[TLC Member News & Alerts] Next action alert

[Jeremy Nelson]

Dear advocates for a more livable city-

Please take action on the important items included in this alert, and let us
know if you're free for a few hours this week to help us move our offices!

As always, thanks for your continued advocacy and support of TLC- Jeremy

=========================

1) ANNOUNCEMENT:  TLC is  moving this weekend - VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

2) ACTION:  Tell the City to remove dangerous and unneeded double turn
lanes.

3) ACTION:  Can you spare a dime for better planning in San Francisco?

4) UPDATE:  MTA passes slightly less pro-car budget; fight for a truly
Transit-First budget moves to Supervisors.

5) TLC Recommends:  Cool events, happenings, and clippings for urbanists,
enviros, and sustainable transport junkies...

6) TLC in the News

=========================

1) ANNOUNCEMENT:  TLC is moving this weekend - VOLUNTEERS NEEDED!

Along with our partner groups the Bicycle Coalition and Housing Action
Coalition, TLC is moving this weekend to more spacious digs at 995 Market at
6th - just 1 block away from our current office.  We could use your help for
an hour or two this coming Friday through Monday, so please let us know if
you are available.  Your help is especially desired if you can bring boxes,
one (or more) dollies, and/or a bike trailer.  Contact Jeremy at 431-2445 or
jeremy at livablecity.org if you're able to help.

Note:  Our office will be closed and phones/email unavailable this Friday
through Monday.  If you need to get in touch, please call our cell phones
(Tom at 407-5237 or Jeremy at 425-9848).  For your records, our new address
is: 995 Market St., Suite 1550, 94103 (new phone number forthcoming).

=========================

2) ACTION:  Tell the City to remove dangerous and unneeded double turn
lanes.

WHAT'S AT STAKE:  Double turn lanes are notoriously dangerous for
pedestrians, bicyclists, and other motorists.  The Federal Highway
Administration (FHWA) says that double turn lanes pose significant
"liabilities" to pedestrians and bicyclists."  The State of Oregon's
'Bicycle and Pedestrian Plan' and the City of Portland's (OR) 'Bikeway
Design and Engineering Guidelines' state that double turn lanes should be
allowed "only if absolutely necessary" to prevent gridlock, should be
"closely scrutinized", and should be "avoided whenever possible."

Despite there known dangers, there are approximately 80 double turn lanes
throughout the City, and while many of these are no longer serve any
significant traffic control purpose, they continue to endanger pedestrians
and bicyclists.  Thankfully, DPT has undertaken an initiative to remove
these dangerous and unneeded double turn lanes throughout the City, and
several of these have already been approved for removal
(http://livablecity.org/pipermail/news_livablecity.org/2004q4/000050.html).

Unfortunately, a city committee called ISCOTT recently refused to approve
the removal of a double turn lane at 6th & Harrison, despite the fact that
DPT's analysis showed no significant impact on auto traffic
(http://livablecity.org/pipermail/news_livablecity.org/2005q1/000055.html).
This Thursday, ISCOTT will consider DPT's proposal to remove 4 more double
turn lanes and this Committee needs to hear that you believe pedestrian and
bicyclist safety should always be a higher priority than potential concerns
about adding a few seconds of travel delay for drivers.

TAKE ACTION:
- E-MAIL DPT c/o Ricardo Olea (mailto:ricardo.olea at sfgov.org) and ISCOTT c/o
Conrado Magat (mailto:Conrado.Magat at sfgov.org) and let them know you support
DPT's efforts to remove dangerous and unneeded double turn lanes.  Sample
language is below:

"I am writing in support of DPT's proposal to remove double turn lanes at
the following locations:

* Beale and Mission Streets (Agenda Item #2)
* California and Kearny Streets (Agenda Item #3)
* Bush and Kearny Streets (Agenda Item #4)
* Battery and Clay Streets (Agenda Item #5)

I believe that ensuring the safety of San Francisco's pedestrians and
bicyclists should always be a higher priority than concern about adding a
few seconds of travel delay for drivers.  Double turn lanes are known by
transportation professionals to be dangerous and should only be used when
they are absolutely necessary to prevent significant auto traffic congestion
from occurring on a regular and ongoing basis.

To allow double turn lanes to remain in place simply to reduce delay for
motorists by a few seconds is both inhumane and negligent, is a violation of
the City’s Transit-First Policy, and would seem to expose the city to
substantial liability.  I encourage you to step up this effort to improve
pedestrian and bicyclist safety by bringing forward all the unneeded double
turn lanes throughout the City for removal."

- ATTEND the ISCOTT hearing in person this Thursday, 3/10, 25 Van Ness Ave.,
Suite 345, 3rd Floor Conference Room.

=========================

3) ACTION:  Can you spare a dime for better planning in San Francisco?

WHAT'S AT STAKE:  The Planning Commission is currently recruiting candidates
for a new Planning Director and TLC is committed to ensuring that the 3
candidates the commission forwards to Mayor Newsom for his selection all
possess a vision of more sustainable and livable San Francisco and a proven
track record of implementing the critically-needed policy reforms necessary
to achieve such a vision
(http://www.beyondchron.org/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=110&twindow=&mad=&sd
etail=733&wpage=1&skeyword=Transportation$$for$$a$$Livable$$C&sidate=&ccat=&
ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&s
ubname=).

TLC has attended many public hearings on the search for a new Director and
has continuously advocated for the Commission to cast the net as widely as
possible to ensure that we get a diverse pool of the most-qualified
candidates.  But in spite of the Commissioners and Department staff best
efforts in undertaking their critically-important task of recruiting a new
Director, the Mayor has not allocated any money to the Planning Department
or Department of Human Resources to hire a recruiter to do a proper search.
Even more baffling he hasn't even made enough funding available to advertise
the position as widely as possible (the job was only posted to the City's
website http://www.sfgov.org/site/jobs_index.asp?id=29142 and two other
websites for a few weeks).

TLC was disturbed that the Mayor was providing almost zero funding support
for the critically important process of selecting the next Planning
Director, so we took the liberty of forwarding the job description to
several national and international planning-related outlets that post jobs
for free, such as the Progressive Planners Network
(www.plannersnetwork.org), Cyburbia (http://www.cyburbia.org), the
International Society of City and Regional Planners (www.isocarp.org), and
many others.  Now we need your help...

TAKE ACTION:  TLC has identified one additional outlet that we believe the
Planning Director job description should also be posted to:  Planetizen
(www.planetizen.com), whose website and e-mail newsletter reaches nearly
75,000 readers directly (and many more people via forwarding).  Posting the
job description here would help ensure that a diverse pool of the
most-qualified candidates is considered, so we're asking advocates of good
planning to make a donation towards a more sustainable and livable city.
The Planning Commission will likely close the recruitment process at the end
of this month, so our goal is to raise $79.95 ASAP to post the job
description on Planetizen in the next few days
(http://www.planetizen.com/jobs/submit/).  Operators are standing by to take
your pledges (431-2445 or mailto:jeremy at livablecity.org).  Future
generations of San Franciscans thank you!

=========================

4) UPDATE:  MTA passes slightly less pro-car budget; fight for a truly
Transit-First budget moves to Supervisors.

WHAT's AT STAKE:  At their last hearing the MTA Board voted 4-2 to adopt a
budget that proposes a 20% ($.25) fare increase and 5% in to-be-determined
service cuts.  As bad as this budget is, it was somewhat improved over the
original staff proposals, thanks in part to the advocacy of TLC supporters,
and TLC's work as a signatory to the Platform for Transit Justice.

As a result of this advocacy, the MTA made some progress toward asking
drivers to pay more of their fair share for the impacts they cause on
transit riders, bicyclists, and pedestrians, going from 23% of the deficit
being paid by drivers (vs. 77% paid by transit riders in the form of fare
increases & service cuts) to 44% of the deficit paid by drivers (vs. 56%
paid by transit riders).

MTA staff and Directors represented this budget as a "fair and balanced" way
to "share the pain."   However TLC believes that disproportionately reducing
subsidies for transit riders while leaving in place outrageous subsidies for
car drivers (http://www.sfweekly.com/issues/2005-02-16/news/smith.html) is
neither fair nor balanced.

In addition, the MTA staff claimed that there were no other options
available, when in fact they presented a budget at their 2/14 hearing that
would have balanced the budget without raising fares or cutting service by
asking drivers to pay their fair share ("Budget Scenario 2").  Because the
MTA staff and Directors chose not to end San Francisco's wasteful and
counterproductive 'welfare for cars'
(http://www.sierraclub.org/sprawl/articles/subsidies.asp), TLC will take the
fight for a truly Transit-First budget to the Board of Supervisors!

TAKE ACTION:  We'll keep you posted on next steps, but in the interim please
take action below:

- E-MAIL Directors James McCray and Will Din (c/o
mailto:Roberta_Boomer at ci.sf.ca.us) and thank them for voting against an
unfair and MTA budget that disproportionately balances the deficit on the
backs of transit riders.

- E-MAIL your Supervisor and ask them to reject the MTA's budget and until
the MTA can pass a truly Transit-First budget ("Budget Scenario 2").
Supervisors' contacts and more info at
http://www.livablecity.org/campaigns/muni.html.

=========================

5)  TLC Recommends:  Cool events, happenings, and clippings for urbanists,
enviros, and sustainable transport junkies...

- EVENT:  California at 50 Million Colloquium: Transportation & Transit.
Part 1 - Tuesday, March 8 from 5pm - 7pm with Elizabeth Deakin (UCTC), Brian
Smith (Caltrans), and Robert Cervero (UCB DCRP).
Part 2 - Tuesday, March 15 from 5pm - 7pm with Martin Wachs (ITS) and Brian
Taylor (UCLA Inst of Transp. Studies).
All events at UC Berkeley (305 Wurster Hall).  For more info contact Janet
Dawson at mailto:jgdawson at berkeley.edu or (510) 642-6579.

- EVENT:  SPUR Brown Bag Forums for March.
All forums at 312 Sutter St, 5th Floor, from 12:30 to 1:30 (unless otherwise
noted).  For more info, see http://www.spur.org/calendar.asp

*Tuesday, March 8 - "Multimodal Planning Dialogue" with Jack Fleck, acting
city traffic engineer from DPT and Tom Radulovich, executive director of
TLC.

*Thursday, March 10 - "Urban Transit Projects" with Vincent Chang, principal
of Grimshaw Architects.

*Thursday, March 17 - "Modern Rail Stations" in Spain with José Farrán,
principal transportation engineer at Wilbur Smith Associates.

*Tuesday, March 22 - "Learning from Chicago" with Sam Assefa, former planner
at the San Francisco Planning Department, now deputy commissioner at the
Chicago Department of Planning and Development.

- EVENT:  Got Sustainability? Reserve your spot at TALC's 8th Annual
Regional Summit.
Saturday, April 9th from 9:30am to 2:30pm, Laney College Forum (900 Fallon
St), Oakland
Registration is $10 which includes breakfast, lunch, materials, and free
valet bike parking (registration fee will be waived for volunteers).  For
more info or to register online, go to
www.transcoalition.org/cal/summit05/summit.html.

- EVENT:  Healthy Cities and Smart Growth: Planning for Healthier
Communities conference presented by California Healthy Cities and
Communities, Berkeley, California.  April 21-22.  For more info call (916)
646-8660 or visit www.civicpartnerships.org.

- CLIPPING:  Other world class cities get ad companies to pay for
high-quality bus shelters designed by 1st rate urban designers in exchange
for advertising space
(http://www.planetizen.com/news/item.php?id=15963&rf=e).  Why is MTA
tolerating barely adequate sheds that provide minimal protection from the
elements and very little delight to San Francisco transit riders?

- CLIPPING:  New magazines and new media exploring city life, city spaces,
and the urban unconscious:
http://www.maisonneuve.org/blog/index.php?itemid=837

- CLIPPING:  More support for the common-sense notion that if you build
walkable neighborhoods and safe and inviting streetscapes, more people will
walk more often:
http://cascadiascorecard.typepad.com/blog/2005/02/walking_the_wal.html

- CLIPPING:  We all know SUV's are more deadly for pedestrians, bicyclists,
and SUV occupants themselves
(http://www.powells.com/cgi-bin/biblio?inkey=2-1586481231-5&partner_id=25450
).  Here's more data that SUV's endanger drivers of normal-sized cars:
http://www.nytimes.com/2005/03/07/business/07airbag.html?oref=login
(registration required).  Unfortunately, a few weeks ago Mayor Newsom rolled
out 15 new publicly-subsidized SUV hybrid taxis
(http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2005/02/23/BAGFVBFL2M1.DTL
).  Because of the known dangers of SUVs, TLC urges you to boycott all SUV
taxis both for your safety and that of your fellow residents.  And don't
forget to be more vigilant when walking and biking due to the increased
danger from 15 new SUVs roving City streets!

=========================

6) TLC in the News

- TLC tells the Contra Costa Times:  "MUNI is relying on a decades-old
pattern of luring shoppers and diners with the promise of cheap, subsidized
parking [...] it is time to lure people to San Francisco with cheaper
transit...you don't need to subsidize cars- you need to create unique
spaces."  Full article:
http://www.contracostatimes.com/mld/cctimes/news/transportation/11020244.htm
?1c (registration required)

- TLC tells BeyondChron.org:  "We tried in [the MTA budget] hearings to make
our case that revenue goals should reflect policy goals' but [...] felt the
MTA hadn't listened. [...] A drastic increase in auto-related fees to fund
public transit would simultaneously push people out of their cars and pull
them onto buses."  Full article:
http://www.beyondchron.org/default.asp?sourceid=&smenu=110&twindow=&mad=&sde
tail=1568&wpage=1&skeyword=&sidate=&ccat=&ccatm=&restate=&restatus=&reoption
=&retype=&repmin=&repmax=&rebed=&rebath=&subname=

=========================

ABOUT "TLC NEWS & ALERTS".  This is a weekly e-newsletter from
Transportation for a Livable City (TLC), a community-based policy and
advocacy organization dedicated to improving San Franciscans' quality of
life by promoting more sustainable and
equitable transportation and land use policies.  We work for greater
transportation choices, safer streets, reduced traffic congestion, and the
creation of more affordable housing.  More info about TLC can be found on
our website at www.livablecity.org.

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jeremy at livablecity.org and we'll make things right.