Taxi Upfront Fare Pilot: 2023-Q4 Report

Dear Taxi Industry Member:

Attached please find the Q4 Upfront Fare Pilot Report. 

A quick snapshot of key data points during the first year of the Pilot shows the following: 

• A total of 158,768 Pilot trips were provided during the first year of the Pilot, increasing over 353% from Q1 to Q4. 
• Pilot Trips are growing as a percentage of total taxi trips. 
• Third-Party Trips are extending the density of taxi trips in outer neighborhoods in San Francisco that have historically been underserved by the taxi industry. 
• The SFMTA issued 199 new taxi driver permits (A-Cards) in calendar year 2023, which exceeded those issued in 2022 (135) by 47%.   
• The number of drivers participating in the Pilot continues to increase, growing by 50.4% from Q1 to Q4. 
• Drivers who service Third-Party Trips earned on average 30.5% more in fare revenue during Q4 than drivers who did not provide Pilot trips. 
• Drivers who provided Third-Party Trips earned an average of $1,641 per month from those trips alone in Q4, which represents a 50.1% increase from Q1 ($1,093). 
• Comparing year one of the Pilot (Dec 2022-Nov 2023) to the same period of previous year, Flywheel color scheme (the only Pilot participant during year 1) also shows the biggest increase in active drivers:  
  
  • Flywheel Taxi = 75.5% increase (from 335 to 588) 
  • Yellow Cab = 8.2% increase (from 514 to 556) 
  • San Francisco Taxicab = 19.3% increase (from 171 to 204) 
• The relative proportion of paratransit taxi trips to all taxi trips before and during the first year of the Pilot term has remained consistent. 

The full Q4 report includes additional data analysis and updates on the Pilot metrics. Because of the open-ended nature of some of the metrics, staff will continue to provide quarterly reports on all metrics to transparently share relevant data. Based on key stakeholder feedback and staff assessment, metrics and targets have been and may continue to be updated during the Pilot term.

If you have any questions or feedback, please email sftaxi@sfmta.com