Category Archives: politics

Update: Supes badger over taxi gate fee increase

Posted on January 30, 2008 by kfarr

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in politics, taxi, transit | Tagged addition, alioto-pier, amendment, board, board of supervisors, cab, change, charge, fee, gate, gate fee, increase, legislation, local, modification, price, proposal, regulation, rental, san francisco, sf, supervisors, taxi, taxicab | Leave a comment

Does San Francisco suffer from hippie conservatism?

Posted on January 25, 2008 by kfarr

I’ll admit: I’m relatively new to San Francisco. I’ve only lived here for about a year and a half. In that short time I’ve seen a puzzling set of behaviors in the City that troubles me. Our City suffers from … Continue reading →

Posted in econ, politics | Tagged apple, board, chain, conservatism, conservative, democrat, democratic, gavin, hippie, mayor, newsom, republican, richmond, san francisco, sf, starbucks, stores, sunset, supervisor | 5 Comments

Will another gruesome Muni death stir Nat Ford to action?

Posted on January 17, 2008 by kfarr

The Examiner and the Chronicle both report on a disturbing incident which occurred Wednesday in the Sunset District. A man attempted to board the N-Judah around 9pm when the doors evidently closed on him. The train proceeded to drag him … Continue reading →

Posted in politics, transit | Tagged accident, bus, death, lrv, metro, muni, muni metro, municipal, pedestrian, pedestrian accident, railway, san francisco, sf | 4 Comments

The City needs congestion pricing.

Posted on January 13, 2008 by kfarr

(Photo Credit) On a recent episode of KQED’s Forum, Dave Iverson discusses the possibility of congestion pricing in the City with two main guests: Ken Cleaveland, director of government and public affairs with the Building Owners and Managers Association and … Continue reading →

Posted in econ, politics, transit | Tagged california, cars, congestion, congestion fee, econ, economics, fee, hot lanes, lane, motor vehicles, muni, peak, policy, price, pricing, public, public policy, public transit, roadway, roadways, san francisco, sf, tax, taxes, transit, transportation, usage, usage fee, use, user fee, variable, variable pricing, vehicles | 2 Comments

DTV Transition ads are confusing, ineffective.

Posted on January 10, 2008 by kfarr

The National Association of Broadcasters has commissioned 30 second advertisements meant to warn consumers about the impending shift from analog to digital only television transmissions. This DTV transition will render analog TV over-the-air broadcasts — those received by TVs connected … Continue reading →

Posted in marketing, media, politics, tech | Tagged ads, advertisements, air, broadcast, broadcasters, definition, digital, dtv, hdtv, high, high definition, nab, national, national association of broadcasters, ota, over, over-the-air, television, transition, tv, wireless | 5 Comments

KQED Perspective: Peak Medallions

Posted on January 8, 2008 by kfarr

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 … Continue reading →

Posted in media, politics, taxi | Tagged cab, find, hail, kqed, local, local policy, medallions, op-ed, opinion, peak, perspective, perspectives, policy, politics, regulation, san francisco, sf, supply, taxi, taxicab, variability, variable supply | 13 Comments

Should the City allow cab companies to charge higher gate fees to taxi drivers?

Posted on January 4, 2008 by kfarr

In some ways, blogs are great. They present frequently updated writing with a nice user interface that emphasizes recent postings first. But, most blog interfaces (including this one) bury old postings even if new, interesting and worthy comments are posted. … Continue reading →

Posted in econ, politics, taxi | Tagged alioto-pier, blogs, board, board of supervisors, earnings, fee, gate, gate fees, gui, hourly, increase, rates, san francisco, sf, supervisor, taxi, user interface | Leave a comment

Dear Chronicle: Exodus of low-income City residents caused by rent control, not SOMA development.

Posted on January 2, 2008 by kfarr

This Chronicle article misses the mark. It gives a strong impression that development South of Market represents the reason San Francisco has become unaffordable for low income City residents. I paraphrase the introduction of the article: “Our City is changing. … Continue reading →