Service cuts are coming to Muni, and don’t let them catch you by surprise. The MTA is having a series of meetings to discuss the issue, and if the attendance over 100 people is any indication, people are interested in finding a solution to this problem.
Transit is at the heart of the city’s commerce, and if service is cut even from it’s current levels, the city will be impacting it’s own source of revenues: the tax base. If the bus doesn’t arrive, that’s 100 people that are late for work, that could be fired, or just give up and decide not to do that shopping trip today. A missed run means missed opportunuties, so the MTA needs to be reasonable and cut excess, not runs, and raise revenue where reasonable.
If the MTA goes with fare increases, then they also have to increase service. Value has to match price, otherwise ridership will drop off. Cleaner buses, friendlier drivers, and more a more visable security presence are examples of how to expand service for price without more wheels and irons on the road.
Tonight I went to The San Francisco Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP) to see if these people actually stand a chance at improving anything. Normally I’d lurk at such an event, but as soon as I walked in the door, papers were shoved in my hand and before I knew it I was talking to all the key players in the MTA, one by one, person to person. My complaints were heard, and written up on the wall for all to see.
If you can imagine for a second, if everyone came to that meeting with a complaint about Muni, how many comments would be on the wall? It was jammed with various complaints, everything from “what’s up with nextbus” to “we need more cowbell”.
I talked to, among other people, the person in charge of complaints at Muni, the director of GoGeary, and the director of TEP, Leah Shahum. If that name rings a bell, it’s because is also the executive director of the SF Bicycle Coalition. Why is that important? The SF Bike Coalition is very powerful.
For those of you who care about San Francisco transit, here is the “word on the street”:
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