Muni Diaries

Photo by Flickr user cbcastro

Update (11:37 p.m.): SFGate reports that the MTA board today rejected the measure to charge for transfers or cease issuing them at all. Streetsblog SF also has the story. Good news for riders!

Original post: I wish I had a more cheery post to bring you, like, here’s a picture of a really cute kid/dog on the bus or something, but alas, that is not today.

At today’s budget meeting, the SFMTA considered either getting rid of Muni transfers or charging 50 cents for each transfer to close up the budget deficit for the next two years. The Chronicle reports that charging for transfers could generate $7.5 million; getting rid of the transfers altogether would get MTA $20 million. SFMTA has, by the way, $100 million in projected deficit for the next two fiscal years. A proposal to cut Muni service by 5 percent is also on the table, reports San Francisco Business Times.

Streetsblog’s Michael Rhodes wrote that many of MTA’s ideas would be “politically difficult” to execute, and that “eliminating free transfers is almost certain to be stopped in its tracks.”

The MTA board is set to vote on the budget next month, so these proposals are still just ideas right now.

Meanwhile, you might have heard about the alternative transit budget proposal from the San Francisco Planning and Urban Research (SPUR) [pdf], which a Chronicle editorial has called, a “spread-the-pain” approach. That’s certainly preferable to Muni service cuts that transit riders will be facing soon. Right?

Photo by Jamison Wieser

In a dramatic turn of events, Muni operators were out in force at yesterday’s “March Against Muni” at the Powell cable car turn-around, letting the marching Muni riders know that the drivers are not to blame.

“For those keeping score at home, the marching Muni drivers out-marched March Against Muni. And this was no mass movement; perhaps 200 drivers showed up compared to 50 to 100 March Against Muni folks,” Joe Eskenazi reports in the SFWeekly.

More reports from our transit news sources:

– Marching Muni Drivers Overwhelm ‘March Against Muni’ (SF Weekly)
– Transit operators barge into march (Examiner)
– Drivers, riders march to protest Muni cuts (ABC 7)
– March Against Muni: Anti-Muni Protest @ City Hall (a slideshow from SF Weekly)

It might have seemed like the operators were out protesting the protesters. But the operators claim that not to be the case at all. According to the Examiner, their spokesperson says the union’s intent yesterday was to mark “the beginning part of working together.”

In any case, @munialerts declares, “Rally over. Union won.”

More photos after the jump.
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Photo by Flickr user messtiza

Update (10:10 a.m., Saturday): Here are some roundups of yesterday’s MTA board meeting and subsequent vote on 10 percent service reductions (passed) and fare hikes for seniors, youth, and the disabled (failed):

– Muni won’t raise prices of senior, youth passes (SFGate)
– MTA: Layoffs, service cuts, rate increases (on express buses and cable cars) (Examiner)
– Muni cuts service 10 percent to pare budget gap (SF Business Times)
– MTA Board Approves 10 Percent Muni Service Cut; Discount Fast Pass Spared (StreetsblogSF)

And a related story from StreetsblogSF: Are More Service Cuts the Last Straw For a Public Fed Up With Muni?

Update (4:50 p.m.): SFMTA’s recap of the day’s meeting. Among other things, 10 percent service reductions, layoffs of more than 175 Muni operators slated for May 1. See service changes here.

Update (4:08 p.m.): @sfmta_muni announces that the board, by a 4-3 vote, elected to enact the proposed 10 percent service reduction. Also announced: 6-1 vote killing Fast Pass hike to $30 for seniors, youth, and disabled (but a gentle reminder that those passes were already slated to jump from $15 to $20 a month this May), and that $70 Fast Passes will be required for adults to ride Cable Cars and express buses. We’ll get news reports about today’s voting up just as soon as we see them.

Update (11:20 a.m.): Streetsblog has a neat live blogging software up on their site right now so you can weigh in on the conversation.

KCBS reports on the overflow crowd.

A sampling of what we’ve heard so far in the public comment section:
Irwin Lum of Transport Workers Union says operators are unfairly targeted and encouraged applauses for overpaid MTA execs (though the union voted down the concession proposal); MTA operators saying that their salaries are splashed all over the papers; disabled, unemployed, senior riders came up to the mike to oppose the fare hikes and service cuts; a fourth grade teacher speaking on behalf of her low-income students; Eric of Transbay Blog calling for another look at the charter; and a call for extended parking meter hours.

Update (9:18 a.m.): Follow @rescuemuni and @streetsblogSF on Twitter for updates from the meeting. Or check our latest tweets to the right over there (@munidiaries). We’ll do our best to keep up with what should be a mad stream of information coming from City Hall as we watch the meeting streamed live on SFGovTV 1 (or cable channel 26).

Original post: It seems true what Michael at StreetsblogSF said: “Friday could be a dark day for San Francisco’s public transit system.” The implication, of course, being: a dark day for those who ride Muni.

Ahead of today’s SFMTA board meeting at 9 a.m., check out the excellent coverage from our transit  news sources. Maybe these stories will help contextualize the matter coming to a head today. In any case, we’ll be updating this post as we watch the meeting and follow the news coverage on the outcome of the board’s vote on Muni service reductions (see details of proposed cuts to: weekday service; Saturday service; and Sunday service).

Prepare yourself for today’s meeting by checking out these stories from StreetsblogSF:

– SPUR Director: Muni Drivers Deserve Good Pay, But Work Rules Must Change
– Seniors, Youth and Disabled To Get Reprieve on Muni Fast Pass Increases
– Transit Advocates Gearing up for Friday’s MTA Board Vote (featuring a story on Dave Snyder’s proposed Muni rider’s union)
– SF Youths Protest Costly Muni Ride to School while Sunday Parking is Free
– Can Anything Be Done to Fix Muni?

Oh, and for the record, Muni Diaries hopes some sort of compromise can be reached, and that cuts can be taken off the table.