10 speeds, 11 opinions: Valencia Street bike lane advocates, foes, meet in the Mission

By Hiya Swanhuyser : missionlocal – excerpt

The crowd was extremely crowded into that room. Photo by zrants

Room 109 at City College’s Mission Campus was tense Monday night, as an estimated 400 people* crowded in to trade opinions about the proposed Valencia Bikeway Improvements Project.

The gathering was divided into two camps — bike-use advocates in favor of the city’s plans to extend protected cycling lanes at the expense of on-street parking, and small business owners opposing some of those plans. At a rough glance, there seemed to be more of the former…

But while everyone wanted to have his or her say, that wouldn’t happen on this night: The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, whose meeting this was, took only written comments.

There was, in fact, no central meeting…(more)

Pay to charge Lime scooters has sunk so low ‘juicers’ won’t do it anymore

By Tessa McLean : sfgate – excerpt

Independent contractors employed by Lime to charge its scooters allege that the pay rates have sunk so low, it’s not worth doing anymore, according to Vice.

The juicers, as they’re called, are facing a 30% pay cut in Oakland, according to IndyBay and confirmed by commenters in a Reddit group for juicers. Thus, most juicers have stopped charging the scooters since after taxes and their own expenses from going to pick them up (in their own cars and trucks), they say they’re no longer making a profit.

“At $3.30 you’re basically paying Lime for the privilege of charging their scooters for them,” one juicer commented on Reddit…(more)

Words cannot express the lack of respect we are seeing in the “sharing” gig economy that our government is hastily trying to replace our old familiar traditional lifestyles with. How many times must they get hit over the head before they figure out there is no upside in allowing disruptive organizations to kill normal modes of commerce. Wait till the power goes out in the large cities that are now dependent on it.

$3.25 to ride Muni? Not so fast, SF supervisors say

By Rachel Swan : sfchronicle – excerpt

San Francisco transit officials are weighing whether to raise Muni fares by a quarter next year, to $3.25. The hike, though small, could be significant: Muni is already one of the most expensive transit systems in the country.

Staff at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency say they need the additional fare revenue to pay for operating expenses, and that the increases would keep pace with inflation. The agency draws at least $200 million a year from fares, and it expects to reap $14 million more in 2021 if fares are increased on all transit vehicles. If SFMTA doesn’t get that money, it may have to slow down hiring of bus and train operators — a dire need as Muni struggles to serve 720,000 weekday riders…

Yet the increases face stout resistance from within City Hall.

Among the critics is Supervisor Dean Preston, a 26-year Muni rider who takes his kids to school on the N-Judah and rides the 21-Hayes to and from City Hall. Preston ran for office on a platform that included free Muni. Last week, he introduced a legislative resolution calling for a Muni fare freeze… (more)

SFMTA plans to gauge everyone equally.

A Commuter Bus complaints

Regulated and Emerging Mobility Comments

Regulated and Emerging Mobility Comments IntroductionThe SFMTA is eager to hear your feedback about transportation services provided by other entities wh…

Regulated and Emerging Mobility Comments

Scroll down beyond the topic explanation for the complaint form submission.

In the Street observation: Record, Date, Time, Location, Bus operator (company) and the MTA blue sticker number (xx-xxxx). Include a brief narrative similar to the ones I email to the neighborhood.

As long as there is a website for complaints, complaints SHOULD be filed.

New plan provides a road map to better transit for Bayview residents

SFMTA to review suite of 101 projects designed to improve community safety and access

By Joe Fitzgerald Rodriguez : sfexaminer – excerpt

The Bayview is about to undergo a massive street safety redesign, from Third Street to Islais Creek, from Hunters View to Bayview Hill.

More than 70 pedestrian projects totaling $3.5 million, nine bike network projects totaling $2.2 million and more than a dozen projects to redesign access to Muni, BART and Caltrain totaling $450,000 are planned across the neighborhood.

Hand-in-hand with people living in the Bayview, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has planned more than $8.3 million worth of investments, from pedestrian safety street buildouts to new unarmed ambassadors who will patrol buses in the name of safety.

There are roughly 101 projects, large and small, identified in the Bayview Community-Based Transportation Plan, a new road map for helping Bayview residents enjoy better transit.

The suite of changes will go before the SFMTA Board of Directors Tuesday afternoon, but has been two years in the making.…(more)

CA: EDITORIAL: Now is time to push for bringing all Bay Area transit together

By marinij : masstransit – excerpt

Creating a “seamless” system for public transit around the Bay Area seems to be common sense. Transit leaders should be focusing on making sure public transit is both convenient and affordable.

Feb. 17–Creating a “seamless” system for public transit around the Bay Area seems to be common sense.

Transit leaders should be focusing on making sure public transit is both convenient and affordable.

Integrating the Bay Area’s varied systems and jurisdictions into a single payment process just makes sense.

But even with today’s technology, for some services, such an important improvement has not been accomplished.

New state legislation, Assembly Bill 2057, is intent on focusing on this needed change. Its author, Assemblyman David Chiu, D-San Francisco, says the current state of public transit is “disjointed” and better coordinated schedules and fares could make life easier — and transit more appealing — for the public…(more)

AB 2057 Chiu – This bill would state the intent of the Legislature to later enact legislation relating to public transportation in the 9-county San Francisco Bay area to establish Integrated regional fare and schedules.

Caltrain To Temporarily Suspend Service Into Sf On Weekends Thru March

By Bay city news : sfgate – excerpt

Caltrain will temporarily suspend service into the heart of San Francisco on weekends through the end of March to accommodate construction work required to electrify the rail corridor by 2022.

Trains will not serve San Francisco’s 4th and King streets and 22nd Street stations, terminating at the Bayshore station, on Saturdays and Sundays starting this weekend and running through March 29… (more)

Guess you need to figure out another way to get around during the constant construction on the rails. No wonder no one takes public transit during the weekend. It is too unpredictable.

‘Do We Care About the Public?’ Cities Weigh Free Public Transit Amid Rising Costs

nbcbayarea – excerpt

Some officials want to eliminate fares on city buses, light rail and trains

Michelle Wu, a City Council member in Boston, wants everyone to ride for free on subways and buses that crisscross the region, NBC News reports.

Wu says the city is experiencing a “transportation crisis” as ridership declines, rush-hour traffic rises and the infrastructure of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority continues to crumble.

The transportation authority needs salvation and money for repairs, commuters and local transit advocates say, but instead of raising fares beyond the $2.90 it costs now if you pay for a subway ride in cash, Wu thinks a solution may lie in dropping fares altogether… (more)

A plan many have championed. Drop all the non-muni projects and use that money to “pay” for free rides.

Is it time for San Francisco to start licensing bicycles?

Editorial By Sally Struthers : sfexaminer – excerpt

For decades, car owners have funded large portions of the bill for road construction, maintenance, and repair

Last week, over two miles of Market Street, San Francisco’s iconic main thoroughfare, became car-free. It is now illegal to drive a private car in either direction on Market from, roughly, Van Ness Avenue to the Ferry Building…

For decades, car owners have funded large portions of the bill for road construction, maintenance, and repair through license plate fees and gas taxes. It makes sense ­­— the people who benefit the most from a good road should contribute a large percentage of the money needed to keep it maintained. But, with fewer cars and less gas being bought, there’s also less money from these sources available for roads…

As bicyclists demand more access on city streets — including more car-free streets — maybe it’s time to consider licensing bikes as well as cars…(more)

Preston urges Muni to roll back proposed fare hikes

By Joshua Sabatini : sfexaminer – excerpt

Supervisor Dean Preston introduced a resolution Tuesday to oppose Muni fare hikes in the transit agency’s proposed two-year budget, arguing they would decrease ridership and overly burden riders.

The resolution calls on the Municipal Transportation Agency to “refrain from any Muni increases for the fiscal year 2021-2022 budget cycle.”

“The data on this is absolutely clear across the country. There is a 2018 UC report that hammers the point home that increasing fares decreases ridership,” Preston told the San Francisco Examiner. “We should be doing the opposite. We are in a climate crisis. We need people to be riding public transportation and this is absolutely not the time that we should be imposing a fare increase.”…(more)

Quit worrying about moving the busses faster and make increasing ridership a priority instead. Raising fares and removing seats and stops is not what riders want.