(a) Findings.
(1) Small privately-operated, publicly- accessible buses and vans, often known as jitneys, have a long history in San Francisco.
(2) The SFMTA has regulatory authority over Motor Vehicles for Hire and Non-Standard Vehicles, including jitneys, operated wholly within the City and County of San Francisco.
(3) The City’s jitney regulations were repealed in 2011 after jitneys had all but disappeared from San Francisco streets.
(4) Since 2011, new services similar to jitneys, defined in this Article 1200 as Private Transit Vehicles (PTVs), a type of Non-Standard Vehicle, have begun operation in San Francisco.
(5) Non-Standard Vehicles, including PTVs, have the potential to support the City’s transportation goals if they operate safely, replace single-occupancy vehicle trips, reduce car ownership, and contribute to a reduction in parking demand. However, the full effects of Non-Standard Vehicles are not known at this time.
(6) But Non-Standard Vehicles also have the potential to contribute to adverse impacts on San Francisco’s transportation network, including delaying transit bus and rail service, increasing traffic congestion, and interfering with the safe movement of people walking, biking, driving, and riding transit in San Francisco.
(7) Regulation of Non-Standard Vehicle services is necessary to minimize such adverse impacts and ensure such services operate in a manner that is consistent with the City’s Transit First and Vision Zero policies.
(8) The SFMTA Board of Directors adopted the Guiding Principles for Emerging Mobility Services and Technologies in July 2017 in order to consistently evaluate new mobility services and technologies and ensure their alignment with City goals and policies. The Guiding Principles informed the development of this PTV legislation.
(b) Scope of Regulations.
(1) Classes of Permits. This Article 1200 shall apply to the following classes of Non-Standard Vehicle Permits issued by the SFMTA:
(A) Permits for operation of PTVs.
(B) Permits for operation of any other type of Non-Standard Vehicle.
(2) Exclusion for Certain Vehicles. This Article 1200 shall not apply to the operation of a vehicle:
(A) Engaged in the business of, or used for, transporting passengers for hire when such motor vehicle is operated under and by authority of a certificate of public convenience and necessity issued by the Public Utilities Commission of the State of California (CPUC), or under a permit issued by the CPUC in accordance with Section 5384 of the California Public Utilities Code to the extent that the commercial operation of such a vehicle is entirely within the scope of such certificate or permit;
(B) Licensed by any city, county or other public entity as a motor vehicle for hire which may enter the City and County of San Francisco for the purpose of delivering passengers who have hired the vehicle in a jurisdiction in which it is licensed to operate, provided, however, that no such motor vehicle for hire may solicit or accept any passenger while in the City;
(C) That is regularly operated by a business, nonprofit organization, or public entity to transport discrete groups of persons, such as employees, students, patients, or clients, whether within the City or otherwise, including, but not limited to, vehicles operating under a permit issued under Section 914 of this Code, provided, however that no such motor vehicle for hire may solicit or accept any passenger while in the City except on a pre-arranged basis, and in conformance with applicable SFMTA rules and regulations;
(D) That is a Taxi, as defined in Section 1102 of this Code and regulated by the SFMTA under Article 1100 of this Code;
(E) Operated as a private ambulance and regulated by Article 14 of the Health Code; or
(F) Operating on fixed tracks or rails.
(3) Application of Regulations to Permittee Conduct. This Article 1200 applies to the conduct of Permittees at all times while engaged in activity authorized by the permit.
(c) Severability. If any section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase or word of this Article 1200 or any application thereof to any person or circumstance, is held to be invalid or unconstitutional by a decision of a court of competent jurisdiction, such decision shall not affect the validity of the remaining portions or applications of this Article. The SFMTA Board of Directors hereby declares that it would have adopted this Article and each and every section, subsection, sentence, clause, phrase and word not declared invalid or unconstitutional without regard to whether any other portion of this Article or application thereof would be subsequently declared invalid or unconstitutional.
(d) Undertaking for the General Welfare. In enacting and implementing this Article 1200, the City is assuming an undertaking only to promote the general welfare. It is not assuming, nor is it imposing on its officers and employees, an obligation for breach of which it is liable in money damages to any person who claims that such breach proximately caused injury.
(e) Implementation. The Director of Transportation is authorized to designate a date for implementation of a program for issuance of permits pursuant to this Article 1200, which date shall be not more than 120 days from the effective date of this Article 1200.
(Added by SFMTA Bd. Res. No. 171017-133, Ad. 10/17/2017, Eff. 11/17/2017)