Rescue Muni

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.

Come to our General Meeting to hear about the SF Transit Effectiveness Project!

We will have a detailed briefing on the most extensive plan to improve SF transit in a generation, from Julie Kirschbaum of the SFMTA and Transit Effectiveness Project. Come with your tough questions on proposed service changes including expanded Rapid service, and improvements to wayfinding, fares, and more.
Also we will consider the endorsement of long-time Rescue Muni member and Supervisor Tom Ammiano for Assembly (district 13), and District 7 Supervisor Sean Elsbernd for re-election. (Our Board has recommended early endorsements in these races; we will consider all endorsements for Supervisor in August of this year.)
Date/Time: April 29 (Tuesday), 7 p.m..

Update: The meeting is at SPUR, 312 Sutter, fifth floor.

The SFMTA offers convenient online sales of the Fast Pass as well as parking cards (to pay those increasing meter fees and avoid nasty tickets), but inexplicably limits Fast Pass sales to just twelve days per month. So we thought we’d post a quick reminder that you can now (as of April 10) order your pass online, and it will be mailed to you.

Would you like monthly reminders, at least until the MTA offers auto-renewal? If so, comment below, we can post a comment like this every month.

On the agenda for Tuesday’s board meeting: a budget for the next two fiscal years (as required by last year’s Proposition A), with several fare and fine increases to cover a two-year operating deficit of $81 million. Most notable for Muni riders is a proposed $10 increase in the monthly Fast Pass, and a $5 increase in the discounted pass, beginning in 2009. However, it appears that cash fares won’t go up - so more riders will pay cash, which is exactly opposite of London’s strategy to move riders to passes to speed boarding. Parking fees are also proposed to increase.

More details as we see the exact budget proposal, but an initial recommendation: make it easier to get a fast pass! Muni needs to encourage more people to use passes, not more difficult and expensive. Many other systems let you buy a monthly pass via vending machines that take credit cards; only Muni forces you to go to a corner store, and hope they haven’t run out (see one blogger’s comment on this), or remember to order online during a twelve day window.

Update: Matier and Ross comment on the proposed expired meter fine, noting that it might scare away downtown shoppers - of course, ignoring entirely those shoppers who take mass transit.

Update 2: The MTA is expecting to raise $100M per year from parking fines from this year’s budget, spending it mainly on filling staffing shortages to improve service.

Many Muni riders also ride bikes, or would like to, if it weren’t so dangerous. If this describes you, tonight’s Bike Plan Open House should be of interest to you. SFMTA has been working on a comprehensive Bike Plan for SF for some years now, and although it has been delayed by a lawsuit, it’s now ready for public input. Among the proposals: bike access to Muni light rail vehicles, as is available now in San Jose and Sacramento. (Our friends at the SF Bike Coalition have been deeply involved in this process.)

The open house is today, March 26, 6 p.m. to 7:30 p.m., at the 101 Grove Street (Health Department) auditorium. Civic Center Muni/BART station is nearby, along with many other lines.