After two years of ups and downs, The City’s low-income youths and their families and advocates can finally take a deep breath, relax and enjoy the moment.
On Tuesday, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s board of directors accepted $1.6 million in regional grant funding that will clear the way for a 16-month pilot project to provide free Muni service to 40,000 low-income youths. The program is scheduled to begin in March.
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Despite lingering concerns from business and church groups, a plan to enforce parking meters on Sundays is set to make its debut next month.
Starting Jan. 6, The City’s 29,233 parking meters will be operational from noon to 6 p.m. on Sundays, providing $1.9 million annually for the perennially cash-strapped San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency.
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An odyssey that began more than a year ago could finally be resolved today, when a funding plan could be approved to provide free transit to low-income youths in The City.
In April, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s board of directors, which governs policy for Muni, approved a 22-month pilot project that would give free rides to about 40,000 low-income youths. However, that vote was contingent upon receiving $4 million from regional transit planners the Metropolitan Transportation Commission. In July, the MTC rejected the request.
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Automobile and cycling speeds have both decreased and safety has not been a major issue since a controversial bike lane was installed on John F. Kennedy Drive in Golden Gate Park. Still, disability activists continue to oppose the project.
In spring, a 1.5-mile bike lane that separated cyclists and vehicles using parking spaces — the first of its kind here — was installed on the road. The goal was to make the roadway accessible and safe to all users, including pedestrians and cyclists of all abilities.
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Agencies eye basing fares on income, not age or disabilityA struggling 19-year-old service worker barely earning enough to make ends meet has to pay $64 for her monthly Muni pass. A wealthy 66-year-old homeowner from Pacific Heights can purchase that same fare for $22.
Seem fair?
With debate swirling in recent months over a proposal to provide free Muni service for The City’s low-income youths, a larger regional conversation has begun about the possibility of basing some transit fares on a customer’s ability to pay.
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Muni’s list of preferred alternatives for removing its Central Subway tunnel-boring machines in North Beach doesn’t include an option popular with the community and could result in the agency resorting to a method strongly opposed by many locals.
As part of its $1.6 billion expansion project, which will extend underground Metro service from the SoMa District to Chinatown, Muni originally proposed to bring up its tunneling machines on Columbus Avenue, a plan that would result in a lane closure on the busy thoroughfare for most of 2013.
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Talks are beginning to start up again over a controversial plan to install 5,000 parking meters in new San Francisco neighborhoods, nearly one year after the proposal was shelved following a harsh community pushback.
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The sponsor of a proposal to amend The City’s environmental review process says he hopes to streamline an unpredictable and volatile procedure, but activist groups warn that the measure would reduce public oversight over development.
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Since The City introduced its nationally recognized SFpark system last year, parking rates at city-owned garages have fallen by 20 percent — with many lots now cheaper than nearby street meters.
Rates at some garages are now as low as $1 an hour throughout the day.
Parking rates at 14 of the 20 garages run by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency are determined by availability and demand. So prices drop when occupancy is low.
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In December 2009, during a routine news conference to announce the unveiling of some painted bike lanes, former Mayor Gavin Newsom somehow managed to create a morsel of news out of a ho-hum event.
Frustrated by the lack of progress in his cherished citywide bike-sharing network, Newsom told local reporters that Nathaniel Ford, then the director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, would be looking for a new job if the cycling project wasn’t completed.
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Muni is exploring new options for retrieving tunneling equipment in or near North Beach, including one that could save the agency $23 million while keeping the machinery underground indefinitely.
As part of its $1.6 billion Central Subway project, which will extend underground Metro service from South of Market to Chinatown, Muni wants to extract a tunnel-boring machine through Columbus Avenue. Preparation for that process began this year and will be finished by Thanksgiving 2013.
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A pedestrian who was seriously injured after being struck by a Muni bus last year will receive a $575,000 settlement from the transit agency.
Kevin Michael Wong, a San Francisco native, was crossing Beale and Market streets Jan. 10, 2011, when he was hit by a Muni bus taking a right turn. Wong suffered significant back injuries as a result of the accident and had to leave his position as an information technology specialist, said his lawyer Matt White. Wong eventually underwent back surgery at the behest of his doctors, and was unable to regain his old job, White said.
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John Han considered himself a “lifer” taxi driver when he signed his name to The City’s taxi medallion waiting list in 2004. Eight years later and with no hope of obtaining a permit, Han is preparing to move on to a different career, convinced there is no future for him as a San Francisco cabbie.
Han had been having doubts about the profession for years, but the last straw was the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s proposal to drastically change the rules for drivers hoping to obtain a taxi medallion.
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Few jobs are more sedentary than being a Muni bus driver, a position that requires workers to sit for long hours with little physical movement. With precious few opportunities for exercise, maintaining a healthy diet should be essential for the operators.
But finding nutritious food sources at driver’s workplaces is usually a fruitless task — pun intended.
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The recent delivery of $6.7 million to Muni has the agency pondering a difficult choice — should the funds be used to shore up an aging and decrepit fleet of vehicles, or to provide The City’s youth with unparalleled access to San Francisco’s public transit system?
That debate has split transit advocates and youth activists, and it will be the focus of a hearing today at the Board of Supervisors Government Audit and Oversight Committee.
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