extremes. and the san francisco police depend would start enforcing traffic conditions to start issuing tickets to taxi and uber it would drive them out of the city because they couldn't afford to operate. these guys are parking in yellow zones so the delivery trucks have to double park. what's that cost. if you say only owners, which i am to be, where do you think the other cabs will go? >> commissioner: into >> commissioner: into the >> into the city. who will do the night shift. shame on the owner of medallions driving for uber. you should all go to hel. >> next speaker, please. >> hello. my name is martin kazinski and

interesting to watch it develop and sore try to mr. reskin when he was asking what kind of control of your streets do you have here. he said, well, it's the traffic and stuff like that. take control of your streets from the state of california. the courts, ask them to define who has control of the streets. is it state of california, local government once and for all. there's basically no support for the proposals no matter what she states. the stickers on the board, as you can see from this exercise here that 99% of the people are opposing to the proposals.

now, i believe there are solutions. the solutions are not that difficult but you have to go to the leaders of the city and ask them, do you want taxis in the city. if you don't, just kill us. don't let us suffer. if you do want taxi service, support us. solution has to come from city governments especially participating in financial resolution to the problem. it can be done. it can be done with no such a tremendous cost. spo will tell spo xoop did but the whole thing on hold and with a roundtable including credit union and the drivers and owners and non-owners to come up with a better solution than what is proposed right now.

>> commissioner: thank you, next speaker, please. >> hello. i bought a medallion and drove limos before medallion for the dot coms and everybody is treating the problem like with a band-aid. i think the problem is price wars. i used to go to sacramento and try to defend myself and my rights for my future. a lot of these drivers don't show up. one going this way and another this way, no communication, no education, no game plan. believe it or not, i had a store from 1981 and had a store and next door was another store and liquor and sandwiches and other thing and price wars.

this is a price war. this whole problem is a price war. finally, i sold out the situation. i went to uber and last week i made $3,000. i went to halfmoon bay for $32 and we used $140 for a taxi. they're not going to jump in a taxi because of the prices. i talked to them, why you not taking taxis, i'm going san joée with $170 and you're $32. drop the prices and do a little bit promotion. we'll have a chance. it's not about a medallion. most customers go on friday night on park street waiting 20 minutes for a uber and there's 20 cabs empty because of prices. in the airport i leave the lot

and takes 25 minutes to get to him for price. $20 for the city or $60 plus tip. if you don't understand that, there's a problem. my brother-in-law taught me that problem and in the '90s they had the biggest price wars regarding coffee. he started selling it 50 cent and losing 50 cents a pound to mess with the other guy because of the prices. sit fair for know take over -- [gavel] >> commissioner: order. i don't want to have to clear the room but i will. quiet right now. >> these guys don't understand. i paid $50,000 for a down payment and it cost me $123 a day. i'm giving it to a driver i'm losing $1,000 without expenses

on the vehicle because there's one guy said the airport there's no taxis. i waited three hours for a cab. i got tired of being patient and smoking seven packs a day of cigarettes and i don't know what i'm doing. >> commissioner: thank you. next speaker. deputy, thank you. everyone quiet. >> i'm endajiv guthra and me and my family bought five or six medallions. we got on the top of the list for getting free medallions. they said this is the last chance for you guys to buy the medallions or there will be no more list. okay. my brother took a loan from my property and we got it from the credit union, $250,000 each medallion and after you started

selling $125,000 to the other people. why you charge us $250,000 and other people $125,000? i heard them say they've been driving a long time or forgot to apply for the medallion, this thing and that thing. that's all [bleep] okay. please, help us out. there's no other problem. the problem is because we paid $250,000 to the m.t.a. who's responsibility is the medallion. you work and feed your family. the m.t.a. didn't do their job. you say we are going to open the market. yes, i appreciate that. open the market so anybody can buy it whatever. but who is going to buy it for $250,000? nobody. nobody. the problem is going to be the same.

our request is if the m.t.a. took the money from us, please buy back the medallions if you want to solve that problem. i don't want to [indiscernible], i know, if some money is going to come to my pocket or go to the airport but problem is the uber and lyft and the m.t.a. didn't do their job. please, lower the price if you want to -- $125,000 for the medallion. >> commissioner: thank you, next speaker, please. >> thank you so much. >> is sukma wijam here. suk atell. jarhan shohaz. >> i'm giving you this information. this will give you about the

purchase of the medallion and how much money they made in seven years and they are not telling the correct information. this is a letter you received from the credit union saying the proposal is like trash. coming to the question, your proposal is 579 post medallions cannot pick up from the airport. we paid $100 per shift and after working 10 hours we make only $100 extra. so $100 to take home, in other words. if you change the law our economic will go down to only $50. this is a cry of the 2400 which are involved in it today. don't do it. the second thing you're talking about taking away pre-k medallion and not allow them elsewhere except for pickup. the drivers are also attached to

the pre-k medallion. don't do it. for the m.t.a., i feel ashamed with prop a we transfer the taxi commission in your incapable hand. i feel ashamed that we got to this job by getting it out and now we're in trouble. direct director hineke if your house fall down i will not be sorry if you're killing my job. you the board members decide, are you going kill 2400 jobs? tell the mayor that you are not going to do it. please don't pass this. this is terrible for the drivers' life. thank you. >> sukma suk atel.

>> hello. i've been driving taxis since 2011. this is my full-time job and if you guys stop stop us from going to the airport basically you guys are just killing us and destroying our job and maybe it's going to be a more jobless and also homeless people on the street. one of them could be me. what i'm seeing in the situation, you guys are making one rule by the rule and another rule and we follow every single rule you make but some don't make sense. it only goes to us but not a competitor company. like one is every time we want to pick up a customer we need to

have $5 in a cart and if we don't have it

are >> i'm going to go in a different direction here. mike spain. this is the lawsuit that was filed against the m.t.a. by the

federal credit union. i've taken five pages out of it because they're importantly. the credit union says that $125 million was loaned into this industry. these are the factual things they state. they say that revenues of $64 million went to you, m.t.a. they also state that later in the suit, that in november 2016, in the meeting, they realized that is the federal union, realized the taxi transfer program had been terminated. they say it was basically terminated.

this prompted the federal credit union to begin to file a tap. suit.they realized they were goo be sued with huge liabilities and they began defensive measures at the time. they believe that the -- i believe that this program comes out of that and the report was to give wind to the back of their recommendation. by the way, they're suing for $28 million. if you take the $64 million that you took from the industry and workout a settlement with the federal credit union and those people that paid 250, give them back half their money, that's about 60 some million dollars. i think this thing would end up going away and it would not need the farce of this program. >> next speaker, please. >> douglas o'conner.

>> let's have the lines start coming forward. >> i've been a cab driver. i can tell you it used to be business driving a cab. however now, since the last years, you have butchered this business. these guys have suffered greatly by putting uber and lyfts out there. these guys are outnumbered at least 5-1. it's like you got five marines against one solider. you ain't got a chance. that's what these guys are like. one guy, one cab driver five ubers. my other part is keeping them out of the airport. if they want to pick up at the airport, let them go. there's no need to divide the

cab drivers and say we're going to let these guys go to the airport and these guys can't go to the airport. no. that's got to be canceled. the other part of it is these guys have paid $250,000 for a medallion, return the money. give it back. it was bad faith. we know it was bad faith. it was their election of duty and you know it was dereliction of duty. give them back their money, take the medallion back. give them back the $250,000. those guys are suffering, badly. really bad. these guys, the sheriff's wouldn't like it. if they had to pay $250,000 and you told the sheriff's no, we want you to keep paying the money. these officers are going to say wait a minute, you told me a bill of goods. another part is look at this --

volkswagen made a diesel engine, right. they found it was no good. this just what happened. volkswagen gave the money back. they gave the money back to the customers that bought the car. give these guys their money back. >> thank you, mr. collins. next speaker, please. >> my name is mary mcgwire. i ask you reject these recommendations. first of all the report you paid 1 quarter million dollars. he failed to mention, the elephant in the room, it could jeopardize his future earnings. i also find it interesting the representative from s.f.o. is unable to supply data with congestion due to t.n.c.s versus taxis. limiting the access to s.f.o. and removing cabs from the street doesn't restore dignity

and respect to anyone it punishes drivers and the public for your mistakes. the public who will not have cab service and the october 12th year from the credit union. the 45,000 members who live, work, go to school and worship in the city of san francisco. 45,000. citizens who will be financially harmed if you vote to approve this. their life savings, their pensions. do you really want to do that? do you want to harm more people than you already have? credit union has asked that you fairly and responsibly unwind this program. that you admit your mistakes. be adults. please, take steps to do that before more people get hurt. >> next speaker, please.

>> good afternoon. i've been a taxi driver for the last 30 years. >> say your name again. >> joba. i've been a cab driver for the last 30 years. as an owner to speak if front of you and madam, what we're fighting is we're fighting against each other. innovation is the way. you -- you are in the city that has created over and left. you, we don't want you to destroy uber or lyft. technology. everybody has uber and lyft. instead of fighting them, we can be innovative. the next time you call on uber, for example, what if the uber driver shows up in a taxi?

what do you think? if someone says take me to the airport for $25, i get up and take them. if someone wants to give me $100, get me out of here, i'll kiss his hand. i'll say come on and i'll take you. let's be innovative. taxis. you have an asset of 2,000 drivers. don't devalue it. these guys who voted they want their value to go up. how do you do that? how do you do that? how do you do that, sir? simple. you have driver that has background check. you have a nice car. you have the million dollars insurance. you are the directors. you have a street that is painted for taxi and buses. i can get there faster than the regular guy, which way do i go? the cab driver knows the city. you have the street that you came and wasted so many in it but you see me driving up and

down looking for a fare. someone is not even using it. taxi driver driving up down empty street in traffic. >> new speaker, please. >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. i'll try to be coherent although i'm very upset, like the other guys. my name is stewart rosen. i've been a taxi driver in new york city in 1968, came to california and started driving in 1974. i was one of the first guys to sign on to buy yellow cab. i'm going to do something -- i want to address ms. torez, who was talking before about the drag and the value of ma dal i don'idon'tyans.we were put on ts

corporate holders. this makes it look like we're big corporate people. i eat in-in-out burger. show me my millions of dollars. i was on the board of directors thursday in the intervention bureau. i was on the sanoma county marking committee and i was awarded the first tourist embassador award for the number one business who promoted tourism. guess what, i did this by choice. i devoted my life to the city that i love, and it's people. i survived a suicide in front of my taxi, ok. i put my life on the line. you all know it's dangerous now. this is what is happening. everybody is human. they make mistakes. you guys make mistakes fine, so did i.

i put my time in. aren't i worth something? aren't the old people who are sick and couldn't come here worth something? those 200 permits are not going to do nothing. use commonsense. when people look for a cab and there's less cabs guess what, they're going to take an uber. >> thank you, next speaker, please. >> thank you. thank you for your time. don't forget your bag, sir. your bag is still up on the podium. your bag. go ahead, sir. >> my name is francisco decosta. i'm the director of environmental justice advocacy. i've been hearing the trials and the tribulations of the drivers. some of your kind of understand

the suffering because of mistakes that you have made. you don't want to own it. and this is happening all over. i was at a board of supervisors, see that. greed. i was at a sunshine task force at a committee meeting over there, greed. you have to analyze about operation 8. some of you have your heart in the right place. others are sleepy, drowsy, your heart is not in the right please. and if your heart is not in the right please, don't be there. why, because you cannot represent. check your head. change the agenda. public comments, which was at the beginning, put it at the end. disrespect the constituents of san francisco. disrespect the citizens of san

francisco. disrespect the taxi drivers of san francisco. i used to come to the meetings when there was a taxi commission. none of you are on a taxi commission. none of you were on the taxi commission when i used to come there. i'll telling you that. y'all came later on. when you came later on you changed the taxi drivers with this scheme of the medallions. if you were there and you shake your head and say you were on the taxi commission. who is the taxi drivers in broad daylight. pay the money back. everybody is suffering. shame on you all. >> next speaker, please. >> my name is evelyn. i'm a member of the san francisco taxi workers alliance.

>> into the microphone, please. >> i lost my train of thought. well, i'm a taxi driver. i don't own a medallion but i oppose the reforms. the first three reforms you have proposed. that will ban half the fleet from the airport, that will not renew individual medallion and corporate medallion that's will selma dal yans to corporation and investors and take them out of the hands of working taxi drivers. i believe these proposals are basically robbing peter to pay paul for the m.t.a.'s mistake of inaction. a lot of people have alluded to that mistakement i want to go over it a little bit. in 2012, february 7th, 2012, a company called side car launched

allowing people to drive their personal cars and pick up individuals for hire. around may, lyft launched, in july, a reporter spent two weeks driving for these two companies to see what it was like and wrote about it. this reporter said they say are ridesharing companies not taxi. a drove around like a taxi and dropped people off like a taxi but companies say i'm not a taxi. i'm not getting paid for fears i'm getting donations. it was obvious to everyone at the time and even those in the tech community these rides were supplying rides and the m.t.a. spokes men said they are aware and considering whether to take any action and they took no

action. >> i'm a san francisco resident. i use cabs. i no longer use t.n.c.s and i oppose this for three reasons. one, equity, two, the public-health crisis and three, this is a state issue not a local-only issue. on equity, raise your hand if you are a first generation immigrant into the united states. >> quiet, please. >> this measure will negatively impact immigrants in san francisco. they deserve the best opportunity to succeed and strive in san francisco. we should not pass this measure. this measure is also a public-health crisis as we're seeing. my brother committed suicide

when he was struggling with his business 15 years agoment this is a public-health crisis. we must not pass this measure. this is a state issue as well with the tnc regulation coming forward, we must have a regulation for taxis that include the state measures upcoming and consider the regulation holistically so that the taxi industry can succeed. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hi, my name is ron walter. i'd like to make a couple points here. first, you use the report to determine a lot of your decision here. i'd like to point out there's a lot of things wrong. the main one is that the reporting that the average taxi

driver is making $52,000 a year, that's a thousand dollars a week, that's just wildly off the mark. you have drivers coming up here saying they're struggling to make $10 an hour. they're struggling to make minimum wage. something close to him mum wage. drivers are not making a thousand dollars a week. i mean, it wouldn't be a problem hiring drivers. maybe it would in san francisco. second point i want to make is the problem began in 2012, like the previous speaker poin pointd out. >> you directed no enforcement.

the city could have done something at that time. taxi drivers, taxi company ownsers came to the city with lots of suggestions at what could be done and it's too late now. that's gone. i appreciate that mr. peskin sent someone here to represents him and i collected those signatures from the board of supervisors. this thing about removing the right of a medallion holder and a driver to pick up at the airport and devalue their permits to increase the value of someone else's permits is dead wrong. give them back their money. people paid $250,000. thank you. >> thank you, next speaker, please. >> good afternoon. ladies and gentlemen, i'm lawrence paul and medallion owner at 376 and as i was doing

a little research i found that taxi services stated mission statement is to promote a vibrant taxi industry through intelligent regulation, enforcement and partnership. i think that it's important to also mention that i did a little survey and called the san diego administration of taxi services and they informed me that their two tier system where they sell a separate permit for taxis to pick up at the airport right now is stalled. taxi drivers are very upset that they can't pick up at the airport. i was checking this out a few years ago and now, right now, it's definitely not working for a variety of reasons and particularly not working for drivers down there.

so, i want to say here at the beginning that i support the part of the recommendation that -- and i think it's a big success that the taxi services and we selm sell medallions to e corporations. i think it's well overdue. clearly, the transportation industry is in a state of continued growth. i am opposed to limiting taxi medallions from picking up at the airport or requiring that pre k medallions get surrendered. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> my name is edward escobar. i am a uber-lyft driver.

we do stand in support and solidarity for taxi workers because they are suffering and m.t.a. did not do their job along with the cpuc, they let the cat out of the bag. it's hard to put toothpaste back into the tube when it's done. you guys need to stand up. there's a lot of human suffering going on. there's seven drivers that have committed suicide. those are ones we know of. people are dropping dead from workers exhaustion. we have the new class of homeless and these are the drivers. these are t.n.c. and taxi. we're all in this and we're all drivers, workers and human beings. we need to do something about this. this hashtag drivers unite where. we're united for the greater good. this is the future of work we're talking about. yes, we can.

thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good afternoon, guys. my name is hanson. i am a cab driver. i am not ready for this speech. i just want to represent drivers. i think the solution that you guys have, i'm not pro medallion or the p.k. medallion but proposal that you are pro owing iproposingis not going to worko. it's not going to help the city or the drivers. what you guys are trying to go back to l.a with less medallions. the citizens of san francisco were suffering because there was not enough taxis on the street. that's how uber got created. the solution that you guys proposed is not going to work. i'm not sure how much uber is paying the city.

so if you really want to solve the problem, you might want to give medallion the active drivers, the drivers that drive everyday. people we haven't seen. there's guys that drive every day, 12 to 15 hours a day, give them a free medallion, just like uber. why do we have to buy m ma dal i don't know and create discretion like an apple. the company are enemies they're not innocent. they create the problems. the company, the medallion owners, they create the problem that we have in taxi industry. sorry. i'm not prepared for this. this is what i want. there are people out there with children. they make money. they take of their children. when you takes this option, not to go to the airport, you

cutting family that people need to support and uber actually makes a big problem in the airport. the airport, they are not a taxi. >> thank you, very much. next speaker. your time is up. >> i'm sorry, your time is up. >> next speaker, please. thank you. thank you, sir. >> do the job. you are not doing the job. >> i'm sorry we can only allow two minutes per speaker. thank you, very much. >> go ahead. >> my name is at that time tee otatiana.it's not the medallions fault. not the earned or those paid for. all of the people who earn the medallions did it in the way

following the law. the sfmt is at fault. they sold them and guaranteed the value and the sffs does nothing to protect the industry when the t.n.c. came. no one in the reform to they talk about regulating the tmc and reducing cabs in the airport. you are just taking money from one person's pocket and putting it into another. instead of taking the blame, the sfta is blaming the earned corporate medallions. regulate them and the medallions will regain their value. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> jacob. good afternoon. general manager. at the beginning, i talked about this proposal. i said to myself, no, that

cannot be right. you can't take something from one person or organization that was legally obtained and give it to someone else. this is a -- the people medallions were purchased legally. people paid money for it. and they didn't do anything wrong. they didn't violate the law. the same thing happened to a medallion. people put their name on the lease and they're waiting for five, 10, 15, 20 years and if they were lucky they would get one. they not just follow the law, they followed it to the letter. the consequences of this proposed law, if it passes or adapted, for example, in case of town taxi it will be devastating. we have people committed to the

vehicle. they're driving. 99% of those medallions are 12d and effect on all these people. they will be devastated. the market devastated, diluted and the there is so much in san francisco to make a livable living for the parties involved. so i think a practical or proper regulation is the way to go but not for the way of this proposed reform. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> hello, hi. it's douglas over at luxos taxi.

>> douglas o'conner. luxor taxi. i had a solution. i want to throw out a solution for the medallion crisis. the regulatory creation of what i call a temporary rest vehicle. i submitted a proposal of this new type of industry due to the insurance and liability i think the taxi industry would be perfect to create this new t.r.v. vehicle and it would actually allow the medallion holders to pay for their cars and eastern money and revenue creating a vibrant world. i've submitted and a t.r.v. is a car napping service so it's almost creating airbnb on wheels. and i believe there should be an exemption, special ex pemion for taxis. due to this medallion crisis. and what this would do is solve the problem of drivers working 12 hour days, you know, passing

out due to exhaustion because they can earn money off their vehicles while they're not actually driving it. and that would be a facility like the sutter stock and garage. i believe that's what my solution is. i oppose these solutions being offered but my solution is like hey, let's put our heads together and find new ways for taxis to earn revenue. i believe with the video cameras and the clear markings of the car and commercial insurance, this would solve a lot. that's my output here, my solution to the problem. >> thank you mr. o'conner. can i just have a show of hands who in the room still wants to speak. we are going to go through the speakers in the room. we don't have anybody in the overflow room would wishes to speak? we're going to go through these

speakers. let's go through and after we get to mr. winier. >> please come forward, sir. >> we'll start as the line comes down, people can just come and lineup and we'll get through all the speakers. >> i am a taxicab medallion pre k. i drove taxicabs starting in 1974. yellow cab went bankrupt i was lucky enough to join the co-op. we paid for our medallions. we started yellow cab co-op. during the years, it was voted in the best cab company in the united states. i think your wrong. what is different from seeing someone like me who got a pre k1977 from someone who got a

k1978. you hear about all the this money that we've made. well, they've made the money minus 10,000. it's the same thing. that's a real distinction. that's real equal protection. that's not a distinction. i think you'd lose but who aim. i don't know? number two, this proposal zazi limb nature the pre ks. good. get rid of the medallions. but, we want to offer in the future medallion to corporations or whatever. who benefits from that? about the we know who loses the pre k. what are you going to do? are you going to sell them? you are going to sell them for what, $250,000? who benefits from that? the city benefits. you benefit. i heard the rumor that all muni wants is money, money and money. you did this and it's wrecked the thing. the mayor sat on his hands and

the paying contribute or who a venture capitalist behind uber might help finance while uber is operating and left it to the state. now everybody here in the city is like we don't have the jurisdiction. well you had the jurisdiction back then and you could have done something about it. >> next speaker, please. >> thank you, sir. >> and you didn't do anything about it. it's not true. you tell me why it's not true. >> next speaker. >> good evening. my name is charles wrathbone. i'm a m medallion holder at luxk cab. they're not burden ond with debt. we are the debt-free part of the industry and we have proven to be both resilient and sustainable even in the face of a year's long price war. these proposals break the very

part of the industry that is not under water. please, vote no on the airport ban. the suggested tweaks to the sales program are timid and half hearted. let's talk instead about finding the right price. and about the role of autonomous taxicabs and what that will mean for the value of medallion in the future. the airport ban is environmentally unsound. it uncourages or forces hundreds of inefficient dead-head trips back and fourth between the airport everyday. lastly, the pre k medallion holders at luxor are elderly and very few of them can be here today. however, they are responsible for many excellent innovations. including wheelchair accessible interest, which they introduced

at luxor even before there was an a. d.a. and even though it was an unprofitability line of business. pre k management introduced this spectacular london cabs to san francisco. they also brought us the taxi magic e-hail cab which was copied two years later by uber and lyft. please do not stereo type these people as some kind of villain. >> thank you. next speaker, please. >> good evening, directors. my name is ba tina cohen. i have the wife of a k medallion owner who has worked in the industry for 40 years and earned his medallion through sweat equity. please do not restrict any medallion. these are blue collar workers

who have complied with regulations and spent their lives working hard to serve the public in a high-risk occupation. most of the pre k medallion holders are in their 70s, 80s and 90s. most ks are at least in their 60s. this afternoon, you've heard from numerous drivers asking you how will they feed their families. i'm telling you this proposal will hurt their households worse than what they're already experiencing. and i'm here to tell you this proposal will hurt me and all others spouses and family members of medallion holders in more ways than you know. there's a problem that needs to be fixed but revoking or restricting the permits of blue collar workers who have complied

with your regulations is not the solution. please, do not dough this. thank you. [applause] next speaker, please. >> herbert winier, sciu local 2021 retiree. mta celebrates halloween every day because everyday has a horror story. this is the horror story of m.t.a. today. first of all, any taxi driver should be able to take up any passenger at the airport. two, i agree with the proposal that the board of supervisors. those who have purchased the medallion, the great expense should have their money refunded to them. also, my feeling is that basically the ex pro shation of ma damedallion us was a money m.

it was designed to rectify fiscal problems. privacy is not a remedy for fiscal problem. also, you should not surrender taxis to uber and lyft and i am also wondering if given m.t.a. asper formance for yarding taxis i wonder if taxis shouldn't be severed from the jurisdiction of m.t.a. >> i'm going to take a pause in the line and ask, i am sorry i forgot your name.

>> we have achieved good evening, ladies and gentlemen. this is amazing. my name is ru i've been a cab driver for 40 years. now retired. i taught the taxi driver institute for 25 years on top of that. i've seen a lot. the streets have their own kind of honesty but i'd have to say, the politics i've seen in the 40 years i've driven a cab have not had the same kind of honesty. the city has sold cab drivers and the cabin does tre cab indue river, over and over again. this series of proposals is

frankly the worst. this thing at the airport, is astounding. maybe we should have seen it coming but frankly i didn't. i'm sort of reminded of the scene in "a man for all seasons." thomas moore is leaving the castle, the king's castle at windsor and is going up river to his home and he asked the boatman and the boatman says how much will you pay. and moore says the price is set. >> thank you. i'm sorry. next speaker.

>> one second. >> if you could just finish your sentence. >> i' i'll make it fast. more says, the price is set by parliament. and the boatman says yes. but the men in parliament. >> i'm sorry, i have to cut you off. i'm terribly sorry. >> they never road the boat of screams and dams. >> next speaker, please. >> my name is austin peterson. i drove taxi in san francisco for 30 years. signed up for a medallion in 1994. i passed up many other opportunities to stay with the taxi because i loved what the city used to be and i loved the heart of the city. the last 10 years have been really tough. this is just even more pain that you are proposing. please, do not pass these rules.

thank you. >> thank you, next speaker, please. >> good evening, board of directors. my name is claire and i'm the transit organizers. i'm here in support of the taxi workers alliance and to oppose the first three recommendations of sfmta's reform package. 25% of purchase medallion holders are mainly working class immigrant and taxi drivers whose loans have been forecasted on and their consider has been damaged and while many of them want to sell their medallions they can't because no one is going to buy a $25,000 medallion. we used to have one of the best taxi police in the nation until tmcs came to our city with little to no regulation. if a study done by sfcta, published this morning by the examiner, it states uber and lyft are making the city's traffic and congestion worse. this proposal is an attack on the poor, on the working class,

immigrant taxi drivers. it's unfair to hit taxis while lyft and uber are untouched and unregulated. we ask you up hold the demands of the taxi workers alliance and oppose the recommendations in the medallion reform package. >> thank you. >> thank you, next speaker, please. >> make your request into the microphone. >> your clock is running. so you might want to start. >> ok, thank you. let's see, native san francisco. i don't know how to save a torpedo ship. last -- [ please stand by ]

tax drivers had a value once.

[bell ringing] and yellow cab dispatch sucked. two undisputed facts. they produced taxi foreclosure. san francisco's mta real worth and proposition k's real worth. i have quite a bit to say. a book should be written, about me? no. [bell ringing]. >> next speaker, please. >> i'd like to submit this, too. >> i'm a taxi cab driver for 24 years. we commend the proposal for and it will beneficial for opportunity for holders, please implement the reform.

14 hours driving is not conducive for health. medallion payment deprives us of sleep. we are already explained our financial situation to mta. in mta do not want to move price? we have to pay the overhead expenses. most expensive taxi in the nation. it's ridiculous. car payments and car maintenance. what does mta provide to --

$250,000 foreclosure. taxi business is dying. how can we sustain ourselves in taxi business? mta is responsible for payoff of our loan to the bank. that's why taxi -- it is extortion with medallion buyers. we knew delays seemed like a skeptical scuttle. it's ridiculous. we cannot sit four hours and make no money. [bell ringing] >> thank you, next speaker, please.