Originally published in the S.F. Examiner on July 31, 2019.

Given the competition’s artificially deflated rates, taxi drivers rarely get long rides out of The City these days. The farthest south I go on any regular basis is Daly City, the Gateway to the Peninsula. As if to say, we can get to the door, but not past it.

Not only are taxi rates higher, we’re also allowed to charge meter and a half on rides that go 15 miles past the county line.

I’ve always had a hard time enforcing this policy. Getting a long, profitable ride is such an anomaly, expecting more than straight meter and a tip seems kind of predatory.

Unless there’s an expense account in the mix.

Read the rest here.

[photo by Douglas O’Connor]

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