Frustrated by confusing taxi light indicators in San Francisco, I empathize with fellow riders, propose a clear green/red light system, and express optimism for improved communication and better taxi hailing experiences.
Here’s how a typical taxi rider’s experience will go in San Francisco.
Keep an eye out. From a distance, you see one sole cab. Lights off - not available!
Reassess the situation. Around the corner, you see a slew of cabs. Lights are on and there’s no other cab riders to beat down. Sweet!
Attempt to hire. Flag, wave, stick out a leg. Whatever you got to do to get the cab.
Failure. None of the cabs pull over and they all pass you by.
So what happened? Why didn’t any of them pull over? You wouldn’t think it, but it has to do with the lights on top of the cabs. I’ve taken over 100 cab rides in this city, and I always go through the same song and dance. When I see cabs with their lights on, I flag it down. They pull over for someone else. I hate that! I see more cabs but without their lights on. I don’t flag it down, but I see them pull over for someone else anyway. I double hate that!
I keep a closer eye out for cabs with or without their lights on and attempt to get aggressive. Finally, at some point, I either begrudgingly walk toward a Muni stop or I have reached success. It really shouldn’t be that hard to communicate to riders if a cab is available. What’s the point of putting an actual lighting system on top of the vehicle if you’re not going to use them properly?
I’ve experienced lots of nightmarish taxicab issues in other cities, but the usage (or misusage) of the lights makes San Francisco’s cab riding a unique experience. Here’s what I mean: Some vehicles have a simple lighting fixture which gives clear indication of when it’s available. If the light’s on, it’s free.
Other cabs have two lighting fixtures. The larger one is an ad and the smaller a sign that says “For Hire” or “Taxi”. The light is turned on when the cab is free. These sorts of cabs give me the hugest headache because sometimes “For Hire” is very difficult to see from a distance especially in the rain (not a rarity in SF!) and it’s very easy to assume that the cab is free even when the “For Hire” light is not turned on. Let’s not forget that drivers still pick up people with the “For Hire” light turned off…
A friend and I were talking about this the other day about how many times we’ve been snubbed by cabs because of this confusion. We’ve heard people on the streets complaining about it because they’ve been snubbed as well.
We wondered if color could help solve the situation. Could using green to indicate “available” and red for “not available” make this a better riding experience? Perhaps the city has been listening because there may be talk of installing a green/red light system onto cabs! But drivers have to be cognizant of when to turn on and off. Now, if cabs can all take Clipper cards, I may just trade in all my gripes about the lighting system and “For Hire” signs. This post would not exist!
