If you've flown through SFO recently, you already know: it's rough out there. Runway construction combined with an FAA decision to halt parallel landings has created a perfect storm of 3+ hour delays that are turning routine travel into an endurance test. One Bay Area commuter put it simply — between construction and weather, delays have become the default, not the exception.

But the headaches don't end when you land. Because waiting for you at the curb is another uniquely San Francisco experience: taxi drivers running payment scams.

Here's the play. A driver picks you up, claims his Curb payment terminal is broken, and asks you to pay via his personal Square account. You comply because you're exhausted and just want to get to your hotel. Then, after he drives off, he charges you through Curb anyway. Congratulations — you've been double-billed.

One SF resident who reported exactly this scam found out through a city investigation that the driver in question was a repeat offender — multiple complaints had already been filed. The punishment? A potential 30-day suspension. For serial fraud. As one local on Reddit quipped, "30 days harsh? He should be permanently suspended. He's willingly doing this with ill intent."

Hard to argue with that logic.

The city's Taxis, Access & Mobility Services Division does appear to be taking the issue somewhat seriously. An investigator even asked the victim whether the experience made him less likely to take taxis in the future. The answer should be obvious to anyone paying attention. As another San Francisco resident put it: "Every time you give a taxi driver a chance, you're going to learn why Uber is a multi-billion dollar company."

Here's the systemic problem: drivers prefer personal Square readers because Curb takes a bigger cut. That's an understandable economic incentive — but it's the wrong one. Curb creates a trackable, transparent transaction record. Square through a personal account is essentially an off-the-books operation. The city should be making Curb so cost-competitive that drivers want to use it, not tolerating a system that practically invites fraud.

SFO is the first impression millions of visitors get of San Francisco every year. Right now, that impression is hours of delays followed by a coin flip on whether your cab driver is going to rip you off. The airport can't control the weather, but the city absolutely can crack down harder on predatory drivers and fix the broken incentive structure that enables them.

Or we can just let Waymo handle it. The robotaxis are looking better every day.