Rescue Muni

62% of all trips in the city are made with cars, a factor that the MTA would like to see shrink to 50% by the end of the decade, reports the Chronicle. This is one of the goals of the agency’s 6 year strategic plan, adopted on Tuesday. The cost of the changes will set the agency back $87m, a gap that is yet to find funding. “To have a world-class transportation system that people want to use, we have to be resourced adequately,” said SFMTA’s Ed Reiskin. This will be a challenging goal for the MTA, with a budget gap of $28 million this fiscal year, $34 million next year and $46 million after that.

“We’re not going to get a better deal than now,” SFMTA CFO Sonali Bose told reporters. 2007′s Prop A allows the SFMTA to issue revenue bonds for “shovel ready” infrastructure upgrades and repairs, and the low interest rates on the bond market make it a once in a lifetime chance for the agency to get a good deal on rates. Out of the $170m the bonds will raise, the agency will buy down existing expensive debt, with the rest of the funds going to help pay for a rehabilitation project at Muni’s Green yard, replacing system radios, replacing the system’s 28 year old digital subway signs, upgrading the sea water damaged Embarcadero MMT, and upgrading rail infrastructure in the Sunset Tunnel (which will be in tandem with the Cole St rail upgrade).

The SFMTA voted unanimously yesterday to take an important transit-first step: to end free parking for most employees, instead requiring an $80 monthly charge to park at SFMTA lots. This is something we have encouraged for a long time – not only does it encourage workers to use the system they run, it also sets a good example for the rest of San Francisco, and it will raise a little bit of money (about $1M/year) for the agency. The SF Weekly also covered this.

However, the agency board also took a step to open yet another loophole in parking regulations, this time for nannies and other “child care providers”: it approved a pilot program to let them get residential parking permits, potentially crowding out residents for all-day street parking and certainly providing an incentive to drive instead of taking mass transit. Others pay for their parking or mass transit – why should this one class of workers, who happen to have wealthy and well-connected employers who can attend meetings during business hours, get a break?

Save the date: July 6th at Noon.

The SFMTA Board of Directors will seek input from riders for the restoration of some bus route and rail lines that were cut during the May 8th service changes. Stop by city hall, Room 400, and get your comment cards in so the SFMTA knows which routes need restoration the most (weekend N service to Caltrain?). Call 311 or visit SFMTA.com for more information.

Nobody likes to pay extra for parking, but Rescue Muni applauds the SFMTA for taking the hard steps to expand meter coverage to commercial areas around San Francisco to help cover the increasing cost of running Muni, and taking comments at Friday’s administrative hearing. San Francisco voters have repeatedly approved the Transit-First policy that clearly makes mass transit and alternatives to cars the top priority for the SFMTA – and in difficult economic times like this, expanded meters (and expanded meter hours) are a very good way to raise revenue to prevent service cuts, and also to promote higher turnover in commercial corridors. SF Streetsblog also has coverage.

If you agree that expanded parking meters are a better solution than service cuts (understanding that Muni also needs to get its fiscal house in order, hence the Fix Muni Now amendment on the streets now), contact the SFMTA Board and tell them you support this plan!