Taxi!

August 10, 2023 8:14 PM

I want to be able to hail or otherwise get a taxi in San Francisco. What's the best way to do this? I have a big ol' bag full of questions.

I'm going to be in SF for a conference next month. I haven't been to SF since pre-pandemic/pre-oversaturation of ride share services and their offshoots in the city.

I'm covered for getting to/from center city (Union Square, basically) from SFO, but I want to make sure I have options other than Muni buses (which I'm fine/comfortable with using, but sometimes you just want to jump in a cab, yanno?) for getting around the city while I'm there. I won't be leaving the city, so I don't need to worry about "there are cheaper ways to get to Oakland" or anything; I just have some places I want to go while I'm there that are further than I will have time to walk, and I want to get a sense for what my options are.

I know it's possible to get an old-school, stick-your-hand-up-in-the-air-on-the-sidewalk taxi; I just don't know the best way to do it in a city I haven't been to in a while.

And when I say "taxi", I mean a traditional taxi. I don't mean

- uber
- lyft
- other ride share
- robotaxis/waymo

I assume I can get a cab at my hotel. But if I'm out and about and want to get a cab:

- Is there an app/apps that SF cab companies use (if there are multiple apps, is any one better than the other)?
- Is it still possible/acceptable to hail a cab from the street if I see one driving around?
- Are some cab companies better than others?

And yes, I understand that this sort of transportation option is probably a minority of all my car-based options, and may cost more than a lyft/uber. I don't care. I want to either prop up a dying industry or support the underdog (delete as appropriate depending on your viewpoint on these things). So please help me cab in SF.

posted by pdb to Travel & Transportation around San Francisco, CA (10 answers total)

Best answer: My experience in SF is that Flywheel is the predominant app used by the real taxi companies for mobile hailing, and I took a Flywheel taxi when I was there recently without incident. There are two others, ARRO and YoTaxi SF, but I can't speak to them. You can still technically hail a cab from the street, but that's become more of a rare thing.
posted by eschatfische at 8:22 PM on August 10, 2023 [6 favorites]

Best answer: Flywheel is the cab-hailing app and probably your best option in general. Another is, like at your hotel, to go where the cabs tend to be. Restaurants, bars, etc. When I'm downtown I never try to wave a cab down, I just walk to the Palace Hotel and jump in one of the 8 that are usually sitting there doing nothing but waiting for me. This probably goes for most good hotels in the city.
posted by rhizome at 8:24 PM on August 10, 2023 [1 favorite]

Yo Taxi SF in a Yellow Cab app for San Francisco. I haven't used it, but did have a fairly good experience using the Yellow Cab app where I live.
posted by TimHare at 9:19 PM on August 10, 2023

This post from JWZ about self-driving taxis appeared beside your post in my feed reader. Maybe it means something.
posted by gible at 12:47 AM on August 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

Sf cabs use the curb app too
posted by brujita at 6:12 AM on August 11, 2023 [1 favorite]

Best answer: Hailing a cab in SF was rarely a quick process prior to the rise of the apps, and now it is simply impossible. You will need to use one of the taxi-specific apps listed above to have any realistic hope of getting a cab to take you someplace in a timely manner.

You might, maybe, if you're lucky, find an available cab on Market Street waiting around the downtown Bart stations, but don't count on that.
posted by ananci at 6:59 AM on August 11, 2023

Go Flyweel. It's operated by Desoto cab, one of the major cab companies in the area.

Otherwise, Yellow Cab is 333-3333.
posted by kschang at 8:11 AM on August 11, 2023

The only time in my life that I hailed a cab on the street in SF - I was around Union Square pre-COVID which may have been the only place in the city it was possible to hail a cab at the time - they drove me 3x farther than necessary to get me home, even while I told them they were going the wrong way. Buyer beware on cabs or quite honestly Lyft/Uber drivers in downtown SF - some legitimately don’t know the area, others are scammers, and a few are subject to some really odd traffic patterns that can make turning hard at certain times of day, but the end result of all of them is a fare higher than you should have to pay.

Follow along on a maps app if you are dedicated to this plan.
posted by A Blue Moon at 11:36 AM on August 11, 2023

Best answer: FWIW, taxis have been severely threatened by rideshare and only the most dedicated survived, and they do so by staying at one place with guaranteed clients, such as hotels, airports, train stations, and so on, and they only move for rides, no more roaming the streets. Calling for a ride on Yellow can take up to 30 minutes, IIRC, pre-COVID.

On the other hand, if you're moving around during DreamForce, the taxis and rideshares will be in the area ready to take you anywhere, esp. from hotels and near Moscone.
posted by kschang at 10:29 PM on August 11, 2023

Response by poster: @kschang I'm going to Workday Rising, not DreamForce, but the principle's the same...thanks for the heads-up on lead times.
posted by pdb at 11:52 AM on August 13, 2023