to attract more people, the mta posted a brown bag lunch and last week. members of the san francisco bike coalition shared a behind the scenes look into what made "but to work day" resounding success over the last three years. there have been expansions to the bike network since the injunction was lifted 18 months ago. we have included 19 bike lane projects, adding 11 miles to the bicycle route. we have installed 2400 and cameras on 24 miles of roadway. we have put into place by cracks and by corals. -- bike racks and bike corals. we have seen improved safety and more people on bikes every year. we have seen an increase in 48%

of 40 it -- we have seen an increase of 40% of people using bicycles in the last four years. please let our board secretary know if you plan on participating. you may be well aware that one of the other hats i hold is a board member with the caltrans operation. the board of directors decided not to reduce service, ensuring a continuation of the current 86 train schedules. we do have meeting scheduled to start discussing the next fiscal year the's budget, and trying to deal -- the next -- the next fiscal year path budget, trying to deal with the financial -- the next fiscal year's budget, trying to deal with the financial struggles and our schedule. we shut down part of the cable car system as part of the cable

car system improvement program. there was minimal inconvenience to residents and visitors. the highline was partially shut down. muni shuttle buses served cable car stops, except for areas that were impacted by construction. we had mta embassadors along the line to assist -- ambassadors along the line to assist customers. the next shot down will conclude it between june 1 and june 5. this will allow for system would work, requiring the shutdown of all three lines. those lines will resume service on june 6. we are currently scheduled to resume california line operations on june 19. the next item is related to our taxi town hall meetings. it has been our practice

periodically to schedule taxi town hall meetings to provide an open forum to discuss matters that affect the san francisco taxi industry. members of the taxi industry and the public are invited to attend to express their ideas and opinions about issues that are important to you relating to taxis in san francisco. we currently have two town hall meeting scheduled this month. there will be on wednesday, may 11, and monday, may 16. the items to be discussed in clues -- include major increases, the credit card fee, passenger information, and peak time medallions. we will announce additional dates as they are scheduled. metered fares have not increased since 2003. we will come before you to

recommend certain fare increases. those will have been discussed with the industry at the town hall meeting. later this spring, and we are targeting may 17, the staff will return to the board for further discussion and decision making around electronic waybills and credit card charges. the next board meeting, we plan to spend most of that meeting discussing tax issues with you as a board to get guidance on those very important issues. i also need to close by assuring the board and all that use public transportation in our city that we are taking the necessary security precautions in the aftermath of the death of osama bin laden. this focus on security includes intensified messaging, checking of parcels and packages, and increased vigilance across the city, notably in customer facilities and on vehicles. to bolster these measures, we have also asked our customers to

be alert to strange items and behaviors, and to immediately report such things by calling 911 or in forming an mta employee. that concludes my executive director's report. chairperson nolan: thank you. director heinicke: i have a question about something that was not discussed. i was under the impression we would get a report today on the twin peaks tunnel. i guess on speed in the twin peaks tunnel. am i mistaken? executive director ford: you will get a full briefing on that in the may 17 meeting. chairperson nolan: you mentioned in the taxi town hall meetings -- we receive messages saying these times do not work for some people. you say there will be another possibility of additional meetings? could those accommodate evening meetings? executive director ford: we will take a look. i receive those comments also.

we will see how we can cover anyone interested in speaking at those town hall meetings to try to cover the entire industry and make it easy to attend. chairperson nolan: thank you. i understand there are a number of speakers, pushing 80 at this point. i assume most people are here to speak about taxi-related issues. mr. ford has brought us up in his report. we can hear those now. we had a meeting a couple of weeks ago which had 40 speakers. we have about 80 this afternoon. we have at least two of town halls. the may meeting is on may 17. that will substantially deal with the tax issue. with all that in mind, if people want to talk about the tax issue, i will give everybody one minute. >> in light of that and for members of the public, we now have a second overflow room.

that is 408 on this floor. to accommodate people who wish to address the board who are going to be in other rooms, i will read the names of about five people in advance. the sheriff's will let people in if they say their name has been called. if people could then lineup against the wall, we will keep repeating the names and go to the list until everyone has had an opportunity to speak. chairperson nolan: one more thing. there will be no action taken by this body this afternoon. we know there is a lot of interest raised in it. >> the first five -- dominick roderick, mohammed edinae, jimmy mankind, and bill mattingly.

if he could speak into the microphone, sir, we're going to ask all speakers to state their names so i don't keep repeating the names of people who have already spoken. >> my name is madavi. i have looked 32 years in san francisco. i am opposed to credit card fees. i am already paying some percentage for many years. also, i am opposed on the electronic waybills. these are my to objections -- mike two objections. -- my two objections.

>> dominic. i have been 30 years in the service of some francisco. a request one thing. whenever you have an agenda for the taxi industry, it should at least be on the bulletin board of the companies and at the airport, so everybody knows about it, not only the company. the drivers should be informed. it has to be a big letter, not a tiny letter, where it is visible. we have bulletin boards at the airport and at the companies. before you set up a meeting, i request you that you put it in bold letters so that all the parties involved will know about it. i recommend you guys that we would really appreciate that. you are very informative and everything like that. we are trying to improve the industry. everybody is trying to do a good job. thank you.

>> mohammed eddinae, jimmy mankind. >> good afternoon, everybody. i am here today for the credit card thing. i don't think it is right. i do not think anybody should come take my social security and open a bank account for me and tell me you are going to take 5% of your money. they tell me you're going to take 5% of your money and you are not going to see it today. you are good to see it two or three days. i have to pay $1.50 every time i talk to somebody. anywhere you go, people have choices. passengers have ci don't have t. they have different prices, cash and credit. i believe this charge, if you can't live without it, passes to

the passenger. it is fair. they have the option. i had a passenger from australia. passengers their pay 10%. -- passengers there pay 10%. >> david million -- nguyen. >> i would like to add to this invisible agenda that seems to be coming down upon cabdriver's constantly. that is evidenced by some of the alarming trends that have seemingly abused the cab driver more than the companies since the switch from the taxi commission to the mta. first of all, the $7.50 per shift means the cabbies are buying the vehicles that own the company. that is $15 a day, $450 a month.

i think you can afford something better than a hybrid. somebody has to be ready in some money on that. the companies were paying the credit card charges. we do not know what they are. we do not know what an average business charges for the right to use credit cards. everybody i have talked to says that is an extraordinary amount. >> if i can ask everybody to state their name. >> good afternoon. my name is bill manchin. i have been a resident of san francisco for four years. i have been a taxi driver for 21 years. no one has given me an award for doing that. [applause] i would just like to talk about

the setup you have about the selling of medallions. i am on the list. i have been on the list 15.5 years. my name has moved 3 places in the last year. i will be 90 before i get a cab. something has to be done about that. also, all the recommendations you have got before you today have no cabdriver recommendations. there is no representation of taxi drivers. i don't agree with any of these things. these things should all be done away with. if you don't like what i am saying, drive a cub for a while -- driving a cab for a while and you will find out. >> joe donohue. >> my name is eric kragan. i have driven for 28 years.

i would like 5% of all your checks. i would like you to pay 400% more than you have been to vendors. i pay 1%. why would i want to pay 5%? how about the legal part? we are not employees of the mta. how can you force a third party vendor on us when we are not your employees? we are independent contractors. you have gone out of the way to make sure we get none of the benefits of employees. how can you possibly treat us as employees after you have gone out of your way to make sure we are not employees? you cannot force a third party vendor on us at an incredibly high rate. thank you. [applause] >> good afternoon, everyone. my name is david. i am a driver. i am here today because i am suspicious of what the mta is

doing to taxi drivers. there is no information. all we do is get a letter, "you come here to pay the result now we want to collect the credit cards and the information -- you come here to pay." now we want to collect the credit cards and all the information. they are scared. i want to know. are they a scam or not a scam? we are suspicious. >> and joe donohue, sam aryan, alec dutt. >> good afternoon. i would like to thank the mta for taking the three minute process of license renewal and making it -- my name is joe donohue. i would like to thank the mta for taking a three men at

license renewal and making it a three hour ordeal. you need to figure out whether we are employees are independent contractors. if we are employees, i want a salary. i want benefits. [applause] >> sammy aryan, alec dutt, michael monroe. >> i am a cab driver. there is a reason that 90% of the industry is not represented. a doctor does not go after a healthy person. the cab drivers, 50% does not come to them. it has to pay for medication, sick leave, vacations, everything. that is why they cannot attend. the other thing is it has been

mentioned we are not employees. we would be happy to be your employees. give us the benefits. the thing is that cabbies that drive 20 years, they take home less than an entry-level muni worker. just look at your numbers. how much do you want to milk the scout? until blood come stacks -- how much you want to milk this cow? until blood comes? >> good afternoon. i am a cabdriver. of course, i am not going to add more than my colleagues have done. regarding the 5%, it is too high for a charge. that is what we are protesting. also, regarding that we are not

employees to mta. the other issue is to have our personnel -- our personal transactions monitored by an electronic waybill gives access to our income to parties that are not the irs. i feel this is not right and we have to protect our rights. thank you. >> good afternoon. my name is alouc dutt. i have been driving for seven years. right here, it is not right. charging 5% is out of sight. if this does not change, i believe in martin luther king and mahatma gandhi. i will go to work if this does

not change for my driver's. -- drivers. >> michael monroe, marcello fonseca. >> my name is michael monroe. i have been driving cabs in san francisco for over 22 years. i am in medallion honor. the 5% is ridiculous. i have talked to all my customers. they do not mind paying a fee. i had one guy last night took me $35 because he thought it was a travesty. -- tipped me $35 because he thought it was a travesty. do you want to lose the suit -- do you want to lose $30 every two nights from your check? i do not think so. the way bills -- we are not employees, guys. we are independent contractors. you are making us employees. you want us to be independent

contractors so you don't pay us benefits, but you want to make us employees by tracking every move we make. that is ridiculous. you can't have it both ways. you just set yourself up for a lawsuit. [applause] >> next speaker. >> i am adala mankata. i am a single mother, a cabdriver for yellow. i am here to protest against the 5% that is being done. it has been implemented before we even were notified about it. that to me is a big stress. somebody pays me $24 for their ride, and what do i get? $20. my take is gone.

what am i going to do? if you're going to take the 5%, put it on the benefits we need for each of us, so we get our medical, we get everything, all the benefits we are supposed to have. this is ridiculous. chairperson nolan: thank you. >> marcello fonseca, mohammed rozzick, festus ajahi. is marcello here? >> i am here, but i will pass. >> is mr. roxxick here? brad nusham, lack winderpal. >> hello, mr. president and the board. this is the schedule of fees i have to go to before i get my money out of the atm machine.

and they limit whenever i can take out. if somebody can give you this, i am happy to give you a copy. 5% credit-card fee. what is that? where is our health care benefit or any of the benefit we were promised to get when the fee increased from $95 to $107? what is always everything against cabdrivers, not the company's tax -- not the companyies? we already have to raise $150 before we pay for the gate and the gas. who carries cash these days? everybody wants to pay by credit card. there is no possible way. >> fastest -- festus araji,

lackwinder pal. >> good afternoon. one thing i want to say to the mta today is that without the drivers there is no company. the driver is the company. it might be a rolls royce. we are the company. the 5% you are taxing us is wrong. also, when you come into play the gate, you have to pay cash for your pocket. if it is a credit card, you get your payment tomorrow. that this very wrong. we have to come by and pay cash out of our pocket. every day i go to cash in and the charge is 3%. put a stop to all this.

i don't know what to call it. it is taking over. >> brad newsham. >> i have been a cab driver for 25 years. i am with green tab. i say it is time for a strike to put the cab industry on the front pages. but the cab industry on the front pages and on the airwaves. you go up in the street and used up 10 pedestrians, you stop 10 cabdrivers, no one knows the shenanigans going on here. no one knows that in 2007 a group of shady politicians, still anonymous, in a dark room not far from this room, slipped three sentences into a 10 page transportation bill and delivered the cab industry bound and gagged to the mta. it has been a disaster. no one knows that the high

benefit high salaried employees from the mta have been taking billions of dollars from the minimum wage, zero benefit cabdrivers. the city of san francisco has always had a soft spot for the cab drivers. i think it is time for a strike to make this thing public. [applause] >> tarik mahmoud, lackwinder pal, anjan raj, roshan bata. >> good afternoon, directors. i am a driver. first of all, you are helping the double. -- the devil. all the drivers, when i die,

come to see me. i would still like to see your faces. i love them. when we were in pain, or taxi deputy director went on an official trip with two president of the cap companies. there are many other things to investigate. at the last meeting, she went on vacation again. after that, our money was taken away by the cab companies. we have no money. we were drinking water and eating air. when we send an e-mail to the board, he did not pay any attention. i told him the meetings planned -- >> next speaker, please. >> lackinder pal, poshada, samir pradhan.

chairperson nolan: any of those folks here? >> this is roshan batar. i do not know the use of speaking here. the last time we spoke, nothing happened. it is starting again. if we are just wasting our time, i do not know. mta has to get together and find out whether we are independent or employees. award us like your employees. 25 years later, what do we end up with? we end up with a crippled leg. we will be out of a job. if you want to control us, cap companies like yellow cab -- cab companies like yellow cab -- are you with us or are you with

them? you are not taking our side. we are the ones who are solving you. we are the ones taking you to the hospital and the airport. >> is lackwinder pal here? pesada? steven caddis, kile gebrhal, aileg gashan. >> my name is samir padan. no electronic waybills. i am paying $15 an hour to be here. i do not know if mta is going to pay for me or i have to pay for myself. the other thing is the 5% charge.

then the company can pay me to% to send the money to my account. -- can pay me 2% to send money to my account. >> stephen gebshrel, ali gashan, ang ho. >> i am a taxi driver for five years. electronic waybills -- systems go down. credit card systems go down. there will be no taxes service. that system could go down for days. nobody has mentioned it. why do you have to track everything we do? that is all i have to say. i will do what everybody else tries to have me do. >>la