I spoke with a long time taxi driver friend about this. His take is there is an agreement between one of the port agents that books tours for cruise ships and also one of the taxi driver unions. The agreement to transport people from the pier to Sunset was for $16pp round trip. Some drivers were supposedly collecting $8pp on the way out but then on the return some were doing it for $5pp. I am not sure if Sunset has anything in this or what the actual facts are but there was supposed to be a set price for trips sold on the ships and also one of the taxi unions. Some drivers became upset as they thought the variance in pricing made them look like they were cheating people and I guess the wristband thing came about.

I am sure there is more to the story but this is my summation of it from a short conversation this morning.