John Han considered himself a “lifer” taxi driver when he signed his name to The City’s taxi medallion waiting list in 2004. Eight years later and with no hope of obtaining a permit, Han is preparing to move on to a different career, convinced there is no future for him as a San Francisco cabbie.
Han had been having doubts about the profession for years, but the last straw was the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s proposal to drastically change the rules for drivers hoping to obtain a taxi medallion.
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Travelers visiting friends and family in San Francisco should soon have a much easier time finding a spot to park their cars.
Households located in residential parking permit zones will have the ability to purchase 20 one-day passes for out-of-towners to use on any date under a proposal being recommended by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.
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Muni is facing a critical operator shortage that has forced it to trim service and convert part-time drivers to full-timers, moves that contradict the goals of a 2010 ballot measure designed to cut costs and improve efficiency.
In the last two weeks, 88 of Muni’s 95 part-time operators — touted as necessary to improving the agency’s service and reducing its overtime costs — have been hired as full-timers.
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The contentious issue of credit card fees in San Francisco taxis, which has resulted in plastic-carrying riders being shunned, could be resolved Tuesday, though neither cabdrivers nor cab companies are pleased with the proposal.
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A man who was struck by a Muni coach at Fifth and Mission streets Sunday afternoon has died, according to police.
The 14-Mission bus was pulling away from its regular stop at Fifth and Mission when the pedestrian “got caught up in the middle,” according to San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency spokesman Paul Rose.
The bus was articulated, meaning it had an extended portion of the bus to make it longer and accommodate more passengers.
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A federal labor official has dismissed a challenge by Muni operators that sought to invalidate much of the voter-approved measure that gave the transit agency more leverage in negotiating contracts.
The Transport Workers Union Local 250-A, which represents about 2,000 Muni operators, filed the challenge in May with the Department of Labor in an effort to neuter Proposition G.
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A car got too close to a cable car near Union Square this afternoon, hitting a young rider with its side mirror, Muni spokesman Paul Rose said.The cable car was in the intersection at Powell and Sutter streets at 4 p.m. when the automobile “veered into the cable car, and the side mirror made contact with an 11-year-old boy,” said spokesman Paul Rose. He said the boy was hit in the torso and treated at the scene.
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Overhead Muni wires on Fillmore Street were damaged Wednesday afternoon after being contacted by the parallel bars that connect it to a bus.The exact cause of what went wrong is unknown, but the bars that attach a trolley coach to the wires made contact with them around 4:26 p.m. at the intersection of Fillmore and Sacramento streets causing the lines to lose power.
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A Muni bus operator rolled over the arm of a San Francisco bicyclist last week, only to then drive away without stopping.
Click on the photo at right to see more on this story.
Police are investigating the incident and inspecting video captured by a security camera at a nearby strip club.
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In a move seen by drivers and taxi owners as the latest insult to their industry, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency officials have considered taking a slice of the revenue generated by backseat advertising.
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