SF Mayor Ed Lee's SFO Boss John Martin Attacking Taxi Drivers Using Ride Share

SF Mayor Ed Lee's SFO Boss John Martin Attacking Taxi Drivers Using Ride Share
http://www.sfchronicle.com/bayarea/nevius/article/To-save-their-jobs-cab...
To save their jobs, cabbies must pull up to the future
By C.W. NeviusNovember 28, 2014

Photo: Paul Chinn / The ChronicleCabs in a staging area await service at San Francisco International Airport.
It isn’t often that you can watch the future pass someone by, but San Francisco cabdrivers are making that happen.

The ride-service phenomenon isn’t just taking off in San Francisco, it’s taking over. What might be the final straw happened last month, when San Francisco International Airport announced it was giving permits to what are called “transportation network companies.”

Uber, Lyft and Sidecar can now legally drop off and pick up passengers at the airport. Don’t underestimate what that means.

There are two things to keep in mind, airport Director John Martin says.

“We are on the front lines because Uber and Lyft are based here, and this is probably their biggest market,” Martin said. “And we are the first in the country that has permitted all of the companies.”

So it’s a big deal — here and across the country.

“I think (the ride-service companies) may well see this as a model for the United States and around the world,” Martin said. “It legitimizes their operation.”

And, of course, it’s a huge threat to traditional taxi services. Clearly, cab companies and drivers need to respond and do something smart, effective and sympathetic. Or, they could shoot themselves in the foot. Which is what they decided to do.

A protest organized by the Taxi Workers Alliance encouraged cabbies to block the lanes at the airport last week, creating a two-hour traffic jam. It was a classic, old-school union tactic — create a big fat disturbance to force change. And it worked about as well as the Occupy protests — lots of sound and fury and virtually no change.

Early this week, Martin got word that another protest could happen during the incredibly busy Thanksgiving week travel window. He says the idea was to apply the pressure before an upcoming meeting between airport and taxi reps.

“Some of the leaders thought if they did more protests we would relent and our meeting would be more successful,” Martin said. “I let them know I would cancel the meeting.”

Behind the curve

Whether that was the reason or not, the protest was scrubbed. Eva Cheong, assistant deputy director for airport services, says the taxi groups seemed to have experienced an attack of common sense.

“I believe there is a large contingent of the taxi drivers who feel that an action at the airport is not helping their cause,” she said. “I think they understand that what they need to do is bring up their service.”

But do they? The cabbies and the companies have been behind the curve on this all the way. Drivers fought attempts to increase the number of medallions, or cab permits. They hang around the downtown hotels, hoping for a fare to the airport. They decline to pick up riders in far-flung parts of the city, like the Outer Sunset. And frankly, in many cases, they aren’t that pleasant.

The ride-service folks found a soft spot and exploited it. And the reaction by cabbies was to stomp their feet, block traffic and complain how unfair it all is.

Now, that is not to say that this isn’t a hardship. The entire transport matrix has shifted, and it has rocked the livelihood of the drivers. A report in September said that taxi rides have decreased 65 percent in the previous 15 months.

“These are not easy issues,” Martin said. “I really feel for the cabdrivers. In some cases they have invested their life savings for a medallion. It is the great unknown how all this will unfold.”

Saving their jobs

But surely, we’ve gotten their attention now. They need to become as innovative, modern and convenient as the transportation network companies. That’s what will save their jobs.

Because there’s a reason we call it old-school. That’s what you say when you’ve graduated to the next level. Cabbies need to drop the act and start studying for the future.

C.W. Nevius is a San Francisco Chronicle columnist. His columns appear Tuesday, Thursday and Saturday. E-mail: cwnevius@sfchronicle.com Twitter: @cwnevius