Rescue Muni

The always useful Curbed SF blog has a detailed discussion up today on the Geary Bus Rapid Transit project, which we have supported since time immemorial (well, almost). As the progress proceeds at a glacial pace, Matt of Curbed points out that the concerns about higher density and transit oriented development were much less of a problem when actual transit oriented development was happening, almost a century ago when the Municipal Railway first opened the A and B lines up Geary in 1912. So it really does not make sense to oppose restoring a small subset of the service that was available a century ago on the grounds that it will somehow make Geary less livable.

One concern, however - in the design of the BRT project, why are high quality shelters with NextBus proposed for “most” stops? The whole point of BRT is to upgrade the service at ALL stops.

Today’s New York Times profiles the Transmilenio system in Bogota, a center-running bus rapid transit system that has quickly become a very popular way to get around town. (This was modeled on the famous system in Curitiba, Brazil, and Mexico City and many others have similar systems now.)

We’ve long been advocates of a similar system in San Francisco, specifically on Geary and Van Ness boulevards. (Proposition K in 2003 - six years ago - identified these as top priorities.) Of course, projects in San Francisco take decades while projects in other cities only take a few years, but we are hoping that once the EIRs are done construction can begin soon on both.

SFist had an excellent blog post yesterday about the SFCTA’s study of the proposed Geary Bus Rapid Transit project. In brief, the project team agrees with us that the dedicated bus lanes should run down the center of the street, in dedicated right of way, as most of SF’s light rail lines do (e.g. T-Third). The SFCTA also backed our call for a “rail ready” project that can be easily upgraded to light rail in the future, as funds become available.

If you haven’t had a chance to comment on the SF Transit Effectiveness Project at a public meeting, this week is your last chance (at least for the initial proposal). The SFTEP is holding three more public meetings this week where you can hear the detailed proposals and provide your feedback.

Some of the specifics that Rescue Muni is excited about include:
- a citywide Rapid network providing much faster service on key lines;
- increased service to meet demand on overcrowded lines;
- ticket machines, transit lanes, signal priority and bus bulbs to improve pedestrian safety and speed boarding; and
- improved wayfinding and marketing to make the system easier to use.

To comment or hear more, please mark your calendar for one of these meetings!

Monday, May 12 at 6 p.m. – 8 p.m.
West Bay Conference Center
1290 Fillmore St. at Eddy St.
Nearby Muni routes: 5, 22, 31, 38 & 38L

Wednesday, May 14 at 6:30 p.m. – 8:30 p.m.
Bessie Carmichael Elementary
375 Seventh St. at Harrison St.
Nearby Muni routes: 9X, 12, 14X, 19 & 47

Saturday, May 17 at 10:30 a.m. - 12:30 p.m.
Mission YMCA
4080 Mission Street at Bosworth St.
Nearby Muni routes: 14, 23, 49 & 67

The TEP is the biggest effort to revise and improve Muni service in a generation. Don’t miss your chance to hear about it and comment!

Last night, Rescue Muni members heard a presentation on the San Francisco Transit Effectiveness Project. Members asked a lot of great questions about the project. We told the TEP staff our members would ask a lot of detailed questions about the plan, and the folks at our meeting didn’t disappoint.

Members were generally supportive of the concept of the TEP, and the wide array of transit improvements contained in the project, like the ambitious citywide rapid network, but attendees expressed a number of concerns about the proposed elimination of some of the community service routes, like the 66-Quintara.

We’re in the process of formulating a formal position on the TEP proposal, and we want as much feedback as possible from our members. Please contact us with your thoughts on the project. And a very big thank you to the members who attended last night and made the meeting a success, as well as the TEP staff, led by Julie Kirschbaum, who stayed for over two hours answering questions and taking comments from members.

Also, we encourage members to attend one or more of the seven remaining community meetings about the TEP. The next one is tonight, and they run through May 17:

• Wednesday, April 30, 6:00 pm, City College Mission Campus, 1125 Valencia St. (at 22nd St.)
• Saturday, May 3, 10:30 am, Jean Parker Elementary, 840 Broadway St. (at Powell St.)
• Monday, May 5, 6:30 pm, Visitacion Valley Elementary, 55 Schwerin St. (at Visitacion Ave.)
• Saturday, May 10, 10:30 am, Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy, 4235 19th St. (at Diamond St.)
• Monday, May 12, 6:00 pm, West Bay Conference Center, 1290 Fillmore St. (at Eddy St.)
• Wednesday, May 14, 6:30 pm, Bessie Carmichael Elementary, 375 Seventh St. (at Harrison St.)
• Saturday, May 17, 10:30 am, Mission YMCA, 4080 Mission St. (at Bosworth St.)

Also, while you’re at it, remember that you can join Rescue Muni or renew your membership online. And if you’re up to date, urge a friend to join up.