board of directors originally required a mandate by march 23 -- march 21. subsequent to that, extended the date. item 12 is requesting an amendment to this to remove the july 12, 2011, date requirement, and allows 120 days to do some outreach and respond to some of the concerns we have heard from the industry on electronic waybills. our next set of town hall meetings on june 6 and 7 will focus both on electronic way bill s&p. medallions -- waybills and peak period medallions. we have also heard some concerns that we need to get some experts to come and advise us. we are requesting the firm date be removed director heinicke:

what is -- be removed. director heinicke: what is the firm date currently? >> july 21. but what we need the extra time to do -- director heinicke: i have no dispute about the extra time. i just wonder whether we should continue it now or continue it later. >> it is my understanding the only item which can talk about or consider is the taximeter fare increase or wait time or traffic delay. i want to ask my fellow directors -- we can either approve the item today or wait for staff to come back with a motion to approve the drug trade. what is your general feeling?

director oka: first of all, thank you, mr. chairman. i have heard from almost every member of the taxi industry over the last less than a week, and everybody -- i have heard all your voices. believe me, this is going to be good when we finally put it to work. i am ready to vote on this today, but i know the it is a complicated and complex thing to look at. i will move the item, and if people want to do whatever, i will move the item. >> you are prepared to address it today? director heinicke: i said we

should hear from members of the community who have come to address this so that they have maybe something to shoot at, and i will make up my mind after we have heard from them. my inclination would be to hold this over so that we can hear it all as a package. as you mentioned, we cannot hear the entire thing today. i think the industry has represented itself very well. i think they have demonstrated the need for the increase, and i am prepared to support one, but i think for procedural matters, i would rather consider this as a whole, and for merits matters, i would rather consider this in context or in conjunction with some of the service increases. not stuff being drawn or all that, stuff already through the pipeline and ready to go. that would be my inclination. i know the industry wants this

increase soon. that would be my inclination as well, but i would rather hear this as an entire package. i will say that for now, but we had already. there are a lot of people want their voices to be heard today. >> i, too, support the increase, but i would like to hear from industry representatives, and i would like to your probably more information. but i [inaudible] director brinkman: i agree. we should go ahead and hear from the public. i also support the fare increase, but i am inclined to think we should consider this as a package. >> i am prepared to move with this, but i would like to hear from the public also.

with that, we're going to open it up for public comment. and this is only on item 11 and 12. two minutes. >> mr. chairman, we do have a number of members of the public who have submitted speaker cards. for the record, a number of members of the public to do wish to address you under public comment about personal information, so they will not be called at this time, and it will be called when we get to public comment. [reading names]

>> when you introduced the electronic way bill, if you include the paid amount, the everyday ratings will not be correct. from the briefings we had, they took up the paid amount from the electronic with bill, and the response was no. for reasons we are not told or reasons we do not understand at all, if you still ignore our concept, it would be like giving amount. because of the readability, increased or not, sunday in the future, what you report as gross income must mark that, how are we going to explain and proved

the everyday issues about those running out without paying, those who realize they have no money at the end of the trip, the ones who say, "this is all i have come close " -- this is all i have," the ones who sthe readt does not include drivers who forget to turn the meter off at the end of the trip. our fault, that maybe. every day, the drivers -- [bell rings]

>> thank you very much. [applause] >> i am in medallion owner with a yellow taxi cab. we need a meter increase in now, okay? i understand you want to wait for certain reasons, okay? the drivers are not waiting when they go to gas up their card. they have got to pay the gas bill. they pay their gates. they have to pay then. they cannot wait. we have waited eight years. i'm sure you have had a raise in eight years, okay? we need it now. if you do not give it to us now, you know, the drivers are very impatient. let's put it that way. we need it now. chris has done a great job with the town hall meetings. she has got the response from

the drivers. the drivers say they want it. they recommend it. but again, you all want to wait. we are tired of waiting. we need a rate increase now. [applause] we need to vote on this today, okay? why did you hold the town hall meetings if you do not want to vote on this now? why were we there? i lost four days of work in these meetings, okay? to get my opinion expressed. now, you come back with the results and still want to wait. why are we waiting? we need the rate increase now. simple. [applaus[reading it -- >> [readg names] >> i and a medallion holder and full time driver. good afternoon, directors.

the cab drivers are paying your bills now. as you noticed, there is a degree of anger and cynicism about how well we're being represented. i know that in terms of proper procedures and notices and so forth, what you can vote on today is not even a torso of what is needed. if the words are very soon, if you do take a proper role of the full package, i think that that is going to mean less chance of error. there are a number of other fees that we're simply not asking for now that could be discussed even if not adopted that would inform you as to the way that our

thinking is going, but if something is not done in the very near future, the cynicism is going to get out of control. you are not hearing some of the anchor today because of the town hall meetings. i would like to offer just one piece of numerical facts. the 19% loss in income we suffered over the last several years means that the meter is now worth $2.50, which is less than it was actually in 1983, and the mix are now at 89 cents of buying power. really, something needs to be done. on the subject of electronic waybills, i have not heard a reason against them that i like. but there are very many ancillary problems that need to be worked out. thank you.

>> [reading names] >> good afternoon, board members. united taxicab workers. let me just say i hope there is a separate opportunity to speak about the electronic waybills -- completely separate topic, and we should have the opportunity to speak on both. as the director pointed out, it has been more than eight years since there has been a real leader increase for cab drivers. it is inconceivable that any of the union's that contract with muni would go anywhere near that

time without a raise in pay. there has been a 19% increase in the cost of living. you know that san francisco is among and really is the most expensive city in the entire country for cost of living with the exception of the borough of manhattan in new york. drivers kids have gone up. there was a $12.50 gate increase a few years back. gas has gone up 153%. it was $1.69 in january 2003 when we got the meter increase. last week, it was $4.28. even drivers who are driving hybrids now are paying substantially more for gas than driving the conventional gas guzzlers back in 2003. in addition to that, you put credit card fees on the backs of drivers.

drivers need this increase. do not hold it hostage to these 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. page. are you aware your credit card