San Francisco Citizen

So let’s see here:

1. We regulate taxi rates so drivers won’t exploit tourists and other disadvantaged souls. (Oh, you’re a rich tourist and you’re lost and your flight leaves in an hour? $200 to SFO, take it or leave it – that kind of thing.)  

2. But we limit the number of cabs on the streets to help out the drivers. 

3. So much so, that buying a used Lincoln Town car and illegally picking people up off of the streets after quoting exorbitant rates is a good way to score some quick cash.

4. And, the SFPD has other fish to fry and the SFMTA isn’t really focused on this issue, so we’re back to square one, with unregulated “taxi” drivers exploiting tourists and other disadvantaged souls. Oh well.

As here. These bidnessmen were trying to flag down some Yellow Cabs, but those were all full, so next come the Black Town Cars. The first one quotes a price through the door, as seen here:

Click to expand

No dice. (What did the illegal cabbie ask for – $50 to go to Union Square? Something like that.)

And then another one pulls up and then another one, which ends up picking up these dudes and whisking them away. All the while, the bidnessmen were trying to flag down a real taxi.

Here’s the aftermath, on Sacramento:

Note the City of Oakland taxi cruising up the street empty – that’s agin the rules too, as Oakland taxis aren’t allowed to pick up people in the 415.

Now you might not see this too much on a Tuesday night, but on Thursdays, Fridays, and Saturdays, it’s Katie Bar The Door out there.

This is the situation.

However, the single-party state of San Francisco is incapable of addressing this particular situation.

Oh well.