Medallions Keep Taxi Drivers Stuck in Industry

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An old San Francisco taxi medallion from 1996. Creative Commons image by Jerry "Woody"

By Jeremy Dalmas, KALW/Crosscurrents

Harbir Batth isn’t having a good day. Not many fares.

“It’s been terrible,” he tells me.

Then finally, some hope appears: A doorman for the Parc 55 Hotel in Union Square hails the cab over. They hop in and we’re headed to North Beach.

Batth is originally from Northern India, but now lives in Berkeley with his wife and two kids. He’s been driving a cab for over 20 years.

And he has a taxi medallion — that’s a license to operate a taxi.

That medallion should mean he’s made it as a driver. It’s on his dashboard and it looks a lot like small, red license plate, with a number punched in bold print right in the middle.

Read the complete story at KALW/Crosscurrents.

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