[Carfreeliving] SPUR and Transportation Reform

[Mike Sallaberry]

I suggested to someone up in Muni that they use this opportunity to skim 
unnecessary bus stops off routes across the city.  By shaving bus stops, 
travel times drop and less buses are needed per route.  Each bus costs 
~$100,000 per year to operate, apparently.  And beyond the cost savings, 
shorter travel times means a more attractive option for people considering 
public transit, of course.

The 21 Hayes, for instance, which has had service cut twice in recent 
years, has a stop on almost every block.  I've "raced" it while walking 
and can often keep up with it for 5+ blocks where there was no traffic. 
Some of these questionable stops are also on the farside of STOP signs, 
forcing them to stop twice in a span of 100'.  I suggested to Muni that 
they remove some stops years ago, and the response was basically that it 
is a good idea but it is politically difficult.  Well, now is a good time 
to start making service efficient, even if some people become upset that 
they have to walk an extra block.  A $57 million dollar hole can also 
create opportunities.

I hope that SPUR and Rescue Muni can help push for such changes.
Mike


Michael Sallaberry, P.E.
Associate Transportation Engineer
San Francisco Department of Parking and Traffic
25 Van Ness Avenue, Suite 345
San Francisco, CA 94102
(415) 554 2351
(415) 554 2352 (fax)
Bicycle Hotline (415) 585-BIKE
http://www.bicycle.sfgov.org



Andrew Sullivan <andrew at sulli.org> 
Sent by: Carfreeliving-bounces at livablecity.org
03/01/2005 10:34 AM

To
Joshua Hart <joshua at sfbike.org>
cc
carfreeliving at livablecity.org
Subject
Re: [Carfreeliving] SPUR and Transportation Reform






I think SPUR was just being realistic about the budget.  They support 
alternative revenue sources for Muni (as does Rescue Muni, as do most 
other alt-transportation types) but they also understood that with a 
$57 million deficit there's no realistic way to make up the difference 
without a fare hike this fiscal year.  Longer term revenue sources like 
sales tax, parking tax, downtown assessment, vehicle environmental 
impact fee, and congestion charging will NOT be implemented in time to 
address this year's deficit, and there's no extra money in the General 
Fund.

Andrew

On Mar 1, 2005, at 10:29, Joshua Hart wrote:

> Hi Dave and all-
>
>
> Thanks for setting up this valuable list.   I have a question to pose- 
>  It seems like the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research 
> Association  has consistently been on the pro-car, pro-development, 
> pro- downtown business, pro-wealth side of many issues lately.   Their 
> lonely stand in support of widening MLK in GG Park, and in support of 
> yesterday's Muni fare increase clearly illustrates this bias.
>
> My question is- has SPUR always supported these policies?  How have 
> other pro-environment, pro-ped/ bike/ transit organizations dealt with 
> this? (did SPUR's transportation committee actually vote to support a 
> Muni fare hike?)
>
> Just wondering,
>
>
> Josh
>
>
>
> Jim Chappell, president of the nonprofit think tank San Francisco 
> Planning and Urban Research Association, said Muni's three-pronged 
> budget was fair and should lead to more efficient transit service.
>
>  "The social and economic health of San Francisco depends on a strong 
> Muni, '' he said. "Your proposed budget has everyone sharing the pain. 
> That is correct."
>
>
> ~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~
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