Results tagged “taxis”

Remember that whole idea about shutting part of Market Street to vehicle traffic, kind of like what they've done with sections of Broadway in New York City? Well, it's coming to pass in a pilot program, at least for a six-week test run, starting on September 29th. Vehicles traveling eastbound (downtown) on Market will be encouraged to turn right on 10th Street, and then forced to turn right on 8th. Any cars that get onto Market Street via 7th will be forced to turn right on 6th. (See map here.) While comparisons have been made to Las Ramblas in Barcelona or NYC's new traffic-free plazas along Broadway, the difference here is the compromise which will still allow bus, taxi and delivery vehicle traffic down Market -- forcing only unwitting East-Bayers and tourists who don't already know to avoid Market Street to drive in endless, crazy-making circles.

In an effort to fill the large, gaping hole of necessity for more cabbies in San Francisco, it makes sense that imposter taxicabs try to fill that need. According to today's Examiner, "at least 30 illegitimate cab companies are operating in San Francisco." Which means that there are almost as many illegal cab companies in San Francisco as there are legal ones. (SF has 32 licensed companies.) Last year alone, the article goes on to say, there were "nearly 200 illegal cab pickups in San Francisco last year and officers on taxi detail arrested 33 drivers in December alone." The problem, if there is one, is that illegal cab companies don't perform criminal background checks on their employees, and fake cabbies tend to overcharge their passengers.

Although we are occasional cab riders -- this is San Francisco, after all, not NYC -- we have nothing but mediocre cab experiences. Never horrible, never exceptional (except for one nice cab driver who knew the nearest cross street of every address we gave him -- awesome!!). That's what makes this tale from Mission Mission so incredible.

-- Steroid report reported. [SFGate]

There's some big news out there, folks. But before we begin, we recommend you sit down first. We'll wait. Good. Because the taxi commission announced today that they will add 69 more cabs to the street of San Francisco! [Insert Beavis-like giggles here.]

Hey, do you like to relieve yourself in public? If so, "urine" luck! The golden-shower-loving perverts at the Department of Public Works just denied the dangerous lunatics calling themselves Citizens for Halloween a permit for portable toilets, so you're going to have to make do with the neighbors' bushes, local storefronts, and taxis. Or you could just dress up as Louis Leakey and tell people it's all part of the costume.

Cabbies are upset. Again. What's else is new? But:

Today was the annual blessing day for taxis and taxi drivers across SF. (Wait, magic water on Yellow Cab? No! Yellow Cab should burn in the hell!)

Holy smokes! Giant fish on the MTA, Paris Hilton in jail, then out, then in again, Al Gore, goatses, blumpkins, Matt Damon, and baby art critics! It's been a busy week across the Ist-A-Verse, and here's a smattering of what's been going on.

How can it be true that San Francisco is less green than Pelzer, South Carolina, or Hastings, Nebraska, or Fairfax, Virginia? Those are some of the cities beating out SF in Yahoo's greenest-cities contest. But you can make a difference! We've already jumped from 168th place to 16th, and your signups can push us up even higher. Plus, you get a free light bulb out of the deal. No more stumbling around when the sun goes down!

Toss out your gaslamps, San Francisco, because Gavin wants you to get a FREE LIGHT BULB! WOW! In his latest newsletter, he's tipped us off to Yahoo's Be A Better Planet contest. The idea is that by clattering around on the internet talking about the color green, we can save the whales or something! Whatever, all's we know is that you get a free light bulb for signing up. As an added bonus, the front page features a picture of Haley Joel Osment in a red wig getting high off of some hallucinogenic ferns.

Gothamist posts on the capture of a NYC perv thanks to Little Brother and a camera phone. They also scour the city for vodka martinis and Shamrock shakes and spot the friend from the Wonder Years at a city law firm. New York police think that Littlejohn is their man.

Going out on New Year's Eve is practically expected, but getting where we want to go is such a hassle we're tempted to stay in and toast 2006 with that last can of champagne.

Wow, we're back. Thank you, kind readers of the 'fist, for your questions. Keep the questions coming, folks! We have a few in the pipeline, but we can always use more. Either e-mail us (replace the [AT] with the @ sign, of course), or, even better, leave it in the comments section.

Gothamist, our sister site for people who don't know how to leave Manhattan, had previously secured assurances from Revolution Studios that all of the exteriors would be filmed in NYC's East Village, which is so OK with us we don't even care. No word yet on what made them change their mind, or why the film version of the play (which takes place during Christmas) would require footage of a leafy, summery park.

Andrew Lowder introduces the Rickshaw Stop.

If your weekend was anything like our weekend, you spent three days mewling like a kitten about the heat and canceling all plans to go anywhere at all. Not these four SFSU students -- Gil Hackel (singer-songwriter), Nate Maas (cinema major), Trammell Scruggs (sound engineering major), and Zhenya Warshawsky (literature major) -- who launched and completed their Labor Day Weekend mission -- to ride every single MUNI bus line from end to end. Its name: Operation MuniCon.