should be able to control the lighting in these things. one more point on customers, i think that they should have the last word on what they want. >> thank you, sir. let >> i wanted to thank you for introducing the visually impaired component into legislation. i believe i brought that forward in january. i was working with the lighthouse of new york. i have been down to the national federation of the blind. we were asked if there was something we could do to help the visually impaired community. with the technology that is installed in tens of thousands of cars around the country, the challenge became how to make it work. i am extremely proud and happy that we have been able to give the community a sense of

independence and control to comfortably go in a cab. a few things we do with the technology is enter some commands. it costs nothing. we have deployed it around the country. it provides the visually impaired the ability to hear the fare at anytime during their trip. we got together with the lighthouse to produce cards that can be distributed to the community. it does not start on. it starts off. it can be put on by a passenger with the card or activated by a button by the driver in front. it can only be made possible by having the rear screen in the back. on the electronic waybill, there have been a lot of people concerned about privacy and documentation. if i can tell you the number of drivers that have been helped with driver robberies and murders, supporting homeland

security and terrorist organizations -- the most recent story it was where a driver was carjacked and stabbed. the owner of the company was able to work with the police and apprehend the person within an hour. there is a tremendous benefit to everyone involved. >> i was not going to speak on this, because it does not exercise me that much. i am confused as far as the provisions for the visually impaired. i was on the paratransit executive board for eight years. during that time, the rfp for the debit card terminals that are now in the calves was constantly front and center,

constantly being worked on. everybody was giving input to what the nuances should be to best serve the disabled public. paratransit put those terminals in there. if they did not serve the paratransit-using public, that is one of the reasons it took so long for the rfp. is this something that needs fixing? i hear the fare at the end audibly, and it is loud enough for the person in the back seat to hear. do we need to reinvent this? or make it so upon request that can be rattled out each time the meter clicks?

i do not even begin to think what kind of complaints you would get about that from drivers. if it can be done, it can be done. >> mary mcguire, a cabdriver, 474 with medallion. i had a regular customer last year who was blind. he never minded giving me his credit card. numerous times, i took him home. the back seat is redundant. i do not want it in my cab. if it is going to have audio, i am not going to be able to drive that have any more. there is so much gadgetry as there is. i will not be able to drive a cab anymore. the glare from the back seat -- i am not going to be able to deal with that either.

we have small print. there is a lot of taking your eyes off of the road. i have to go through five steps as it is to turn of the meter. i have brought up the dangers of all these electronic equipment things in the cab. your not supposed to use your cellphone in a vehicle. it is dangerous. realtors have a higher rate of brain cancer because they are always on the cellphone. never use a cell phone in a vehicle. all these devices have the same sort of low-level radiation. i wonder if this is just another case of workers getting sick for somebody else's convenience.

a woman died of cancer last week. is it related? a woman started getting sick after they put the back seat terminals in. in 20 years, when people start getting sick, they are gone. >> i use an app that works wonderful. i do not need any more units in my cab. square works wonderful. about the electronic waybills, i have been driving 22 years and have never once been asked to show my way bill to anyone.

they are ridiculous. they make no sense. the cab company has to store them for years. it takes up space. i do not understand the point of a way bill. >> there are too many laws. we are a very little guy. a lot of rules. we are a little guy. ceo's lose their jobs if they improperly file the paperwork. they can lose their job. last year and this year, the view is like this. this department knows a taxi driver has to do their job.

an electronic waybill is just like tracking you. the division already knows the will follow a lot of rules and regulation to comply with our job. i saw one guy in and one guy out. they picked out a lot of customers. a taxi driver, even better. we change shift at gas stations, on and on, something like that. this is like the technology of how many buses to get in a second. we do not need to fill up the paperwork. that is fine for us as well.

mega not even know -- we do not even know how to spell it in the street. maybe it is too long. on and on. i hope that a driver and you -- we are making a living. >> are you going to speak on this? >> good afternoon, directors. >> he is an incapable director. did you see the crisis? you did not see it. there are electronic waybills to

every company to insure money. you can type in the name of a politician. here is a copy. i took some of the part out. they do not want electronic waybills. are you ready? you are incapable people. chairperson nolan: the public hearing will be closed. [applause] if you keep it up, i will have you removed from the room. members of the board, do you want to take these together? it seems to me the first item 12 has a lot of consensus around it. anybody have any problems or comments on this? >> i do want to recognize the

idea of the way bills. chairperson nolan: any further discussion? all in favor? the ayes have it. item 13. director heinicke: i have some questions. how you respond to the question that maybe we should follow the nilson report and let the companies decide. are we trying to create a uniform access for all customers? >> it comes from the board of supervisors asking our staff, our agency, what we have done as we go to regulatory changes to try to make improvements for the benefit of the industry. the public is not always at this table for the conversation.

next time you get into a san francisco taxi, i advise you to look at the rate card and see if you can read it at all and if you can get any information that is useful to you as a passenger. if not, you might think about the benefits of signs to tax the customers. a consistent problem in the taxi industry is that one gets into a taxi. one does not know what taxi one is in. many things can happen -- something as small as getting away from a stolen. you do not know how to respond to that situation. one was taken from the headlines of last week. >> we would impose it across the

board rather than letting the color schemes jews as they go? >> there are various compromises in crafting this policy. it is wired to the meter and can provide this kind of information to all customers. i did not feel there was a consensus on that point, especially given the squared device in the recent move to install some tablet devices that are connected to the meter. the can be handed back to the customer in order to process their payment. those devices may not be available as signs to the taxi customers. nevertheless, they fulfilled what became the bottom line for staff.

can the customer choose the tip amount from the back seat? we prefer there be a uniform solution connected to the meter. but given the wide range of preferences on the part of customers and the industry, this is a compromise solution that would allow the company as small as green to provide a solution that would not be over burdensome, while at the same time using some of the comprehensive technology such as cmt has provided. director heinicke: a conversation that was repeated by several -- i do not think it is in this now. do you anticipate that it will be a problem to roll these systems out in a way so that, for example, the default is the thing is not on audibly unless

it needs to be for that particular customer? also, customer choices with regard to whether to turn the lights down, turn the machine off. those should not be a problem as we roll this out. is that correct? >> i believe we put that into the standards for the legislation. the sound of course should go completely off at the election of the people inside the car. i have no objection to those being the default as long as there is the ability of the customer to take advantage of the utility in the back seat unit. finally, we did in fact conduct several rounds of testing of several vehicles with different configurations, conducted by the sf mta safety staff with various different equipment designed to measure radiofrequency

emissions. the units that are connected to the meters are wired, so we would not expect to see a lot. in fact, the results were far below any regulatory levels, and in most cases not even detectable. chairperson nolan: anything else? other members of the board? >> thank you for clearing up the radiofrequency exposure. for those of the following along in the book, page 6 of the attachment. i am ready to make a motion to approve. chairperson nolan: is there a second? all in favor? we will take a 10 minute break.