A recent episode of Russ Roberts’ EconTalk podcast featured a wonderful intersection of interests: economics, public policy and public transit.
One of Russ’ academia friends, economist Michael Munger, speaks at length on the program about the public transportation system quality in Santiago, Chile before and after nationalization of their bus network.
Prior to 2007 Santiago’s surface transit [...]

This is a continuation of a previous post.
Toward the end of my shift, around 3pm, I picked up an elderly Chinese couple hailing on the street downtown. They were heading all the way out to the deep Richmond on the far west side of the City. We took Turk as far west as we could [...]

While sitting in the queue to pay the toll for the Bay Bridge Monday, I heard two great counterintuitive pieces on KQED.
The first was a thoughtful comparison between our quality of life now compared to the distant past. It is a true and important comparison and a nice reminder of how great our lives really [...]

San Francisco cab drivers face two recent cost pressures: a recent gate fee increase combined with the recent climb in gas prices.
Fortunately, these cost pressures come at a time when aggregate demand for taxis in the City is increasing. More tourists, outdoor City festivals, and frequent conventions bring in more and more cab passengers as [...]

I point your temporary attention to a Flash website produced by UC Berkeley j-school grad students Eric Zassenhaus and Amy Jeffries.
The video clips thumbnailed along the bottom are accurate and colorful paintings of a typical taxi shift. Well worth a view.
But wait, there’s more. The site also features insightful interviews with Heidi Machen, the SF [...]

My unwavering allegiance to the American Public Media radio program Marketplace was made ever tighter by a clear and compelling opinion piece by Jerry Taylor of the Cato Institute.
The piece is written so concisely I can do no better than to quote Mr. Taylor’s introduction:

President Bush and many others are fond of saying that oil [...]

The Chronicle has a touching and well-written article about the aftermath of the Mission District fire that completely destroyed a 30-unit apartment building Monday evening.
Central to the article is the story of Griselda Paleo. Ms. Paleo is 59 and lived alone in a studio apartment in the building. Her apartment was tied to an 18-year [...]

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) is a bureaucratic whale, containing, in separate stomachs, the Department of Parking and Traffic (DPT) and the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni) public transit system.
Recently, the SFMTA crunched some numbers and said, “Uh oh, we won’t have enough money to cover our costs over the next two years.” [...]

Marketplace painted a nice picture of Obama and Hillary’s voracious battle for the crown of ultimate NAFTA hater.
This is frustrating. Yes, they’re in Ohio. Yes, they have to cater to the lowest common denominator.
Instead, they should rise up above the normal crap and say, “Look America, NAFTA is here. I (didn’t support it/didn’t agree with [...]

Let’s rewrite a few headlines to illustrate the point.
Case 1
The original headline reads, “Supervisor looks to limit liquor licenses.” Supervisor Gerardo Sandoval seeks to add a ballot measure banning any future City liquor licenses.
This headline should read, “San Francisco Supervisor seeks to inconvenience (but not prohibit) citizens’ access to a specific range of legal products [...]