for example, muslim here. thank you very much. [applause] [reading names] >> i am a yellow cab driver. i would suggest all the regulations to be exposed should be discussed with a cabdriver as well and in a good manner.

they have already informed -- we are not slaves. we would request you keep our information safe. our electronic waybill is not to be sold. the health matter, we have to look after the health batter. we don't know is the devices -- we want to understand everything before we install. the meter increase is very important right now because the economy and the market level and enterprise level which has gone up so high, i hope we can come to a conclusion. thank you. [applause]

>> i've been 25 years as a cabdriver and medallion holder. she has said there are some fundamental problems that need to be addressed and the agency and i think the number one fundamental problem that needs to be addressed is that the fundamental relationship is one that can best be described as cannibalism. [applause] 5 please don't clap until the end. the mta has made a very clear the views the cab industry primarily and only as a source of funding. their relationship is cannibalism. since february, which had three health crisis is a including heart attacks. we in the cab industry have no benefits of any kind.

what we do, as we pass that. i pulled out another hundred and that 50 and all time i'm looking over my shoulder at the s.f. 78. -- the ss mta. -- the sfmta. this organization as paychecks, health care, retirement plans, sick pay, vacation pay, they have taken $10 million from us this year to fund this great boondoggle. it's not a boondoggle. these people deserve what they're getting, but they don't deserve to get from's. these other things we are discussing are distractions from the fundamental cannibalism that's going on. [applause] [reading names]

>> can i get a projector? san francisco could be getting a pricey right -- it's the priciest city in the world, one of them. gas is the priciest gas. what's wrong with a pricey taxi system? how was the merger going? how's that seamless merger going? mta defines the word dysfunctional. it's the time you woke up rape than doolittle and smaller coffee, but i don't recommend a triple dose of espresso. a special tax the meeting was held for a meeting increase and that was yesterday.

in your comparative analysis from fares and other cities, why weren't extra fees included? they charge extra fees for things like extra passengers or starting the meter over when there are two trips in one fair. several major changes at the same time of the pilot program are mechanism in place to measure the effects makes monitoring taxi services a moot point. even with one major change, there is an absorption changes needed if you want to measure any long-lasting effects. you want to micromanage taxi drivers. congestive pricing combined with cab pooling is a win/win/win situation. it is the greenest thing you can do. however, a living wage for a taxi driver is the least you can do. but both have one drawback -- it has to be carefully thought out by compassionate people with

intelligence. what's a service increase that is already in the pipeline? we have a thing or rumored as a peak time, but it unfeasible for cabdrivers. it's feasible for cab companies and the mta, but for the customer is an oversupply of cabs when you don't need it. we're talking a majority of the time. [tone] [applause] [reading names] >> and the president of a cab company and of a taxi advisory council. let me voice my support for a

meager increase. this will help our drivers. we are proud of the work our drivers to in the work they perform day in and day out. with no meter increase since 2003, the increase is necessary and warranted. we've taken several steps to help our drivers. we have invested millions in new, clean, energy-efficient vehicles and reduced the cost of fuel. that puts more drivers -- more money in drivers pockets. we've invested millions in computerized dispatch they give drivers and opportunity to keep tabs filled with passengers. we maintain a full-service unionized maintenance shop to assure drivers get the safest, efficient vehicles and clean cabs. the city's taxi system depends on companies like ours to invest in that infrastructure so that drivers can earn more money, yet sfmta has not given an

increase. we've proposed a model and become of 75 cents an hour justified by the enormous rise in fees instituted on cab companies overpass several years, amounting to an almost 100% increase since 2008. our economy estimates that for -- from 1995-2007, we've lost thousands because of the charges warranted by the cpi. these funds will never be recovered and can never be invested back in that industry based on the consumer price index. if you want to lead the way and provide job opportunities for drivers and provide excellent customer service, give us the initial release sfmta. we oppose any surcharges --

>> thank you. >> [, reading names] . >> i'm with the medallion holders association. thank you for your favorable vote on item 12. on item 11, some background -- during the past eight years, the biennial meter review was subject to cp i analysis, but the consumer price index process allowed supervisors -- that was an advisory matter and in every occasion, they disregarded the comptroller's report that an increase is needed for drivers. so it's now a desperate situation. i agree that going forward,

there will be an rsvp to see how gates and rates will be set in future years. -- there will be an rfp -- it has been estimated in some studies that drivers who do not have a medallion and work full time only make $25,000 a year gross. that has not changed in eight years and it needs to be up to $33,000. the rate increase improved yesterday recommended by the advisory council will get to that point at its the right increased to approve. i understand that the public wants service improvements, but as has been indicated, the drivers have no control over many of the problems are structural in this industry and this body cannot hold the drivers hostage to that. we are going to study the open

taxi access and peak time permit and try to make some service improvements. you saw the drivers outside. they're frustrated because they cannot make enough money to survive in san francisco. [applause] [reading names] >> good afternoon board committee and fellow drivers. i am here to support the meter increase and it should be done today. one thing -- please do not take a taxi cab drivers for granted. i've been here so many times and most of the time, there is no result. you put again meeting again meeting. we need it now. there are so many standing outside and if you do not do it today, you are pushing us forward to a strike. if we stand today -- i just want

to give that out for you guys. [reading names] >> i am a taxi driver. i have enjoyed driving a cab l.a. san francisco. my part-time driver and i enjoy representing my company. it is a great job. i've never spoken here before, so excuse me if i am a bit nervous. i'm confused by what i have heard here today because i have heard a lot of vagaries. some people say you are ready to vote but there are procedural issues and you have not told us what the drop would increase to. you are talking about the

package of services in the pipeline, but that has not been specified. i'm confused about that. the recommendation on the time and distance sounds just about right. but, that will be neutralized by the credit card fee now being imposed on drivers. i have heard a couple of people talk about micromanagement. while not being in control of their own issues -- something i was shocked by today was i went to pay parking ticket on the anti a website. i was entering my credit card information and i noticed i was entering on a not secure web page. are you aware your credit card acceptance system is not secure? that is amazing to me. i have never seen a merchant

website that's not secure where you enter credit card information. i hope you address that today. [applause] >> [reading names] . >> i am a cabdriver and father. number one, i am in favor of increased the meter. everything is going to increase. i hope we can get some local -- about the electronic bill -- if you don't know that cabdriver, two or three times, no pay, people are drunk and don't pay and people ask if you are mexican and they say go back to india, so now i tell them i am

from madagascar are -- i don't like america 43 years. when i was young, i came here from madagascar are. i say 43 years i don't know if there is missing or not missing. nobody talked about this is going to each person or instead of going to the city, if we pay something, we must pay to our city. if city takes 5%, i'm happy and said of giving billion to some bank i don't know where is that bank of a charge and we are paying $10 to $15 extra per shift and before we have 10 people and now we have 300 criminal brains try to squeeze

money from the cabdrivers and i think it's not mcdonnell-douglas and i don't understand about this thing. the last thing which i am saying, if we cry, it hurt you, please do not let us cry. thank you. [applause] >> [reading names] >> i made cabdriver. i think you could describe this as mission creep gone wild. we have a lot of stuff thrown at us all in one year. selling medallions and everything, we are not able to catch our breath and you are putting in waybills an ongoing to try to confine this to waybills. i always heard waybills were from the police so if you pick up somebody, you have a record of it. now, it is biometrics.

its following your around all the time and makes me nervous and combined with the rest of the changes in that industry, it is kind of oppressive. for 10 years, we had the taxi commission and one well-known politician said it was the best entertainment on television, but i found it embarrassing many times. i would like to go back to honorably driving a cab and not being followed around or worry about whether embarking hard enough or -- i left yellow in 1980 something because they brought in computers and i did not want to sit there and have to operate or text on a computer. i'm not sure is legal. now, all of this stuff is in the car and there's more and more and every day of something new. i think it's time to take a break and stop this stuff and step back and look at for six

months and think about what you are doing. thank you. >> [reading names] >> i'm a cabdriver and i will talk about this at a later date. i was in a car accident last year were the air bag did not deploy. the seatbelt that was held by a close 10 gave loose and i hit the front windshield and hit the side windshield. i found out later that the cab company did not have uninsured motorist coverage. i find it hard to believe you folks are taking money. i heard $9 million and change and you are not really focused on the safety or safety nets for taxi drivers.

i will talk about that at a later date because this is about the meter increase. please -- you need to hear from the drivers. we are the ones out there driving a cab is. you do hear what's going on in the streets. i have done my fair share talking with the supervisors and politicians to make sure they anders and what you are doing to us. this morning, i wake up and there is a 70% increase on reset san francisco. i see a huge, dramatic increases. you guys cannot wait for two meetings from now. the need to decide today because the media will take wind of this and put these particles out there and you will make it

difficult for the taxi drivers to be out there servicing the public. you think crime's have happened in the past? people are upset because they think we are asking for money. how about taking some of that and throwing it back into the taxi industry where it belongs? >> [reading names] >> its nice to see you were holding town hall meetings so that the drivers could give their input. the figure would be an increase of 22%. the cost of living has gone up since the last one. if there wasn't a meager increase for the last two years, it would be a wash.

you have two things in play, the have pushing for a date increase and you have the credit card charges. i think it would be unconscionable to give the companies both of those things. if they want a meter increase, they can eat the credit card charges. if it won the credit card charges taken care of, there's no reason in the world they should be given a meager increase. during the last 12 years, when there has not been a meager increase, there has been fee increases. one of these is for hybrid vehicles. a lot of these companies are charging $10 per shift. hybrid vehicles are no longer more and expensive, so they've already had a $7 and a decent increase. as for the 75 cents a hour, he

is already charging the drivers a dollar an hour in terms of tipping. i would suggest you do one or the other. we need a meager increase now and we do not need it passed to the drivers. thank you very much. [applause] >> [reading names] >> good morning, ladies and gentleman. i am here to speak for the meter increase. i encourage you to approve this increase. i've been driving a cab for almost a decade and the only time we've had a meager increase was 25 cents in 2003. i take an average of 30 passengers per shift and that translates to a miserable $6. ever since i started, the average was $75 to date, plus

the hybrid teas we pay of $7 and cents. the living costs have skyrocketed, gasoline prices when i first guarded driving was averaging a dollar and now it is averaging almost $5. hear, you see that people trying to represent us. you have 1000 more people outside driving around who are no longer able to cope with this. it's just too much. during this time, when i first darden, muni was a dollar. our rates remain the same. what's wrong with nba? you guys raise your rates by 100%.

muni went up by 100%. our rates by 25 cents. what's wrong with that? [applause] i urge you guys to approve this meter increase because we can no longer afford it. thank you very much. [applause] >> [reading names] >> good afternoon. i had an opportunity to review the staff report on item 11 which indicated there would be a report on today's meeting. that was not provided. i'm wondering of staff can report on that and if i could have an opportunity to comment thereafter. i do not know what the status of the review is. >> this is his opportunity.

>> we have the information we would be happy to provide that. >> thank you. >> can the staff indicate what the determination was to make the review -- that was promised in the calendar item. this is your two minutes of public comment. it is not a question and answer. >> this document was not provided in advance. the calendar item indicated it would be made known at the board meeting. it has not been made known, although was represented is there is some document that would exist. it is material to my comment and i would like to be represented to the public what the determination was. and i would like an opportunity to comment thereafter. this is not a fair process.

can i get a response to that? >> where is the document? can someone report on what the status is? this is a significant increase in fees and fares and i may have a position on that but it would be informed by the analysis. [tone] can i get the staff to respond? >> [reading names] . >> good afternoon, directors. when drivers are crying with low

wages and low income, and we have our new taxi deputy director and this time, the cries were allowed from the drivers, she went with the cab company representative catching the fish. she did not pay attention for the 7000 people who are hired to pay attention to their problem and said of paying attention to the medallion holders and the cab companies. and then, to satisfy the cab company and the medallion holder, she created a tax and our meager increases went away. this tax was busy in their own games, but the drivers never got any kind of increase because the tax