San Francisco’s upfront taxi pricing program is here to stay after the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Board of Directors voted to keep the program at their May 20 meeting.

“We’re thrilled to give San Franciscans and visitors a new and more convenient way to access the city’s taxi services and to have the peace of mind from knowing their fares before taking a trip,” said SFMTA Director of Transportation Julie Kirschbaum. 

The Taxi Upfront Fare program started as a pilot in 2022. Passengers who request a ride using apps from Flywheel, Curb, or Arro would see a locked-in upfront price instead of one determined by the meter during the ride. Under the program, riders who request an UberX ride through the Uber rideshare app can also be routed to a nearby taxi instead of a rideshare driver.

MJ Keller, head of U.S. taxi partnerships at Uber, said the company plans to maintain the partnership going forward.

“As we continue to strengthen our relationship with the taxi industry, Uber appreciates the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s decision to make the Upfront Fare Program permanent,” Keller said. “By integrating taxis onto our platform, we’re providing taxi drivers with more flexibility and increased earnings opportunities while giving riders access to new transportation options. We believe this program continues to be a win for drivers, riders, and the City of San Francisco, and we’re excited to support its continued growth.” 

According to data from the SFMTA, half of the city’s 1,300 taxi drivers took part in the pilot program. Those drivers gave close to 400,000 fixed-priced rides and made 25% more on average than drivers not in the program.

“I’ve been driving for a long time, and at first I was skeptical, but this program has been good for the taxi drivers who have been around for a long time, and the newer ones,” said Zee Sinada, Yellow Cab Medallion Owner and member of the SFMTA Paratransit Coordinating Council. “I begged the SFMTA to keep this program going, because there wasn’t enough business for the taxi drivers. But now, riders have more choices, and taxi drivers do, too. Financially, this is a difference of $600-$700 in extra earnings a week we’re talking about – this  makes such a big difference.” 

SFMTA officials credit the program at least in part for increasing taxi driving recruitment. They said there have been 300 new drivers since the start of the program, compared to 30 new drivers the year before.

A teacher at Parkway Heights Middle School in South San Francisco was arrested Thursday on charges of lewd acts with minors after police investigated “inappropriate behavior” with students.

Ahmad Rafah, an eighth-grade teacher at Parkway Heights Middle School, was arrested by police at his home Thursday and booked in San Mateo County jail. Rafah faces 12 counts of committing lewd and lascivious acts with minors, according to a South San Francisco Police Department news release.

Police said they began investigating Rafah after receiving information of inappropriate interactions with students. The San Francisco Unified School District had placed him on administrative leave.

Lewd acts with minors are defined as acts “arousing, appealing to, or gratifying the lust, passions, or sexual desires of that person or the child,” according to the California penal code.

Parents and educators got to bring their concerns directly to San Francisco school, fire and police leaders on Wednesday following two recent fires at an elementary school.

Two recent fires happened Lafayette Elementary School in San Francisco’s Richmond neighborhood.

The most recent fire happened at a playground late Sunday night and two weeks ago, someone set Lafayette PTA’s storage shed ablaze and destroyed everything.

“Two separate incidents so that’s really scary,” said San Francisco parent Cameron Archer. “I think we’re all concerned. I’m definitely concerned something worse could happen.”

The San Francisco Fire Department is calling both investigations arson.

Parents and educators voiced their concerns to fire and district leaders during a meeting at Lafayette Elementary School auditorium Wednesday night.

San Francisco police said they are gathering evidence for who would leave the playground in ashes.They are also looking at footage from the school and neighborhood and promising more patrols in the area day and night.

Gia Vang has more in the video above.