Senate Transportation and Housing Committee

Sate Capitol, Room 209

Sacramento, CA 95814
June 10, 2015
AB 1360 (Ting) OPPOSE
Dear Senators,
We submit this on behalf of a statewide coalition of taxi organizations from Los Angeles,
San Diego, San Francisco, San Jose and Sacramento.
AB 1360 would allow transportation network companies (TNCs) to charge passengers on
an individual basis, while other charter-party carriers are prohibited from doing the same. This
special favored treatment is founded on the false premise that these operations which are
currently being conducted in open defiance of the law bring environmental benefits. Quite the
opposite is true.
A year ago, Uber stated that it has some 16,000 vehicles operating in San Francisco
alone. At a Mayors Disability Council meeting in San Francisco on September 19, 2014, a
spokesperson for Lyft said it has tens of thousands of drivers in S.F. (By way of comparison,
there are fewer than 2,000 taxis legally operating in San Francisco.) Many TNC vehicles have
been purchased and financed through TNC-sponsored incentive programs and sub-prime loans,
expressly for the purpose of providing this service. The result is a nightmare of congestion,
pollution and wear-and-tear to the roads. According to data collected by GPS developer Tom
Tom, in the two years since TNCs have been allowed to operate, San Francisco has become the
second most congested city in the U.S. (after Los Angeles).
http://www.tomtom.com/en_us/trafficindex/#/list.
These vehicles are not replacing personal cars to any significant extent. A study
conducted by the University of California Transportation Center, U.C. Berkeley, released in
August 2014, asked users of Uber, Lyft and Sidecar how they would have made the trip if those
services werent available. Only 6% said they would have driven their own car, while another
1% would have gotten a ride with a family member or friend. Fully 93% would have gotten there
some other way. Thirty-nine percent said they would have taken a taxi, and 33% would have
used mass transportation (bus or rail).1 These numbers reflect the real consequences of TNC
operations: an explosion of unneeded vehicles, duplicating and usurping the operations of other
transportation providers.
1

http://tsrc.berkeley.edu/sites/tsrc.Berkeley.edu/files/RidesourcingWhitePaper_Nov2014Update.pdf. (At p. 13.)

2940 16th St. #313 * San Francisco, CA 94103 * 415-864-8294 * sftwaboard@gmail.com * www.sftwa.org
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AB 1360 would promote an unjustified expansion of TNC services that will draw even
more passengers away from mass transportation, undermining those environmentally superior
services and the jobs they provide. The same holds true for their effects on the taxi industry and
taxi drivers. San Francisco has the greenest taxi fleet in the country. Nearly all S.F. cabs must
be hybrids or other low-emissions vehicles. In contrast, CPUC rules allow all sorts of vehicles to
perform TNC services, including non-hybrid vans, minivans, SUVs and pickup trucks. The
CPUC has not conducted any studies on the environmental impacts of TNC operations.
TNC charges in general, and the individual fare arrangement of AB 1360 in particular,
are not subject to any meaningful control. The bill merely provides that the charge to an
individual must be less than the fare would be for a single passenger. That provision is
meaningless in light of the practice of surge pricing, where the fare at peak times may be as
much as eight times the normal charge. Here again, TNCs are being given favored treatment.
Other charter-party carriers cannot charge individual fares. Bus and shuttle services licensed as
Passenger Stage Corporations may do so, but they must file tariffs and their charges are subject
to CPUC oversight. Cities strictly regulate maximum taxi charges to keep them affordable and
non-discriminatory, but for TNCs, the skys the limit, with no oversight on their charges at all.
Lastly, it is extremely troubling that TNCs are currently performing these services in
plain defiance of the law. Uber and Lyft had every opportunity to seek the legislatures approval
before starting these services. As a body entrusted with the making of laws, the Senate should
not be condoning and rewarding those who break them by legitimizing their behavior after the
fact. That would only encourage these companies and many others to do more of the same.
In sum, the passage of this bill would be harmful to the environment and would
undermine mass transportation and taxi services, to the detriment of the public. We urge you to
vote NO on AB 1360.
Respectfully,
San Francisco Taxi Workers Alliance

sftwaboard@gmail.com

United Taxi Workers of San Diego

sarah@utwsd.org 619-255-7355

Los Angeles Taxi Workers Alliance

gebreweldgirma@yahoo.com

323-649-2896

Sacramento Taxi Cab Union

zaidi.kasman@yahoo.com

916-912-6825

San Jose Taxi Drivers Association

kirpalbajwa@hotmail.com

408-887-667

415-864-8294

2940 16th St. #313 * San Francisco, CA 94103 * 415-864-8294 * sftwaboard@gmail.com * www.sftwa.org
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