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 IMMEDIATE RELEASE FEBRUARY 18, 1999 Contacts: Andrew Sullivan Chairman, Steering Committee / Chief Spokesperson (415) 673-0626 [email protected] Daniel Murphy Vice-Chair, Steering Committee (415) 665-4074 [email protected]

Rescue Muni, the San Francisco transit riders association, announced today that it cannot support the proposed Muni reform initiative developed by Mayor Brown’s “New Muni Task Force.”

“It’s just not strong enough,” said Andrew Sullivan, the group’s chair and chief spokesperson. “Without enforcable standards of service, we’re just moving boxes around on the org chart.”

The proposal approved by the mayor’s task force creates a relatively independent Municipal Transportation Agency, establishes a protected municipal transportation fund, and requires that the agency adopt various goals and objectives for better service. These goals are not defined, however, and there is no requirement for incentive pay to ensure they are met.

Sullivan also expressed concern about the scope of the new agency. “The proposal doesn’t put Muni and the Department of Parking and Traffic under one umbrella, and that’s unfortunate,” he said. “San Francisco needs a single transportation agency that can move people in the most efficient way possible. Leaving DPT separate means that buses will still be stuck in traffic.”

Rescue Muni co-founder Ken Niemi also noted the failure to address Muni’s notorious lack of management flexibility. “There’s nothing at all in there to reduce absenteeism or let dispatchers send trains out of Embarcadero in order,” he said. “Sounds like the status quo to me.”

Vice chair Daniel Murphy emphasized that time remains to develop a consensus proposal before the November election. “We’d be happy to work with the mayor on improving his proposal, but we won’t sit idly by if he doesn’t accept our help. Riders have seen reorganizations come and go. We need a measure with teeth.”

Rescue Muni, a transit riders association for San Francisco, was founded in 1996 by concerned Muni riders seeking to make service reliable, safer, faster, and more responsive to riders’ needs.