10.2 Ramp Taxi Availability

Key Takeaway: Ramp taxis are wheelchair-accessible vehicles in San Francisco's taxi fleet. The SFMTA provides operating and capital incentives to ramp taxi drivers to help increase their number and availability. The SFMTA should evaluate whether current ramp taxi incentives are ensuring good service for wheelchair users.

Ramp Taxi Overview

Ramp taxis are taxi vehicles equipped with ramps that allow wheelchair users to roll directly into the the taxi from the sidewalk or street. The San Francisco taxi fleet has included wheelchair-accessible ramp taxis since the early 1990s. These accessible taxi vehicles are an important part of San Francisco's transportation network, providing accessible, same-day, on-demand options for both the general public and SF Paratransit riders.

Prior to being approved to operate a Ramp Taxi under a Use Agreement with the SFMTA, a subcommittee of the Paratransit Coordinating Council interviews the drivers and tests their knowledge and disability sensitivity. Once approved, ramp taxi drivers undergo special training on passenger securement and disability sensitivity.

Ramp Taxi Performance

The SFMTA has 100 ramp medallions that are dedicated to providing on-demand wheelchair taxi service. As of August 2024, 54 of these ramp medallions have been issued to either individual medallion holders or taxi companies to operate. 

The SFMTA is able to track ramp taxi performance by analyzing Paratransit trip data through DCCS and by auditing general public wheelchair trips that are self-reported by drivers entered into a Google form with important trip information including pick up and drop off location as well as drop off time. Ramp taxi drivers in San Francisco provide many more paratransit ramp taxi trips than general public ramp taxi trips. In recent years, the number of paratransit and general public ramp taxi trips have both followed an upward trend, with the number of rides in January 2024 more than double the number of rides in January 2023.

Figure 1. Ramp Taxi Trips in San Francisco (01/2023 - 01/2024)

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Ramp Taxi Incentive Programs

Barriers to operating a ramp taxi in San Francisco include additional training requirements, high vehicle and maintenance costs, and higher gas costs than standard taxi vehicles. In response, the SFMTA has a variety of programs to incentivize ramp taxi ownership and operation. 

To be eligible for any of the ramp incentive programs described below, all ramp drivers must be logged onto an SFMTA-approved e-hailing app (currently Flywheel only) for at least 80 hours per month. Eligibility for credentials will be based on trips provided two months prior.

Per-trip Incentives

• $10 per paratransit trip incentive: for every wheelchair trip provided in a ramp taxi to a paratransit customer, driver receives a $10 incentive.
• $10 per public trip incentive: for every wheelchair trip provided in a ramp taxi to a general public customer, driver receives a $10 incentive.
• $15 per trip incentive for trips after 8 p.m. and before 6 a.m.: for every wheelchair trip provided in a ramp taxi to a paratransit or general public customer during the hours of 8 p.m.-6 a.m., driver receives a $15 incentive ($10 for IVR transactions).

• $15 per trip for wheelchair trips which originate in outlying areas: for every wheelchair trip provided in a ramp taxi to a paratransit or general public customer in the outlying areas of San Francisco, as identified on the map below, driver receives a $15 incentive per trip ($10 for IVR transactions).

   

Figure 2. Map of the Outlying Areas of San Francisco

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Airport Short Pass

The Airport Short pass allows ramp taxi drivers to: (1) skip the virtual queue, wherein drivers can request to pick up at SFO through an app without having to physically be at the airport, (2) directly enter the short line and (3) qualify for short trip privileges, if the trip qualifies as is a short trip. To qualify for the Airport Short Incentive, ramp drivers must meet all of the following requirements:

• Ramp taxi drivers that have completed 30 wheelchair trips per month, of which:
• At least 20 must be provided to SF Paratransit wheelchair users.
• At least 10 must be completed in the outlying area of San Francisco or after hours (8 p.m.-6 a.m.).
• Drivers must serve 8 unique paratransit riders in the month.

Ramp taxi drivers who earn this incentive will be eligible to use their passes the following month. Qualifying ramp taxi drivers will be notified by SFMTA if they have earned this incentive.

Vehicle Capital and Operating Incentive

The Vehicle Capital and Operating Incentive program supports those interested in owning and operating a vehicle for the ramp taxi program. Applicants must have a ramp medallion prior to applying. For up to 36 months, the selected applicants can earn:

• Capital Incentive: Individuals can earn $400 (used vehicle) or $600 (new vehicle) per month to offset the cost to purchase a wheelchair accessible vehicle
• Operating Incentive: Individuals can earn $400 per month to help subsidize the higher fuel and maintenance of operating a ramp taxi vehicle

Gas Incentive: Individuals can earn $100 per month to help subsidize the higher fuel costs of operating a ramp taxi vehicle Between FY 2020-FY 2023, the SFMTA provided a total of $590,020 in ramp taxi incentives, averaging out to $147,505 per year.

Figure 3. Ramp Taxi Incentives By Fiscal Year