Muni Diaries

Photo by mike dillon

• Alert San Francisco cops stop pickpockets on Muni (SF Examiner) || (BCN via SF Appeal)
• Extraordinary Circumstances only for cell phone interruptions (BART.gov)
• Johannes Mehserle Cleared of Police Brutality Charges (SF Weekly)
• What’s the Best Design for Van Ness BRT? (Streetsblog SF)
• Muni fares are throwing riders off the bus (SF Examiner editorial … yep, you read that right)
• Muni union’s frustrated members to pick new leaders (SF Examiner)
• Good news for Muni riders? (City Insider)
• Copper thefts around tracks bedevil BART officials (SFGate)
• Man on Muni Brutally Stabbed Over Cellphone (SF Weekly)
• Muni Thieves Target Cellphone Users In Three Robberies Monday (BCN via SF Appeal)

SFMTA has announced that it has prepared its Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP) for environmental review. It is holding public meetings this evening and tomorrow so you can get a sense of the proposal as it exists today.

Details:
One South Van Ness Ave., Floor 2
6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 6, and Wednesday, December 7

More info on the meetings here. More on TEP here.

Image of one proposal for Van Ness BRT courtesy of SFCTA via The Bay Citizen

Bus rapid transit (BRT) is a proposal that, among other things, creates dedicated lanes and prioritized signals for public transit vehicles. The result, ideally, is that Muni fast-tracks through clusterfucked corridors more efficiently than it does now. (See also: 49-Van Ness, 38-Geary, and OMFG ARRRGH).

However, the approval and implementation of BRT plans and proposals has been the opposite of efficient.

Streetsblog discusses the holdup of the proposal for BRT along Van Ness Avenue, one of several asphalt parking lots in San Francisco that Muni has the privilege of navigating.

Van Ness BRT is in many ways the first of its kind in the United States, and its scope has grown to include a complete overhaul of the street. The project’s environmental impact report/statement, released last month in compliance with state and federal requirements, also included a burdensome level of analysis.

Read the rest of the story at Streetsblog SF.