A Transit Riders' Association for San Francisco P.O. Box 190966 San Francisco, CA 94119-0966 Hotline: (415) 273-1558 Email: board at rescuemuni.org Web: http://www.rescuemuni.org

FOR RELEASE FEBRUARY 23, 2000 Contacts: Andrew Sullivan Chair, Steering Committee / Chief Spokesperson (415) 673-0626 >[email protected] Daniel Murphy Vice-Chair, Steering Committee (415) 665-4074 [email protected]

After Tuesday’s vote to approve Mayor Brown’s nominees to the new Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) Board, Rescue Muni thanked the supervisors who voted against the nominees. Despite the vote, the organization pledged to work with the new board to improve Muni service.

The organization singled out Supervisor Tom Ammiano for praise as the only member to vote against all seven nominees. "Supervisor Ammiano stood up for Muni riders by insisting the board better represent Muni’s customers," said Rescue Muni chair Andrew Sullivan. "It took guts to vote against all seven nominees, but doing so said that riders matter."

Rescue Muni also praised Supervisors Gavin Newsom and Leland Yee for voting against Welton Flynn, who presided over Muni’s decline on the Public Utilities Commission and later the Public Transportation Commission. "Supervisor Newsom and Supervisor Yee sent an important message with their votes: that public officials should be accountable for performance," said Rescue Muni vice chair Daniel Murphy. "We think that’s absolutely essential."

"Despite our differences about the makeup of this board, Rescue Muni is eager to work with the new MTA to make Muni service better," said Sullivan. "Our organization understands Muni’s problems at a pretty deep level. We hope to reach out to this board and help with the learning curve they’ll face."

Rescue Muni is a transit riders’ organization for customers of Muni. It was founded in 1996 by Muni riders seeking to improve the system’s reliability, service, and safety, and currently has about 550 members and continues to grow rapidly. Rescue Muni co-sponsored November 1999’s Proposition E after circulating their own charter amendment earlier that year and participating in City Hall negotiations. Additionally, Rescue Muni sponsors an annual riders’ survey measuring the system’s reliability and performance.