cabs and the cpuc does not have the authority to override state law, which gives cities the exclusive authority over taxi cabs. >> have you that authority right now. >> thank you. >> next speaker? >> i think that we can. oh, it is working wonderful. >> hello, my name is ruba grafis and i have been cab driving for 40 years. i also teach the city mandated class for new cab drivers. this includes several hours of sensitivity training, for the people with disabilities. the puc spokesperson was a complete disappointment. she sounds like the famous court craze that argued that separate and equal were going to make good accommodations and

adequate runs for blacks as well as whites. we certainly know where that went. >> 1934, we got to the civil rights act that completely refuted that and it took us 26 years to add disabled people to that list, one would think that the puc, did not have to see what the harm was. all that they have to do is make their rules compliant with current federal law thank you. >> thank you so much. >> i am going to call a couple more names, cuterer harrison, robert fasana and richard hible., and tara houseman and bob plantle. >> and i am charles and on behave of the lexos cab company and neighborer to the services we have provided wheelchair for decades, we introduced taxi magic for 2008 and provided the first rides in that year, or

two years before uber's first ride. and we now, participate probably in flywheels and the network of 1400 cabs, and i would like to use the rest of my time to offer words of respect to the thousands of law abiding blue collar men and women of san francisco taxi industry, you the cab drivers have conducted yourselves honorable and withself respect during these difficult years when too many of our elected officials have had only words of praise or for the law breakers, uber lift and the rest have made fools of the people who follow the rules, and i urge you to restore the rule of law thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker. >> good morning, i'm revalos and i am a medallion holder and i purchase ited in october of 2013 andvy been a taxi driver for 28 years and i just would

like to say if you can imagine that starbucks came to the city and said, we are not going to tell you how many stores we have, we are not going to tell you how many employees we have or what kind of insurance we have for our employees and or tell you anything about our business, our coffee is popular and the customers like it and that should be good enough and if the customers don't like it, they can go on yelp and they will stop buying coffee from us, that would be absurd. and i also want to remind you that medallion holders are small business people and you are going to hear a lot of the beating of that you are threatening that small business people. and who are beholden to work for uber and lift inside car, and uber claims that they help the drivers get their own cars and use a subprime lender that is questionable at best. and we are not beholden as holders to cab companies, we are real business people, who

purchased our medallions. >> thank you so much. >> could i ask if bob plantol could be the next speaker. >> and chair campos just alerted me that there is a lot more people, wanting to come into the room and, there is an overflow room in the north light court if the people want to view the proceedings of this committee hearing. >> i am bob planthold and i am going to reference the two letters from the council that i gave to the clerk and to you folks, what is being ignored in the comments from the cpc staff and hers even the questions for you folks rks and there is a major disability that shows cpuc is not responsive to the ada and the july 2013 letter to cpuc indicated, that to use these tnc services you need a smart phone. and i am sorry that is right away, duh. that is an economic disparity issue that is separate from what has been reported that they don't have to have wheelchair accessible avehicles, i am suggesting that

you folks ought to not think about modifying, adopting and working for the seattle model, instead your plausable basis to file a department of justice complaint against the cpuc for violating the ada, they talk about needing data and ignoring the smart phone itself is a data indication that not everybody can be served by tncs that their vehicles are not all, and that some of them are not equipped, and also an indication that they are neglect cpuc and don't talk about the companies, and go to the source of the lack of jurisdiction and the lack of enforcement, and the cpuc and that is the target. >> thank you. >> next speaker? >> they are waiting for more information and they are letting something run amuck and then they want information. and they should get the information first and also, briefly i would like to address

the economic issue to the city, and you have the med dallons and you are taking a percentage of and 85 from the cab and the business licenses that is going to be a loss to the city and this is also just a start of the so-called new apps and business, and you have the same situation, and we are paying factions and running amuck on you without paying taxes, and if it is not stopped here and it is going to continue going on. >> next speaker. >> my name is ron walter and i am a driver with the san francisco green cab. i would like to say that thank you for holding this hearing. and i would like to say that it has been a rough winter and it has been tough making money and tough on a lot of the cab companies and the green cab and trouble with insurance and recently a lot of companies have trouble with hiring. and if you take away one thing from this hearing, i would like

this statement here. that the new ride service that should be held to the same standards as traditional taxis and you have the authority to require business licenses or businesses that are here. and you require to the commercial business and the state requires proof of proper insurance. and just a few things. and all right, thank you. >> thank you. >> next speaker. >> good morning to the supervisors, and thank you for holding this hearing. the neglected area that no one has talked about other than that wheelchairs, which i can explain to you, is the taxi industry carries hundreds of thousands of people every year under the paratransit program. which is a state subsidized program and a federal subsidized program. and which is the envy of every

city in america. we were the best. but you have to understand that the taxi industry subsidizes through its drivers and there itself, these services as well as the wheelchair services. and by subsidizing them, the way it works is this, you take some disabled people, and you take some people who are not disabled, the app industry... >> thank you, sir. >> thank you. >> i am going to call a few more names, amad albania, dan henos, cheryl, fabro or barbico. and douglas oconnor. hi, good morning.

>> i am bary and an advocate for the taxi cab industry, i want to tell you that the legacy of sophie is not going unnoticed in seattle they took so concerned about what happened to her, they immediately took action. what happened in this city? the mayor said in july 13th, and gave it a day for one of those ride services it is not ride share get that phrase out of your mind it is not ride share and i will explain why that is later, also their training and learning more about where the bathrooms are throughout the city than the hospital and police stations are and also the insurance gap issue and we should be concerned, i talk to a passenger you take one of these vehicles and good luck in collecting they use our city streets, they use our cab stands and it is stressful to have to go out there day in and day out, asking them why they are using our taxi stands that we pay for and that the public has provided it is really

disheartening bring in the city attorney and the police to talk about their concerns too. >> thank you. >> next speaker? >> microphone, please. >> my name is cheryl damico and pcc chair, i did get some of my sticking points to him, but as pointed out, the taxi drivers are mandated to take a two-hour sensitivity course on how to assist the disabled in the taxi schools for ramp taxi it is a four-hour class. uber is somebody who is elderly, or were to get there, they would have no idea how to accommodate this person. and it can be become dangerous.

besides which somebody indicated whereas the regulation? and where is the law? it is a federal law. and it is the americans with disabilities act and so, that, is claiming that there are transit that takes care of things, every public or private. >> thank you, ma'am. >> company, and he did this. >> thank you, very much. >> thank you. >> and so there is a soft ring that comes on, with about 15 seconds to go. and then, the larger ring alerts you that your time is up. sir, next speaker? >> yeah, thanks for holding the meeting what i am here just now to response of the puc lady in which she said that we have been waiting for 25 years to implement the regulation, and the speaker, and now she has

the courage to stand here, and to say that we will look at the regulations she is not... but if we have to wait and we have 25 years, for that, no, it is that 30, and it is within your authority to implement the regulation and not the state. what she sees in the book she does not go in the state and see how much, and how many cabs, and okay? and the same, same driver, in the driving taxi and the driving for x, okay? and the lower (inaudible) ten hours, because i said, that (inaudible) and it starts and at 8:00 in the morning and they go, to ten at night and so that it is 18 hours or 19 hours a day and then you figure out how safe that is. and thank you. >> supervisors, jim galespie general manager of yellow cab cooperative and i am encouraged by this hearing and we need the

help of staoet and we are not sure where things were and we have to rely on the state and the drivers and the companies are affected by this and so i hope that the message that i think that it is given by everyone and you have heard that there are three areas and i think is safety, and the liability and the insurance that we talked about and congestion. and these are all things that should be and i think that obviously are from your remarks, or concerns of the city, and i hope that this will carry forth after today that things change and we want to keep this taxi company viable and we are not afraid of competition but we need a little playing field and that we have direly need your support, thank you very much. >> thank you. >> john hann, dave snyder, tony slay, seth berm an, david

smith, walter durly and david barlow. >> i am a yellow cab driver and i have been driving in the city for 18 years and i waited to get a free med dallon for 16 years and the city did decide to sell it for $250,000. and i borrowed money from all over to get this down payment to pay it for the federal credit bank and then unfortunately, you know, our business is not really protected from the city. and we were expecting much more better job, you know than we have and now from the city to protect our business. and you know, we are serving the city very well, i work myself and the ramp taxi for about 6 years, you know? i serve the community, very well. and i help the handicap and we never discriminate the handicap and we never over charge, if i

charge my customer a dollar, it will be a big problem, the city will fire me, but over this charge 6 times on the new year's. >> thank you. >> big tip. >> thank you. >> next speaker. >> and thank you very much, for having this hearing, and new york state has ruled in this electronic or ehail, is of an on demand nature, and rather than a prearrangement and here in california, michael pv of puc had to approve or argue that it was actually prearranged and the two criteria that are used are bogus in my opinion and first of all it has to be put on file by the customer and tap for a ride. he could argue that it under the purview because the customer has put the money in the wallet and raised the hand and it is appealed and throw out in court that these are

taxi rides that are happening and i think that it is incumbent to take all vehicles off of the street that don't have proper insurance. i think that a seize and desist order would be good until there is proof of insurance and also to protect the taxi industry that works hard and you have process, and to determine how many vehicles should be on the road. thank you. >> thank you, sir, next speaker? >> one minute is too short. >> my name is tara and i drive for the desoto cab and cpuc does not have data because they refused to have data and there was a formal request for an evidentiary hearing and at least 20 entities seconded that motion and they refused to and as far as the incoming down 15 dollars, my income is down 30 to 50 percent and i have got 30 years experience in this

business. >> 3,000 cars are circling because of these tnc and they also are encouraged discrimination by the rate the customer feature and you never know because the neighborhood that you are in or because you don't fist bump, and director cannot get the tnc because she has been red lined and she followed all of the rules, i urge you to seize regulatory control in any way possible and don't wait for the cpuc. they don't have the regulators. >> thank you. >> next speaker? >> i have been in the taxi business about 35 years now and i have owned metro cab for 20 years and if one of my drivers gets hurt tonight i have a million dollar coverage. i am going to emphasize mr.

dolan's points, public is going to be paying for these injuries. no doubt about it. one of these tncs could have a minimum of $15,000 of liability insurance and if he crashes himself, or hurts himself, public is going to be paying for it. mark my words. >> what is your name? >> richard hibols. >> thank you. >> my name is namshirm a and i am driving for the yellow 20 years. i am not here to praise you mta because they did so much damage to the taxi business, and you start (inaudible) and you think about the mta revenue, but they will stop over the (inaudible) how are we going to trust you? before us and we actually used to go to each taxi company (inaudible) we are going to the

airport, but all for $2, this is ridiculous, before she lied, and your mta investigators are making (inaudible) to confuse (inaudible) not working (inaudible) they do not... >> thank you so much. >> want us to fight for our rights uber, they do not have full coverage insurance. they are criminals you never check their driving record. (inaudible). >> please be fair and let the next speaker come up. >> please be fair sir. next speaker. >> i am with the desoto taxi

cab. >> mc... >> and we are driving a cab in san francisco for almost 32 years. with all due report i would urge you to take the blinders off what we have here is a situation of just (inaudible) and we have this dishonest rhetoric at the very heart of this issue to call these companies tncs, is bogus to call them ride shares is ridiculous. they are taxi cabs and they, and you, by allowing them to operate, you have created a two tier system where you have the people that have the money and the cab companies are caught picking up the rest of the people that is what you got here. you have a situation of defacto regulation because you have an

extra 6,000 cars on the street that are taking cab rides away but also polluting the city that is something that you need to take into consideration. also, as the women from the puc had said, hailing a cab... >> yeah. >> last point. >> hailing a cab needs to be reinterpreted. >> thank you. >> cloe cocran and andrew green, and tarac hussen. >> president of the natural veteran cab company, i would like to make three kick points, first you cannot have an industry where on demand transportation which is regulated competes with transportation that is unregulated what is going to happen is the unregulated are not going to survive. >> the regulations as they are laid out with respect to the

cab industry or layed out by the city to serve the interest of the public. and it is important that you formulate those in that way, and the third thing that i would point out is that the puc, has not shown any interest in regulating public safety in the interest of the people of san francisco and it is important that you represent the people of san francisco and make sure that those regulations apply to all the providers. >> thank you. >> next speaker. >> good morning, supervisors, thank you, for having this hearing, now, and i would like to call your attention to something that was very missed in this, and is don't wait until we lose another great child, or have a murder in one of the cabs or have someone raped because you have someone that has not been had a background check. i would not be able to sleep at night, i urge you to act as quickly as you can and support

the drivers that have devoted their lives to driving the taxi. thank you. >> kevin stol, constance and galani sturit. >> next speaker it does not have to be that order just come up please. >> my name is michael madox and i would like to address two things for safety and that is what this is all about. >> were you on the list? >> no. >> i have my card, it was back there. >> you have to wait your turn until your name is called. >> next speaker? >> i can't repeat the names, come forward in your name has been called. >> yes. hello, and thank you, supervisors and supervisor mar for your superior leadership, my name is douglas oconnor and i drove for uber and they hired

a friend of mine with a dui and he has a history of citation and dui and multiples the private investigators took eight to ten hours to pull all of the records out, they falsely advertised to me, and solicited me to get rides from this individual and i had to research this, and my friend was driving under uninsured from the policy because he did not qualify for the policy because of the dui and dirty driving history. so, what we need to do is that complaint went to the district attorney and had to be forwarded to the puc and as a result, the puc has taken five to six months to investigate this matter and i met with the puc investigator at the end of january, and first of all she does not have the courage to show up to this hearing, and secondly, she did not even know if he had a dui or not, we had to provide the records to the investigator she could not go

to martinez and pull them out himself. >> could you share the information with my office, please? >> next speaker. >> good afternoon, i am the general manager of the cab companies of san francisco and provides thousands of rides to the customer and the wheelchair customer and we have a smart phone technology and it is working wonderfully and other than the fact that we are short of drivers and we need your help to bring back the drivers to the regulated market where there is safety and concerns are met and fees are paid and we have experienced a great shortage of drivers which is why we can't fill the ramp orders which is why they stopped calling us, this will end in the taxi demise and only tnc and there will not be service for the most important residents at one level playing field. >> frank sahey and ed saley and

jim knight and trevor johnson, and marian, fotioli. >> my name is cory lamb and a cab driver for desoto cab but i wanted to address the puc as they need to figure out what to regulate is absurd. in the united kingdom in 1635, so the idea that they have no basis for regulation is pretty disgusting. and i would like to point out the fact that as a cab driver, i have fees that i pay to the cab company and the city and the city has for all, and with all dao respect has been negligent in respecting my needs, and the needs of those provide me an opportunity to work. the holders as well as the companies and so as respectfully as possible i would like to urge more action from the city and not less thank you so much.

>> thank you. >> next speaker. >> just, please come forward if your names have been called. >> yes, thank you. >> and my name is david barlow and i am also with taxi cab workers. and my topic just one topic basically is taxi cabs service. and in the capitals and in the cities around the u.s.. there are standards for taxi cab service that have been developed, 80 years, hence, previously. and those are safety, and reliability, and pricing.

these drivers are all suffering but one of the biggest points that have been missed tonight is the hotel business and the billions of dollars that are invested in restaurant and how many people are there employing in the city and all of those people, who are going to be paying, two or 300 dollars to get a room in the city of san francisco and in the coming years there will not be enough tax to service them, they will not come to the city of san francisco. and have to get a ride from one of these private cars, that is something that is going to lead to the demise of our beloved city of san francisco. and there are other issues here, but i think that is the big issue e to

use financing assistance based out of houston lender and i participated in this program and got as far as being approved and the only thing to do was pick out which car that i wanted and i have to say that the idea of owning your own car and working when you wanted had a lot of appeal after years of being a cab driver. but i had to stop myself and check the insurance before i pulled the trigger before i found that the personal insurance company would not cover a uber lift or a side car or anything like that. so i have the choice of committing felony insurance fraud because the process went such that they were going to register the car as a personal vehicle and i would then