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Driver-of-the-Year Award recipients and Taxi Commission personnel gather at the commission's annual luncheon, held Nov. 20 at the Park Chalet. Photo: Tamara Odisho

Drivers of the Year Honored

In separate ceremonies, the Taxi Commission and Paratransit Coordinating Council (PCC) have named their drivers of the year.

At a luncheon held Nov. 20 at the Park Chalet, the Taxi Commission presented driver-of-the-year certificates to 14 cab drivers. They included: Denis Shashkov, Arrow; David Barlow, Green; Amr Mahmoud, DeSoto; Pisal Furr, Regents; Vladimir Zhoglo, Big Dog; James Espinosa, Luxor; Abraham Weldeslasie, Yellow; Samir Salhi, Metro.

The following ramp taxi drivers were also honored: Craig Nelson, Luxor; Yuri Gasparyan, SF Taxi; Jacob Novak, Black & White Checker; Arif Mohammed, Town; Sang Ta, Yellow; and Hassan Abukhdeir, Royal.

San Francisco’s paratransit program, now celebrating its 30th anniversary, honored 15 cab drivers and eight paratransit van drivers. The honorees were awarded certificates at the program’s annual reception, held Nov. 14 at the South Light Court in City Hall.

System-wide Drivers of the Year were taxi driver Ann Bailey, DeSoto Cab, and van driver Eva Perez, Mobility Plus Transportation.

The honored ramp taxi drivers were: Muwaffaq Mustafa, DeSoto; Johnny Huynh, Luxor; Fred Lein, Yellow; Casey Chan, Fog City; Jacob Novak, Black & White Checker; and Alex Labunsky, Alliance.

The honored non-ramp taxi drivers were: Haykel Khelifi, DeSoto; Valorie Lemley, Luxor; José Perez, Yellow; Roger Saccamano, National; Leonard Kovlak, Veterans; Ridha Amor Darraji, Black & White Checker; Dimitriy Kuperman, Alliance; and Lizzi Dierken, Green Cab.

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