Posts Tagged ‘regulation’

San Francisco’s Municipal Transportation Agency absorbs the Taxi Commission in March, but SFMTA Chief Nathaniel Ford says progress will be slow.


During my Tuesday shift I was pleasantly surprised to hear a radio station manager speaking directly to listeners for an extended period of time about the state of the station. In the past, I’ve heard station managers speak during pledge drives, but pledge drives offer a relatively small subject of conversation when compared to an [...]


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 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 [...]


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 [...]


Okay, we all know the big news: Microsoft wants Yahoo. In fact, it has been the only topic visible ‘above the fold’ of The New York Times’ tech page for the past few days. Michael Krasny whipped out a KQED Forum about it first thing this morning. It’s the talk of the town. But, two [...]


The Examiner has an update on the saga of supervisor Alioto-Pier’s original proposal to considerably increase gate fees. (A gate fee is the rental price of a taxicab charged to cab drivers.) A much more reasonable $5 increase (compared to nearly $20) was put forward by supervisor Aaron Peskin. Supervisor Chris Daly opposed any increase, [...]


And now for something from the archives. Here’s a paper I wrote in March 2004 for Herb Terry‘s excellent history of telecommunications course about the initial failed implementation of direct broadcast satellite — the precursor to the miniature dishes many people use today to receive television signals. Warning: in-depth and boring unless you really like [...]


I condensed my usual rant about peak medallions down to a 2 minute piece for a KQED‘s Perspective. It’s a quick op-ed that airs during the morning drive time. It will air again on Saturday morning. It sounds a bit odd to hear my own voice, but it was a fun process to write for [...]


A fellow SF taxi driver and blogger, the same guy or gal that posted a great map of where to find a cab in the City, posted a few pictures of a taxi operating illegally in the City during his evening shift. Then he posted a few more of another illegal cab. A few weeks [...]