Rescue Muni

Do you think Muni wastes taxpayer money? They have nothing on the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which at a time of severe budget cuts has spent half a million of your hard-earned dollars, not to add service, not to improve the 511.org website, not even to put up more ads encouraging riders to take mass transit, but to rebrand the Translink card. Someone they paid good money to thought it would make sense to replace all of the logos and advertisements for the (finally mostly functional) card with new ones with a new name – Clipper.

Is it too late to cut this item from the regional budget and spend it on – here’s an idea – better service instead?

Update: Hey SF Appeal, you got us on this one. Apparently they reported this in the last decade - and the total’s $1 million. Still, it’s a big waste.

Update 2: SFist has a long commentary on all things Translink today.

Concerned about proposed service cuts? Do you agree with us that extended meter hours (including enforcing meters on Sundays) are far better than cutting mass transit, and that charging extra for the F line and expresses is a terrible idea? If so, please attend and comment at this SFMTA public meeting:

Town Hall Meeting, One South Van Ness Ave. @ Market St., 2nd Floor Atrium
Tuesday, Feb. 9 – 6 to 8 p.m.
Transit: 6, 71, 47, 49, Metro to Van Ness

Update: We live tweeted the meeting at our Twitter. Follow it!

Concerned about proposed service cuts? Do you agree with us that extended meter hours (including enforcing meters on Sundays) is far better than cutting mass transit? If so, please attend and comment at one of these SFMTA meetings:

Town Hall Meetings, One South Van Ness Ave. @ Market St., 2nd Floor Atrium
Saturday, Feb. 6 – 10 a.m. to noon
Tuesday, Feb. 9 – 6 to 8 p.m.
Transit: 6, 71, 47, 49, Metro to Van Ness

SFMTA Board Meeting, City Hall Room 400
Tuesday, Feb. 16 – 9 a.m. (public hearing and possible Board action)
Transit: 5, 6, 19, 21, 71, 47, 49, Metro, BART to Civic Center

In response to SFMTA’s budget deficit and threatened service cuts and fare hikes, the Sierra Club San Francisco Group has some policy recommendations. Below is their letter by our board member, Howard Strassner. (Note: this is not Rescue Muni policy, though we are long-time proponents of expanded rapid bus service.)

Read the rest of this entry »

Rescue Muni unequivocally opposes the proposed $5 fare for the F-Market historic streetcar line.  We recognize that this is an extraordinarily difficult budget year, and that despite the recent fare increase, Muni is running short on money from other sources.  But the F-Market is one of the most cost-effective lines in the city, and other, better revenue options exist, not least of which are extending parking meter hours into Sundays and evenings.  We are unconvinced that these measures will hurt San Francisco’s economy.  Many cities—including cities with fewer transit options than San Francisco—keep their parking meters running on Sundays and weekends, and seem to suffer no ill effects from it.

Singling out a single line for a fare increase—and eliminating 313,000 service hours per year—shouldn’t even be considered in a “Transit First” city until all other options are exhausted.  They haven’t been.

We urge Rescue Muni members to attend today’s meeting of the MTA Board—2:00 p.m. at Room 400, City Hall—and let directors know that this plan is unacceptable, and that better options for closing the short-term revenue gap remain.

Update: Rick Laubscher of Market Street Railway has a very thoughtful letter in opposition to the $5 F-line.

Also: The Bike Coalition has a handy form to tell the Supervisors and the Mayor that you oppose higher fares and service cuts.