Increased advertising on Muni buses approved despite criticism

by Joshua Sabatini : sfexaminer – excerpt

The number of Muni buses that can legally have wraparound advertisements was doubled by San Francisco supervisors Tuesday, despite objections that the banners would degrade rider experience.

After about a half-hour of debate, the Board of Supervisors voted 6-5 to approve a 15-year contract with Titan Outdoor LLC. The agreement includes a controversial provision that increases the number of permitted advertising wraps, the type of banners that cover the entirety of a bus including its windows, from 15 buses to 30 at any given time. The wraps are most popular between September and December. The contract initially allowed digital ads, but that provision was removed.. (more)

“Let’s take a hard look at late night transit options” Says Supe, Forms Working Group

Sasha Lekach : Bay City News – excerpt

San Francisco Supervisor Scott Wiener introduced a resolution at this afternoon’s Board of Supervisors meeting to form a late night transportation working group that will create a plan to improve after-hours public transit in the region.

Earlier this month, Wiener convened a hearing at the Board of Supervisors’ Land Use and Economic Development Committee with select city agencies, entertainment and nightlife advocates, transportation officials as well as late night and early morning workers and employers to discuss the apparent dearth of late travel options.

Wiener has called for better and safer after-hours service, especially since BART and the San Francisco Municipal Railway do not run 24 hours.

He said there are limited public transit options for late night workers and residents and visitors leaving bars and other nightlife venues.

The supervisor said after the hearing it was determined that economical options such as transbay bus service and Muni late night OWL service is sporadic and not well publicized for late night travelers… (more)

How much time and money will the city spend to avoid the obvious solution to the late night transportation that cost the city nothing? Private cars and cabs work fine and are the safest transportation at night.

Local news Calling all cars … San Francisco motorists call for “transportation balance”

By Michael Cabanatuan : City Insider : sfgate – excerpt – corrected on April 27, as to the actual language

As San Francisco has implemented its 40-year-old Transit First policy more assertively in recent years, some car-loving residents have grumbled, fumed and quietly plotted revenge.

Their targets are the politicians and bureaucrats who have visited upon the city such evils as bike lanes, transit-only lanes, variable parking meter rates, higher parking charges and enforcing meters on Sundays (recently revoked).

Now, they’re prepared to unleash their fury. An unnamed coalition of  San Franciscans, including a Republican candidate for Assembly, submitted papers and started collecting signatures to qualify an initiative for the November ballot that would establish a nonbinding declaration of policy “restoring transportation balance in San Francisco.”

“We realize that motorists contribute a disproportionate share of the funding to the SFMTA while receiving next to nothing in return,” the coalition said in a statement.

The group acknowledges the Transit First policy, which passed in 1973, but says that 79 percent of city households own cars and nearly 50 percent rely on cars to get to and from work.

“The Transit First policy has morphed into one that favors only public transportation and bicycles to the exclusion of any other mode of transportation,” the coalition says in a statement. “Nevertheless, a majority of San Franciscans want the automobile option for its convenience, personal safety and freedom of movement.”

The group’s policy calls for:

• Prohibiting parking meters on Sundays, holidays and outside the hours of 9 a.m. to 6 p.m.
• Freezing for five years fees for parking meters, garages and residential parking permits, and limiting increases thereafter to inflation adjustments.
• Banning new parking meters or variable meter pricing in neighborhoods unless a majority of residents sign a petition in support.
• Earmarking a portion of new parking revenue, fees charges motorists and bond monies for construction and operation of neighborhood parking garages.
• Requiring that any “re-engineering of traffic flow in the city should aim to achieve safer, smoother-flowing streets.”
• Enforcing traffic laws “equally for everyone using San Francisco’s streets and sidewalks.”
• Requiring motorists to be appointed to the Municipal Transportation Agency’s board of directors, and create a Motorists’ Citizens Advisory Committee.
• Having the Board of Supervisors “make every reasonable effort” to adhere to the policy.

Coalition representatives say they need to gather 9,702 signatures  by July 7 to qualify their measure for the ballot. Look for them at a parking garage near you… (more)

S.F. Sunday parking meter charge voted down

Jaxon Van Derbeken : sfgate – excerpt

After being bombarded for hours from all sides, the city’s Municipal Transportation Agency board voted to give up $11 million in annual revenue and go along with Mayor Ed Lee‘s plan to stop charging for parking in metered spaces on Sundays.

The panel voted unanimously to scrap Sunday parking charges, setting up another showdown at the Board of Supervisors when it considers the MTA budget. The members also voted to prioritize expanded service to low-income seniors and youths, banking on some of a $15 million surplus the agency has, and delayed some planned fare increases.

But parking was the most contentious issue in the budget process.

Mayor Ed Lee  and the Supervisors heard us on the Sunday parking meters. Keep up the good work. More letters and comments will get us back our streets. Thanks for all your support. You are great!

 

RELATED:
FREE PARKING On Sundays In San Francisco Is Back (KMEL)
Free Sunday Parking Returns to SF (funcheap)

Supervisors to vote on environmental appeal of commuter shuttle program

by Joshua Sabatini : sfexaminer – excerpt

Opponents to The City’s shuttle fee program say the commuter buses, which handle about 35,000 boardings on an average weekday, hurt the environment and drive up housing costs.

Dueling interests battling over the future of San Francisco will face off at City Hall on Tuesday when the Board of Supervisors will vote on an appeal of a commuter shuttle pilot program.

While the decision will be based on a California environmental law, the vote on the fee program has broader significance and political ramifications in the ongoing debate over whether the booming technology industry is hurting San Francisco’s character or is a welcomed economic engine deserving praise. Under the fee pilot, commuter buses using Muni stops would pay $1 per stop per day.

Judging by the arguments laid out in the appeal case and the efforts of both sides to turn out their supporters, the tensions that have been building up in The City over evictions and a climbing cost of living — which have already led to spirited community meetings, rallies and legislative efforts — will come to a head.

Tuesday’s vote was triggered when the largest city employee union, Service Employees International Union Local 1021, with the support of other groups like the League of Pissed-Off Voters, filed an appeal under the California Environmental Quality Act over the commuter shuttle program, which was approved in January by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency. Under the state law, projects are analyzed for their impacts on the environment. Those with no significant impact can be exempted from doing an environmental study, which was the case with the shuttle pilot program… (more)

SF tech bus program could be stalled for months by appeals

by Joshua Sabatini : sfexaminer – excerpt

San Francisco’s pilot program for commuter shuttles could be stalled for months or even derailed by The City’s largest labor union and community advocates who are fighting the proposal by using a state environmental law.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency approved the pilot program for commuter shuttles, which are commonly referred to as tech buses, after years of rising tensions. Any delay would leave many unanswered questions for the workers and students who use the shuttles, along with police and parking control officers. The pilot was born in response to complaints about the impacts of the shuttles and lack of traffic-violation enforcement.

The opponents of the SFMTA proposal are appealing for the shuttle program to undergo a rigorous environmental study…

The appeal will put the Board of Supervisors in the hot seat April 1, (April Fool’s Day) when the 11 elected officials are expected to vote on whether to uphold the appeal, which would require the program to undergo an environmental review. The vote hearing is expected to draw a large turnout.

The appeal for a larger study on the shuttles argues that the buses have led to displacement and other elements of gentrification in The City. The tensions between residents and the burgeoning tech industry — which some blame for the rise in rents, cost of living and evictions — garnered nationwide attention when activists blocked commuter buses in December… (more)

Muni riders object to TEP service cuts. Drop the TEP!

download printable  TEP flyer

TEP Route Data and Proposed Changes: http://www.sfmta.com/node/97906
A number of Supervisors have heard the message and are supporting the riders. Let your Supervisor know how you feel about spending money on TEP: Contacts here:
http://discoveryink.wordpress.com/letters-and-comments/san-francisco-officials/

“It’s really starting to be a free-for-all out there”: SF Supes Hear Harsh Words At Ridesharing Hearing

by Bay City News – excerpt

Ridesharing companies that are growing in popularity in San Francisco have had unintended consequences and need to be better regulated, city supervisors were told today at a committee meeting on the issue.

Supervisor Eric Mar called for today’s hearing on businesses like Uber, Lyft and Sidecar, which match riders to private cars via GPS-based smartphone apps and are defined by the California Public Utilities Commission as “transportation network companies.”

The companies have drawn increased attention from the city after an Uber driver struck and killed 6-year-old Sofia Liu on Polk Street on New Year’s Eve. They have also been sharply criticized by taxi drivers for operating under looser regulations than those required for cab companies and.

Christiane Hayashi, director of taxis and accessibility services for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, said the TNCs require less comprehensive background checks than those for taxi drivers and do not provide cities with the number of cars they have out on the streets.

“It’s really starting to be a free-for-all out there,” Hayashi said. “So many vehicles are competing for business that it’s beginning to get quite dangerous.”… (more)

SF transit agency must cease questionable practices

by Examiner Editorial : sfexaminer – excerpt

There are now two incidents in which officials at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency have used handshake agreements with companies to either expedite a process or to avoid it altogether — as was the case with recently revealed news about commuter shuttles. The egregious backroom dealing by the SFMTA and its proxies needs to cease immediately.
In an SF Weekly article in early January, the newspaper documented a handshake deal for new Muni buses that would have the coaches in San Francisco in a more timely manner. The issue is that the buses were delivered to an East Bay facility before the Board of Supervisors approved the contract for the new buses. Officials argued that the deal would have allowed the agency to send the buses back if the contract was not approved.
Then in a Wednesday front-page article, The San Francisco Examiner outlined a handshake agreement between the SFMTA and commuter shuttle companies for the buses to use Muni stops without being penalized. The deal — outlined in a series of emails between the charter companies, the companies that contract with those firms and SFMTA officials — was apparently solid enough that the companies felt they could ask for fines for blocking Muni stops to be waived.
In both cases of the handshake deals with SFMTA officials, it is clear that the agreements sped up what could be a laborious process. And in both cases, it is also clear that the deals may not have exactly broken the letter of the law, but they surely toed that line and broke the spirit of the public process…
If the agency is unable to admit its shortfalls in these situations, it perhaps needs to be left up to the Board of Supervisors or another city office to step in and put additional safeguards into place… (more)

Boundaries, we don’t need no stinkin boundaries!

Then they don’t need no more of our stinkin money. Will someone please put these people out of their misery or must they completely destroy our streets first?

RELATED:
Emails show ‘handshake agreement’ for tech buses using SF transit stops: Emails from The City’s transit agency over the past three years indicate that a “handshake agreement” exists for commuter shuttles to use Muni stops without being cited.
The correspondence also shows that there was internal discussion at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency about whether to ticket for the illegal use of the public-bus facilities, while companies and their lobbyists called for leniency and requested citation dismissals.
The inquiries include emails sent to the SFMTA by shuttle providers and the companies that use shuttles…
The identified representative of Google was lobbyist Ross Guehring of the well-known local firm Barbary Coast Consulting, who wrote in an April 10, 2012, email, “I think it would go a long way if these tickets could somehow be reined in during this policy development process.”… (more)

Transit on Trial: Our Muni Cover Story Spurs a Public Hearing

By Joe Eskenazi : sfweekly – excerpt
Wednesday, Jan 22 2014 – just found this article

…Supervisor David Campos called for a public hearing before the board’s Government Audit and Oversight Committee to address lingering questions regarding the bizarre manner in which these buses were obtained, and nagging concerns about their reliability. The material covered in our story — and Campos’ subsequent communications with Muni higher-ups — have left him scratching his head… (more)

Government Audit and Oversight Committee – February 13, 2014 – Item # 4 – 140044 RE: the  Municipal Transportation Agency Contract for New Flyer Hybrid Buses. Supervisor Campos requested a hearing on the Municipal Transportation Agency contracting process for the New Flyer hybrid buses, approved by the Board of Supervisors on October 29, 2013, as referenced in File No. 130977, to obtain additional information regarding the contracting process and construction of the fleet that occurred before approval by the Board of Supervisors.  1/14/14; RECEIVED AND ASSIGNED to the Government Audit and Oversight Committee. (video link – 1:29:17)

Supervisor Campos “…There are questions that should be answered with respect to the process that was followed for the purchase of the vehicles at issue 50 vehicles for 38 million…” Issues of concern to Supervisor Campos:  It is important to find out how the vehicles were delivered to the MTA before the contract was actually approved by the Board of Supervisors. It seems as if the decision to purchase these vehicles was made prior to completion of the internal review of the options… At least 10% of the buses may have failed in route to San Francisco… “If any of my constituents ask, did we make a good investment, was the investment made in a responsible way, did we follow best practices, we should be able to say, we in fact, have done that.”

Just listen to the tape.