Data versus merchants: Do shoppers drive or take Muni?

By Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez : sfexaminer – excerpt

From Mission Street to Geary Boulevard — and even sleepy Taraval Street — parking spaces are disappearing, new turn restrictions for vehicles are coming to fruition and transit-only lanes are popping up on the concrete.

As pushback from local businesses and homeowners heats up on key transit corridors, a pattern is emerging within every project: Merchants are decrying available transit data as false.

As Gabriel Medina, policy manager at the Mission Economic Development Agency, put it: “If [Republican presidential candidate] Donald Trump did a survey himself about himself, would you trust the results?”

Merchants say their customers are mostly drivers. But transit planners contend their data shows most San Franciscans actually take public transit to these neighborhoods, and a new SFMTA survey of Mission Street-goers found most take the bus or train to shop… (more)

What difference does it make what percentage of shoppers arrive by car to access your shop if your business fails after the SFMTA creates a traffic and parking nightmare to discourages ANY of your customers from returning?

What percentage of your income would you like to give up? Would you like a 10, 20, or 30% cut in pay while your rent and taxes go up?

This kind of survey proves that the SFMTA “experts” know nothing about running a business and that explains why they are millions of dollars in debt even though they have one of the highest budgets in the country.

I have an idea. Why don’t we limit them to three projects at a time that they have the money in the budget for instead of allowing them to start dozens of projects that they are financing through “leveraging” programs?

Maybe then they will feel the pain they are inflicting on the merchants who don’t have unlimited funds to cover their losses.

If you want to reign in the SFMTA support the Charter Amendment: stopsfmta.com

 

SFMTA Plans to Tweak Mission Street Transit Changes

By Laura Wenus : missionlocal – excerpt

San Francisco’s transit agency is proposing to roll back some of the traffic changes made along Mission Street when the city installed red bus-only lanes from 14th Street to Cortland Avenue.

The Municipal Transit Agency announced on Monday that its board would consider removal of two forced right turns at 22nd and 26th streets in order to give drivers four blocks of through traffic to make businesses along the corridor more accessible.

The agency will also allow taxis to turn left on 21st Street to give cab drivers a more direct route to their destinations, according to the announcement.

Finally, the agency will move a bus stop on Cortland Avenue to the northern end of its intersection with Mission Street to make it easier for passengers to board the bus.

One of the most controversial changes that came with the transit improvement projects, requiring a right turn at Cesar Chavez Street, is not being considered for removal. Concerns from the public that the forced turn needlessly separated the Mission from Bernal Heights, the agency said in its announcement, should be addressed by allowing right turns on 22nd and 26th streets.

But opponents of the project are not satisfied with the suggested changes and say they will continue to put pressure on the agency to make broader changes at an upcoming agency board meeting. One called the right turn at Cesar Chavez “disruptive,” and another told the Examiner that the turn was like a “wall” separating the two areas…

“SFMTA’s objective was to reduce cars on Mission Street, but does not actually reduce cars or traffic overall. The largest population of Mission transit riders (36%) use Mission buses like a jitney within the Mission,” Medina wrote. “But the red lanes have been tailored to rocket ‘choice riders’ over the Mission straight into downtown and reduce bus stops 50 percent.”

The SFMTA board hearing takes place on August 16…(more)

Mission Warriors will be out in force with concerned citizens intent on stopping the redlining into other neighborhoods. This project was the one that broke the camel’s back. The Supervisors, overwhelmed with complaints, placed a Charter Amendment on the ballot to allow voters an opportunity to vote to cut repeal the overreach of the SFMTA. Come to the meeting on Tuesday the 16th and let the Board hear your complaints.

 

 

Pedestrian group tries to save car-free Stockton Street proposal

By Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez : sfexaminer -excerpt

Politically powerful Chinatown community organizer Rose Pak put her foot down on the Lower Stockton Street Improvement Project, perhaps endangering the proposal to close part of Stockton Street to cars before the proposal ever reached a public agency for a vote.

Now some pedestrian-friendly groups are speaking out in hopes of keeping the effort alive.

And new conceptual drawings of the project obtained by the San Francisco Examiner show the project is beyond the point of stakeholder discussions, and may be in the beginning stages of planning.

“We’d love to see The City study it,” said Tom Radulovich, head of transportation advocacy group Livable City, adding the project shouldn’t be killed after one meeting with one stakeholder.

“There needs to be a public discussion,” he said, “not a closed door discussion.”…

Pak said she had a personal meeting with Reiskin to express Chinatown’s concerns over business impacts to the project. Making the walkway permanent would “make permanent all the problems we’ve experienced,” she wrote in a letter to Reiskin, adding it’s “unacceptable to our community.”…

While Livable City is moving full steam ahead to support the project, other advocacy groups like the San Francisco Transit Riders are taking a more hands-off approach.

Peter Straus, of San Francisco Transit Riders, said that while the group supports the walkway, “I don’t think it’s something where we’re going to jump the gun on Chinatown, we don’t want a battle here.”… (more)

Rose Pak is right to be concerned about the flow of traffic in this city. We have lost enough streets and it is time to put a stop to the anti-car SFMTA Board. Vote for the Charter Amendment and send some of them packing. Stopsfmta.com

Traffic study puts Bay Area’s largest cities amongst worst in country

by Katie Utehs : abc7news – excerpt

SAN FRANCISCO (KGO) —

A new traffic study puts the Bay Area’s largest cities as amongst the worst in the country. Additionally, the study found that people who drive spend around 200 hours on the road a year.

WalletHub crunched numbers from the 100 most populated cities in the U.S., taking into account things like traffic and road conditions and the cost of owning and maintaining a car… (more)

Showplace Square Parking Gets Metered

By Jacob Bourne : Potrero View – excerpt

The blocks surrounding Showplace Square and the California College of the Arts (CCA) have been a longstanding parking haven for commuters, oversized vehicles, and residents. Over time regulations have tightened parking availability throughout Potrero Hill, increasing parking pressures from Division to 16th streets and east to Seventh Street.  Now, the San Francisco Mu-nicipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) is adding four hour time limited parking and metered parking to all streets in that area.

Though the measure has strong backing from nearby businesses, with support from District 10 Supervisor Malia Cohen, some San Franciscans are concerned about the displacement of individuals living in oversized vehicles, who have used the curbs of Showplace to store their homes…

Meters are being added on 16th and Seventh streets near CCA, and on Henry Adams, Kansas, and Division streets, as well as on the block surrounding Showplace East. The rest of the area will have four hour time limits without residential parking permit restrictions. Due to sensitivity for homeless individuals, the SFMTA board of directors decided not to impose an overnight-oversized vehicle ban, though the enforced daytime turnover will impact these vehicles. Although more than 400 meters are being installed, according to Andy Thornley, SFMTA senior project analyst, over the past few years 750 meters have been taken off the streets, Citywide.  There are fewer meters in San Francisco now than in 2013. … (more)

There are fewer parking spaces now because the goal of SFMTA is to eliminate as many as they can. They have gone after many parking metered spaces, such as the ones they took off of Mission Street recently and the ones they are getting ready to remove from Van Ness and Lombard soon.

It is this mania to remove parking and traffic lanes that has the public ready for their heads, or at least elimination of their jobs, that is responsible for the growing support for a Charter Amendment that would unwind parts of Prop E and K. More details on that: stopsfmta.com

 

Tweaks sought to Mission Street transit lanes

By Sara Gaiser : sfbay – excerpt

fter complaints from Mission District merchants and drivers, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency officials will hold a public meeting and seek public feedback on the impact of red transit-only lanes added to Mission Street earlier this year.

The public outreach, announced in conjunction with Supervisor David Campos, will include a community hearing to be held next week, merchant walks in the area and a survey of residents and visitors on Mission Street, SFMTA officials said.

Red transit-only lanes and other changes were installed on Mission Street between 14th and 30th streets earlier this year in an effort to speed up bus travel times through the busy transit corridor and increase pedestrian safety…

The project has successfully reduced travel times and increased reliability for buses, and appears to have reduced collisions from three or four per week to only one since late March. The agency has received positive feedback from Muni riders and neighborhood residents on the changes, SFMTA officials said.

However, drivers have complained that it is now difficult to access Mission Street, and some merchants have reported a decrease in sales because of reduced vehicle traffic.

Campos said in a statement that fulfilling The City’s Transit First policy and Vision Zero goal, which aims to eliminate pedestrian deaths in San Francisco by 2020, requires tradeoffs, but that the tradeoffs “must be considered thoughtfully”:

“While I wholeheartedly support the goal of improving Muni reliability and speed, I want to make sure that the project works for everyone and take into the account the unique aspects of the Mission.”…

The public meeting will be held at 6 p.m. Monday at the Mission Cultural Center for Latino Arts at 2868 Mission St… (more)

 

Muni’s impact on small business

from hoodline – excerpt

May 9 Small Business Commission meeting: From transit-only lanes to the loss of parking spaces, neighborhood activists have been using the Commission as a venue to criticize San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency for projects that they say put small business in jeopardy. This meeting was no different.

Staffers from various departments within the SFMTA gave presentations on a variety of topics, including the agency’s public outreach, the residential parking permit program, capital projects and improvement projects on Lombard and Mission streets.

Neighborhood activists attended the meeting to speak during the public comment period on all items. They represented commercial corridors on which SFMTA has ongoing or recently-completed projects, including Mission Street, Geary Boulevard, Lombard Street and Taraval Street.

Safety was consistently cited by SFMTA staff as the reason behind all their improvement projects to heavily-used corridors.

The criticisms of those who commented on each item centered largely on the agency’s re-engineering of streets to accommodate transit, bicycles and pedestrians over private automobiles, leading to reduced auto traffic along commercial corridors and an attendant loss of parking spaces.

Bob Starzel, a representative with the Greater Geary Merchants and Property Owners Association, laid out the small business perspective of transit changes as a counterpoint to the City’s Transit First policy approach.

“If we took [SFMTA’s] numbers, and they were right, and only 30 percent of people drive, think to yourself what it means to your business if now some good proportion of that 30 percent is not gonna come to do business with you,” Starzel said. “What that means is your profit margin is hurt.”

SFMTA staff will continue appearing before the Commission to address how their projects and programs affect small businesses for the next few months… (more) Scroll the the page for this part of the article.

SFMTA is using our taxes to against us

Business owners all over town are doing a lot more than just going to meetings and City Hall. They are organizing to fight for their businesses. Fighting the taxes that feed the SFMTA are a big part of the fight.

Plans to remove traffic from our major commercial corridors are not the only thing SFMTA is doing to close businesses in the city. We know of at least three new taxes they have planned for us that are guaranteed to raise the cost of living and doing business in the Bay Area.

Prop AA – the SF Bay Authority (SFBA) is a new regional taxing entity that wants a $12 parcel tax from all property owners within a 9 county region. The claim they need it is to clean the Bay. There are plenty of other entities working on that already. If Prop AA passes the SFBA will request an additional 10 cents per gallon gas tax next. Do yourself a favor and vote against Prop AA. Look what happened when the voters voted down Prop L. They decided they could get away with tearing up our streets and removing street parking that is what they are doing. (more 0n Prop AA)

Another Sales Tax – The SFMTA assumes the voters will approve another half cent sales tax in November. In fact, they informed the Board of Supervisors that they have budgeted in that tax increase for the next two years. What will that and the parcel tax and the 10 cents per gallon do to the businesses in San Francisco? Let your supervisors know how you feel about these regressive taxes.

If you haven’t yet signed the StopSFMTA petition, please do and share it with your friends. Join the many who are fighting to keep San Francisco for the residents who live here. Leave a comment below if you want to be put in touch with your local business organization.

Bay Area traffic ignites backlash against boom, new poll suggests

by George Avalos : eastbaytimes – excerpt

“Beat L.A.” is a familiar refrain in Bay Area sports, but it now appears Northern California is on its way to being a rival for Southern California in an unwelcome fashion: traffic jams

Residents in the Bay Area have become discouraged about the heavy traffic in the region, with a dramatically expanding number of them indicating that traffic is worse than a year ago amid a huge surge in the local economy, a new poll released Friday by the Bay Area Council suggests.

“Bay Area residents are frustrated about traffic,” said Ruth Bernstein, senior principal with EMC Research, a firm that conducts market and opinion research. “It’s harder for them to get around. We definitely are seeing a backlash against the economic boom.”

Yet the traffic itself is but a symptom of what is going on rather than a cause, said Christopher Thornberg, principal executive with Beacon Economics…

“It’s harder to get around, and it is harder to find transportation access and also access to housing,” Bernstein said…

“We’re running out of adjectives to describe how bad Bay Area traffic is and the misery it’s causing,” said Jim Wunderman, president and CEO of the Bay Area Council. “We understand residents’ aggravation with traffic, but we’re not giving up on the problem.”

Contact George Avalos at 408-859-5167. Follow him at Twitter.com/georgeavalos... (more)

SF looks to better manage transit plans for new development

By Laura Dudnick : sfexaminer – excerpt

Managing transportation options for new development projects in San Francisco could become more streamlined under a proposal set to go before the Planning Commission today.

City planners have proposed a planning code amendment that would include a set of requirements for managing transportation in new projects, including for the first time mandating that The City monitors and follows up with developers to ensure project developers actually uphold their promises to manage transportation.

Currently, developers are required to meet transportation demands generated by new projects, but how the plans are implemented is scattered and inconsistent. Some projects may include a transportation management program as part of an Institutional Master Plan, while others will include the program as part of its California Environmental Quality Act analysis.

A handful of existing transportation management planning codes have been implemented since 1978, including off-street parking, bicycle parking, car sharing and parking costs…

The new planning code is designed to further encourage other types of transportation than driving.

“The whole idea of transportation demand management is that for any trip that someone takes, you’re giving them choices and making it easier for them to opt for something other than a car,” Jones said.

The Planning Commission today is scheduled to initiate the ordinance, and it will be voted on at a later date… (more)

Want to Ease Parking in Your Neighborhood? Join Our Open Houses

by Pamela Johnson : sfmta – excerpt

Tuesday, April 26, 2016

Residential parking is an issue in any crowded city, and San Francisco is no different. But while San Francisco’s Residential Parking Permit program hasn’t changed much since it began in 1976, the city has. That’s why we’re continuing our community meetings to address the natural questions: does the program still work? And if not, what changes could make it work better?..

The SFMTA would like to hear from you! We hope you can attend one or more of these upcoming workshops to discuss San Francisco’s neighborhood parking.

5/3/2015	6 to 8 PM	San Francisco Day School	350 Masonic Avenue
5/4/2016	6 to 8 PM	Calvary Presbyterian Church	2515 Fillmore Street
5/9/2016	6 to 8 PM	Richmond Rec Center	251 18th Avenue
5/10/2016	6 to 8 PM	Grace Lutheran	3201 Ulloa Street
5/18/2016	6 to 8 PM	CCSF Chinatown/North Beach	628 Washington Street
5/19/2016	6 to 8 PM	CCSF Mission Campus, Room 109	1125 Valencia Street
5/23/2016	6 to 8 PM	St. Stephen Catholic Parish	475 Eucalyptus Drive
5/25/2016	6 to  8 PM	Minnie Lovie Ward Rec Center	650 Capitol Avenue
6/1/2016	6 to 8 PM	St. Anthony’s	150 Golden Gate Avenue
6/2/2016	6 to 8 PM	CCSF South East Campus	1800 Oakdale Avenue
6/8/2016	6:30 to 8:30 PM	Harvey Milk Arts Center	50 Scott Street

If you can’t make it, you can also provide feedback to:

Kathryn Studwell
Program Manager of Residential Permit Parking
InfoRPP@sfmta.com … (more)

More changes to be ignored?

After removal of hundreds of parking spaces both on and off street, and new laws that limit building new parking spaces, it is pretty disingenuous of the SFMTA to ask how the parking is in San Francisco. If anyone wants to know how the parking removal is effecting SF businesses, you can watch the April 25th Small Business Commission meeting tapes for a pretty common description of how bad business is after the SFMTA establishes its plan on your streets. It sucks!

We know the SFMTA plan is to put parking meters, or should I say, “park by phone only” (http://enufsf.com/) options on all the San Francisco streets so you will have to constantly play musical parking chairs. STOP THEM NOW. Sign the Stop SFMTA petition and find out about all the other petitions and opportunities to oppose the SFMTA plan to privatize our public streets. http://stopsfmta.com/wp/