A pilot program set to expire at the end of June that allows taxi drivers to accept ride-hail requests from third-party mobile apps will become permanent in San Francisco.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Board of Directors voted Tuesday to make the Upfront Taxi Program permanent after a two-year pilot period. The pilot program launched in November 2022 and allowed drivers on taxi e-hail apps, such as Flywheel, to accept ride requests from Uber. The program also piloted a feature that allowed taxi riders who use taxi e-hail apps to see the cost of the ride in advance — a feature that has been on apps like Uber and Lyft for years.
“The program has provided a steadier and more consistent workflow for my shift,” one driver said.
The three taxi e-hail apps in the pilot program included Flywheel, Arro, and Curb. Hansu Kim, chairman of Flywheel, said years ago that he was worried about the future of the taxi industry not adapting to new technology. Following the pilot program, his outlook on the industry has changed.
“I want to make very clear that this program has changed completely, the outlook and the future of the taxi industry, Kim said during the public comment period. “it is very clear to me that the ability for us to access Uber referred passengers as taxi trips is going to make sure that taxi drivers have plenty of business now and into the future.”
The program worked like this: a person would request a ride using the Uber app, and the driver could be a taxi driver dispatched to the location through an e-hail taxi app. It was optional for the taxi driver to accept the ride request, transit officials said. The pilot program ensured that taxi trips on third-party apps were within 10 percent of the taximeter rate.
Most taxi drivers who participated in the pilot program spoke during public comment in favor of making the program permanent.
“The program has provided a steadier and more consistent workflow for my shift,” one driver said.
Taxi drivers in the city have been hit hard economically since the arrival of Uber and Lyft in the city, with some drivers going into debt after purchasing taxi medallions from the SFMTA years ago.
Another driver, Tim Bright, who is with Flywheel, said he has been busy all day since joining the taxi e-hail app. The driver also noted that passengers who do get a taxi from Uber will be able to bypass “bumper to bumper traffic” on some city streets as taxis are allowed to use some of the red painted lanes, like the ones on Market Street.
The SFMTA said drivers who participated in the pilot on average earned about 25 percent more in quarterly fare revenue than drivers who did not participate.
Maddy Ruvolo, a principal planner with the SFMTA’s taxis, access, and mobility services team, said the pilot program met most of its goals, including increasing taxi revenue fares by 10 percent for participating drivers. One goal not met was increasing the total taxi trips by 10 percent.
“Unfortunately, given the overall economic environment and taxi industry context, we have not seen trips rise by 10 percent Ruvolo said. “With that said, without the program, which is funneling additional trips to the taxi industry, the number of overall taxi trips would have been lower.”
A few drivers said they wanted to see the program continue as a pilot to collect more data, as one taxi e-hail app, Yellow Cab, joined later as part of an extension of the pilot program. Another issue brought to the board’s attention was the possibility that Uber was “cutting drivers off” who had a low participation in the pilot program, despite the program being voluntary.
Kate Toran, the agency’s director of taxis, access and mobility services, said she heard about it and followed up with Uber, adding that Uber was not cutting drivers off and that she had not heard about it from managers in the taxi industry
“This is an opt-in program, and so drivers can opt in on a per trip basis and opt out with no penalty,” Toran said. She added that staff would follow up on any specific cases.
