The N-Judah Chronicles

Reading CW Nevius's column today in the Chronicle regarding MUNI fare collections and budget woes today is kind of like reading the N Judah Chronicles or SFist.com two years ago.

To which I'd simply say, welcome to the party, Chronicle, even if you're a bit late! Let's be real here: way way way more people read the Chronicle than my goofy blog, and if likeminded folks there can prod some action out of the brainiacs around town, fine with me. (I sure wish I got paid to write this stuff the way the pro did, but I do have a day job, and hey, the NJC have t shirts!)

For fun, I've rounded up all the articles we've talked about on MUNI's budget and fare collection follies, test plans to allow "back door boarding," fun with fare inspectors, and ongoing bitching about MUNI budgets. It's a MUNI festival! Woo hoo!

At this rate, maybe I can use my brain waves to get the Chronicle to write more stories about other things I like, such as anime, movies, Comic-Con and happy hours. Just let me get my tinfoil hat and hippie crystals and I'll be all set!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:48 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

By now, most people have heard something about the Transit Effectiveness Project, a project of the SFMTA to try and make things run more efficiently. The braniacs at City Hall have been touting the process as an example of their commitment to A Better MUNI, and clearly the top brass at MUNI and the SFMTA have bet most of their chips on this thing to try and make things better.

The good citizens at The Transbay Blog have posted some very thoughtful comments on the proposed changes, and it's well worth your while to take a look at what they have to say. I was struck, in particular about their comments about the 36-Teresita line, which I have relied on when house-sitting for a friend up in the hills (and have been stranded more than a few times waiting for a bus as-is).

There are many ways you can get involved with the process and offer praise and critiques of the proposed changes. One way, of course is to attend public meetings, a list of which is provided at the end of this post.

For me, I have found the research they've done to be quite interesting, but often times of the "we knew that" variety. For example, they discovered that people want the buses to run on time so they can plan their time accordingly. Well, um, yeah. Also, while they've done a heck of a job pinpointing the most and least used routes, et al, I haven't seen a lot so far about projections for the future.

One of the problems we have now is that we have lots of people living in places that did not have lots of housing 20+ years ago, the last time we made any real changes. So I wonder how they're gonna try and predict where the up-and-coming regions of Our Fair City will be, and how they'll accomodate those changes in the years to come.

Anyway, here's a list of meeting times and places. You can also contact them via email (and be sure to CC your Supervisor and the Mayor when you do!) or via traditional USPS mail. No matter how, do what you can to learn more and get involved.

They can ignore my silly blog, they can ignore a small band of folks, but if enough people learn more and participate in good faith, eventually they have to listen to someone. Surely the good citizens of our city can offer up good ideas to make things work better for all of us, right?

• Saturday, May 3, 10:30 am, Jean Parker Elementary, 840 Broadway St. (at Powell St.)
• Monday, May 5, 6:30 pm, Visitacion Valley Elementary, 55 Schwerin St. (at Visitacion Ave.)
• Saturday, May 10, 10:30 am, Harvey Milk Civil Rights Academy, 4235 19th St. (at Diamond St.)
• Monday, May 12, 6:00 pm, West Bay Conference Center, 1290 Fillmore St. (at Eddy St.)
• Wednesday, May 14, 6:30 pm, Bessie Carmichael Elementary, 375 Seventh St. (at Harrison St.)
• Saturday, May 17, 10:30 am, Mission YMCA, 4080 Mission St. (at Bosworth St.)

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Reader Michael wrote in inquiring about a comment I made to the Examiner that appeared in this morning's paper:

I'm not sure if the Examiner quoted you correctly when they wrote:

"'If you board the N-Judah on 48th [Avenue] and get off before downtown, there is no one checking your ticket,' said Greg Dewar, who runs the blog The N-Judah Chronicles."

The statement attributed to you is not correct. Although it is true that MUNI fare inspectors only work the MUNI rail lines; it is not true that they only do so downtown.

I live in the Outer Sunset (43rd Ave.) roughly equidistant from the N and L lines and ride them both regularly...although I tend to favor the N because it is less crowded and runs much more frequently than the L. On both lines, I have encountered fare inspectors well away from downtown.

On the N, I have faced them at 19th/Judah, UCSF, and Church/Duboce. On the L, I have encountered them at 31st/Taraval and 19th/Taraval.

I think when I was speaking to the reporter (while trying to do some work on the computer at the same time) I don't know that I made it clear I was referring to the second train in a two-train N as being where one can board without paying. I don't for a moment think this was an intentional mistake on the part of the reporter - rather I just didn't pick the precise wording with regards to that issue and the mistake would be mine.

One thing I discussed with the reporter that probably didn't fit into this particular story was the fact that once upon a time, on busy bus and MUNI lines, MUNI paid people to collect money and load people on and off the bus at the back doors of said buses and trains, to move things along and collect money they're owed.

However, I think there is a case to be made that having some more fare inspectors on some of the more notorious bus lines is not a bad idea - I think the 71 Haight easily qualifies as one of the biggest fare-evadin' bus lines in the system. Your thoughts? Post 'em in the comments.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 3:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Here we go....today it's reported that our green-tie wearing Mayor and allegedly Greener Than Thou Supervisors are starting to feel the heat regarding the proposed parking ticket fine increases, and are threatening to kill the MTA budget to stop it.

Techinically the MTA board is free of political influence (because, you know, you can vote for judges but not MTA board members), but in an odd twist, a supermajority of our Beloved Board and our Mayor can override the entire budget and send it all back with notes.

The Mayor, as usual, always floats out bold "talk" when the issue comes up first, but in the face of any opposition or controversy, backs down, and instead is now talking about screwing the Transit Effectiveness Project he's been promoting, ad nauseum, for a year now.

As I've said before, I was never really comfortable with the idea of relying on parking ticket fines as a stable source of revenue, and have tried, unsuccessfully, to get our Dearly Elected Leaders to realize that these half-assed, fiddle-with-the-margins solutions to MUNI's financial woes will never get us out of the hole and on track to a service that generally works, and is financially secure.

However, once again lost in all these reports and chatter is that once again, our Board of Supervisors, our Mayor, and even our state representatives all seem to be dedicated to cutting as much funding out of MUNI as possible, and never seem to come up with new, stable, fair ways to pay for a system - or even dare audit the MTA and determine just how much money it really takes to run the system, and go from there.

After all, we've had so-called "progressive" leaders actually call for cutting MUNI revenues for certain people, we've had our state Assemblymembers vote to cut MUNI funding from MUNI, BART and every transit district in the state, and our Mayor pushed through big pay raises for certain city employees, blowing out the budget (as well as dipping into MUNI funds to pay for political staffers).

They do manage to slap a picture of the Earth or drive in a Prius in a piece of election junk mail, and the masses are calmed. The out-of-town press comes to town and fawns over Green SF becuase some elected has a hybrid terlet or whatever, and yet, reality collides when a sooty bus arrives 40 minutes late.

Funny that.

So, for fun, I'm going to propose a few "common sense" ideas for the Big Kids at City Hall to consider as they fight amongst themselves and all those special interests at City Hall. I'm sure it'll be ignored by both "progressives" and the Mayor's Voting Bloc, but hey, at least we're converting negative energy into positive, right?

Continue reading ""Green" Mayor and "Green" Board Show Us Why MUNI Sucks...." »

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:00 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

I put the MUNI Alert RSS Feed into Google Reader to see if it'd be useful...and today it was, as it seems there's a derailed MUNI car at the Caltrain Station. As I need to take Caltrain today, well this helps me know that Things Will Be Delayed.

No details as of yet. If you use an RSS reader, you can cut and paste this URL into Google Reader or whatever you use, and be updated on the latest and greatest in MUNI mayhem:

http://www.sfmta.com/rss/announcements.xml

Enjoy!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 1:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The long, slow march towards some increases in MUNI Fast Passes and parking fines continues, unabated, as we approach tomorrow's SFMTA meeting to discuss said changes.

The Mayor's been playfully hinting at said increases, and earlier talk that said Fast Pass increases would happen only as a "last resort" seems to have been just that - talk - since after just 10 days, the MTA folks seemed to have reversed course.

The proposed parking ticket increases seem to be creating the most discussion on local blogs around town. But as always, in these "discussions" some points tend to get missed because we narrow the topic to the point where we exclude a few basic points.

One thing we've done pretty good here in Our Fair City is give MUNI lots of unstable sources of revenue. When times are good, there's "money" and when the inevitable recession hits, suddenly there's "no money." I'm sure to someone looking at a balance sheet, jacking up parking ticket prices is an easy way to show "hey look ma! more money!" but don't seem to realize that relying on parking ticket money to cover the costs of running the MTA/MUNI is inherently unstable.

Put it another way: If you raise the parking ticket fines into the going-medieval-on-your-wallet zone, people are more likely to either a) not drive their cars, or b) make sure the darn meter is fed. Ironically, if more people pump money into the meters, the number of tickets starts to go down because, um, well, people are doing what they're supposed to when they park at a meter.

More importantly, it seems more than a bit strange that we'd take parking tickets, which were once used primarily to cite people for unsafe parking or for meter violations, and turn them into a "revenue source" backed by the criminal justice system.

It also leads one to cynically wonder if the city has so much to gain from issuing lots of tickets if perhaps those meters aren't broken on purpose, just so they can jam another ticket under your windshield. (Given that they've been proven to do a poor job simply collecting the parking meter money in the first place, one wonders if they'll just give up and make everyone pay $60 to park, period!)

All of this comes as we just read the other day about all the City employees who make huge salaries (and will get huge pensions for life too!). The Mayor blew out the budget last year with big pay raises and big increases in the city payroll, but we haven't seen a correlating drop in crime or improvement in city services one might expect.

San Franciscans need to start making smart choices. We can continue to bloat the city payroll, year after year, by "moderates" and "progressives" alike, but we have to be aware that continuing to do so, without some sort of accountability or performance that merits such a bloated payroll has consequences.

The next time you see your car being booted for a handful of EXPENSIVE tickets, think about this: not only are you paying for the people to tow your car away, you're also going to be paying their salary, pension and health care for the rest of their life, too!

UPDATE: I just remembered something. Back in the 1990s, when the State of California was coming up with all sorts of goofball ways to "balance budgets," Gov. Wilson and his allies in the Legislature actually passed a law that mandated local governments had to pay a few bucks to the State of California for every parking ticket they wrote. Locals had the option of just coughing up the cash, or tacking on the surcharge to existing fines.

If that's not racketeering or extortion, I don't know what is!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 3:23 PM | Permalink | Comments (7)

After hopes were somewhat falsely raised last year, it's hoped that this will not only ensure safety, but perhaps speed things up for both cars AND trains. (And if you're really that curious here's why it makes that turn in the first place)

After a string of accidents, including the tragic accident last month, and other collisions reported in by loyal readers, and a hapless mini crusade, both here and on Mr. Mayor's "blog", it's nice to just see something happen at all. All this effort, just to get someone to acknowledge a promise made back in 2006.

I really hope they make this work, and if it does work out, I think the politicians and the folks at the assorted alphabet soup of agencies need to hear that if they do their jobs and make something work better for everyone (cars, transit, pedestrians, and residents) that's a GOOD thing, and screwing around, spending our money on foolishness isn't.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 2:42 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

The trial balloons for an increase in the costs of a monthly MUNI Pass are being floated, primarily as a "quick fix" for MUNI's persistent budget woes. Always, of course, without mentioning how the politicians keep trying to take away money from MUNI.

No transit system in the world makes all of its money from the farebox anyway, but you know what will accompany this hike - more cuts in service. Pay more for less. The San Francisco mantra, it seems.

But wait! Let's go read some more MUNI news in the Examiner...specifically the fact that MUNI is about to make a huge payout because their employees accidentally killed a child.

This, in addition to the many many payouts MUNI makes due to accidents. As you may recall we've had a few lately, right here on our Mighty N.

So what we're seeing is that we (taxpayers) are paying out huge settlements for horrific accidents. At the same time we 'balanced budgets' by cutting safety, staffing, and maintenance. The politicians got a pat on the back for "not raising taxes," and in the short term, everything was fine, until, um the dying and suffering. If, perhaps we'd spent the nickel in the past to make sure the system was as safe as humanly possible, perhaps today we wouldn't be spending huge payouts for settlements - and lives would not have been shattered by these tragedies.

Not all accidents can be prevented (after all, they are "accidents" and not "stuff MUNI did on purpose to ruin lives"). But when you hear about big pay raises for upper management, big pay for political aides with no background in MUNI safety OR climatology, and science fiction written by the man who played political games with MUNI's budgets, and local legislators that love to talk "green" but vote for huge cuts to MUNI time and again, it's hard to accept that a fare increase of this size is "necessary."

Until people decide that they'd like to get value for their money in San Francisco, this kind of nonsense will continue. So long as you accept the notion of "pay more and more and get less and less", and accept giving big pay raises to people that are not qualified, you will get exactly what you have now. Makes for wonderful blog posts - Hell of a way to run a major American city.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:02 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

For the better part of a year, news of the ongoing Transit Effectiveness Project has been kicked around as meetings, studies and whatnot have been devoted to try and figure out where and what MUNI needs to change in order to be useful to San Francisco's citizens. I've always encouraged people to get involved in the process, mostly because if people just let the geniuses run the show, the result is likely a mess.

The Chronicle has a recap of the report's release, and you can go to the TEP site itself and download copies of the various reports. There's so much here that it's hard to really comment on it without reading it, so for now I'll hold off any big postings until I read it for myself. If any of you have comments as you check it out, please feel free to discuss in the comments section.

And remember: while some of the report inevitably is a bit of the No Duh Institute variety (gawrsh Mickey, folks want the buses to run on time! We needed a study to tell us that), some of the other parts of the study I saw a while back were kind of interesting in showing how people use the system as of today.

MUNI hasn't updated its routes in 20+ years, and let's face it, 20 years ago there were plenty of parts of the City where no one lived, that now house thousands of people, and we still have many "legacy" routes that are the lineal descendants of streetcars (and streetcar companies) long gone.

Enjoy the transit-y goodness, fellow citizens!

UPDATE: The good folks at the Transbay Blog did a nice quick summary of the changes in the TEP. Go check it out!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:09 PM | Permalink | Comments (3)

Well at least someone besides me said it: CW Nevius wrote a couple of pieces in the Chronicle this past week, expressing similar concerns to my own that we're about to embark on an expensive white elephant of a rail line known as the Central Subway.

The Central Subway is an intersection of petty political promises and half-assed planning that will do nothing to improve transit for anyone, be they those who live in North Beach, Chinatown, downtown, or on the T-Third (!) line, and as a bonus, will need to steal trains from all the other lines to accommodate this short, 3-stop, multi-billion dollar Tunnel of Love.

Mayor Newsom loves to talk about it though, since he can ribbon cut at a ceremony or something. At last year's "Fake Question Time," he was able to say in the same sentence that he "wanted to hear what people thought," but also that "this is a done deal and there's nothing you can do about it." And it would seem he's correct on the latter point - there seems to be this mantra of "if we don't take the Feds' money for this project, no matter how lame, we're 'losing out" on something" that everyone at MUNI and City hall repeat.

Ah well. I keep forgetting that common sense and reason are in short supply these days, and that "leadership" in San Francisco consists of doing Really Stupid Things to appease future patrons of future campaigns. Epic FAIL.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:13 PM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Dot Com Boom 1.0 Bus Stop

-- Buses that run on time
-- Less-surly drivers
-- Graffiti removal
-- More comfortable seats
-- Back doors that open only for people exiting the bus - not fare cheats sneaking in.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:33 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Rather than react to the trial balloon on fare hikes MUNI floated today, I decided to take a look back over the past year at all the rhetoric floated by Our Leaders on MUNI fares. Give credit to MUNI and the MTA on this - they are very good at framing issues, mostly by completely ignoring things like "facts" and "past statements."

But first, a comment about "money" and "cuts." I get a bit weary of hearing the "poor us" speech when it comes to money for MUNI. After all, we just voted for Measure A last year which was supposed to bring significant stability to MUNI's funding. Now, suddenly, we're told there's yet another "crisis" and they want us to pay more and get less. Amazing.

Of course, it doesn't help when San Francisco legislators voted for a state budget that whacked a significant amount of MUNI funding. The federal government isn't helping matters by possibly taking away a ton of cash for MUNI projects because of opposition from some folks for a Doyle Drive toll. Using MUNI safety money to pay for political aides isn't exactly good management either, nor is giving the boss a big pay raise in the midst of this "financial crisis."

But these are big issues for another day. Let's instead take that trip in the Wayback Machine and see what's been said about MUNI fares for the last few years.

Way back in February 2006 a report was issued indicating that in many places, 50% of folks weren't paying the fares owed. After said report, did fare collections increase or get better?

No! Because, flash forward to February 2007 and guess what we were talking about? Yep, you guessed it - MUNI still wasn't getting its act together and collect the fares it's supposed to - amazing!

Now you'd think some bright, handsome young Mayor, would seize upon the report and bang his fist on the table saying "Let's do a better job, MUNI! Collect some more fares like you're supposed to." Instead we got some hippie-esque feel-good nonsense from talking about how we should make MUNI "free" (which was thoroughly debunked when the adults studied the idea).

Not to be outdone, Supervisors and other electeds came up with their own notion of a "youth fare", apparently to be paid for with a tax on unicorns and elves. Fortunately, this half-baked idea died as the folks promoting it turned on each other. Woo hoo.

See the pattern? Everyone keeps saying "no money" and yet a big reason they have a problem is because MUNI's not bothering to collect money it is supposed to from its passengers. Instead of demanding MUNI get with the program, the politicians come up with crazy notions to take away more money from MUNI, usually to appease folks of a certain political persuasion. Then they start talking about fare increases and service cuts because...well gawrsh Mickey, there's "no money."

Continue reading "Calling BS on Fare Increases and Fare Shenanigans in San Francisco" »

Posted by Greg Dewar at 1:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Ah, the San Francisco County Transit Agency, described by a sage scribe as MUNI's successful younger sibling. First we heard the news about work finally beginning on the Irving and 9th/Judah and 9th intersections, and soon afterwards, MUNI Chief Nate Ford started arguing he should be able to drink their milkshakes and take their money. Woo hoo!

This afternoon, I got an email announcing new vacancies for the SFCTA's Citizens Advisory Committee. It seems that there are quite a few vacancies, esp. in the districts which represent the N-Judah line (and oh yeah, one in District 11 too).

Full details after the jump. If you've got the time and want to be able to weigh in on such issues as the Central Subway (!) and the like, well here's a chance to join up and get involved!

Continue reading "The SFCTA Needs You!" »

Posted by Greg Dewar at 3:12 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The always informative and entertaining MattyMatt at SFist.com caught the latest agenda of the San Francisco County Transit Agency (SFCTA) and at tomorrow's meeting there's some pretty big news - it appears that the much touted, delayed, and awaited for signal improvements to the Irving/9th and Judah/9th intersections are finally being made!

You can go check out the agenda online, and scroll down to Item 13, where you can read more, and download a PDF of the plan also.

From what I'm reading, this has been fast-tracked to be done in 3 months. The upgrades are being made via Prop. K funds, and the N Judah trains will be getting their own signal, so cars won't have to risk getting rammed by a mega-ton train. I'm guessing in light of recent events this is getting a bit of a push, but you know what? I really don't care why they're doing it - I'm just glad they are, since this has the potential of being a win for everyone - cars, MUNI, MUNI riders, and pedestrians.

I'll keep an eye on this tomorrow and try and post something in between work breaks if I can....this is good news, though, and unlike in the past, someone is spending money and has presented a fairly detailed plan, which in government-ese means that they're more likely to be doing something than not (Funny how money has that effect on a situation.)

UPDATE: Rachel Gordon at the Chronicle has a short story on the Gate website now also.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 3:53 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Call it showmanship or whatever, but giving Dan Noyes and his crew the name "ITeam" sounds cool. I mean, shouldn't they have a cool headquarters with a bullpen, plasma TVs, a "Trouble Alert" and cool cars and uniforms?

Oh wait - that's the Mayor's office! D'oh!

Ok, enough silliness...last night Noyes and his crew showed some hidden camera footage from MUNI. They had to file a lawsuit to do so, and for several months there was some unseen courtroom drama. Now, they got the footage and they're showing it on their website etc. It's definitely worth seeing, but then again, if you ride MUNI anyways, chances are you've seen stuff like this in 3-d.

Inevitably, reports like these bring up the whole "why focus on the bad apples when so many are good" meme, and there's a point to be made about that. I've seen plenty of awesome MUNI drivers myself and made sure to note it here when I can. Heck, we had one guy use his mad driving skillz to avoid another death at Irving and 9th the other day.

However, at the same time, we again see union leaders seem to insist on sticking up only for those "few bad apples" , as opposed to the great majority of good drivers who pay dues (and union leader salaries). This insistence on defending bad behavior is what frustrates so many people, and lead to a lot of anti-union sentiment, which really isn't productive (and for the record I'm all for good unions, and have worked for many of them in the past).

As always, union folks are invited to particpate here in the comments to perhaps start an honest dialogue and find some common ground between riders, citizens, MUNI employees and City Hall so we can get past blame games and spin, and get something done. I'm not holding my breath on that one, though.

Still, you have to wonder at the massive amount of good karma the union folks at MUNI would earn if they just decided to cut loose the few bad apples, and spend more time rewarding the good people who try to make the system work.

I don't know that most of us have anyone defending us or getting us big pay raises if we're a consistently crappy employee, and most of us have to work in a reality far different from the one that seems to operate at MUNI. One wonders at what might happen if said realities collided.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:22 AM | Permalink | Comments (2)

Some days you don't have to do much to write a little blog about MUNI...it just sort of writes itself.

KCBS had a report about the Mayor's eagerness to spend MUNI dollars on expensive staffers for his office, to the tune of about a million dollars. This is on the heels of an article in the Chronicle covering the issue, but with a slightly different take.

It's funny how we were just asked to give MUNI dedicated resources as part of a "reform" measure (which just saw its campaign committee fined for ethics violations), and right away, the only thing our Mayor can think to do is give out big pay raises to the bosses, and take money away from MUNI and give it to people in his office. After all, it's not like it's his money out of his pocket, right? And clearly, San Franciscans like him so much they must think this is ok.

Funnier still, when you read the experiences of everyday people who don't buy their girlfriends $100,000 rings, you wonder if perhaps the Mayor could have complied with his own directive to "cut spending" by starting with his own office, instead of giving out big pay to more city employees, and getting them plasma TVs to watch Project Runway with.

Of course, all would be forgiven if they decided to say, raid the MUNI fund for a $150,000/year job for folks to blog about how great the new plasma tvs are, but that's probably not happening....

UPDATE: Rachel Gordon at the Chronicle has another story detailing the expenditures, the spin and whatnot. Oh and that blogging job pays only $85,000 after all....given how much the staffers get paid over there, I'd say the guy is getting shortchanged.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 6:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

This morning's Chronicle has a report on recent events and MUNI safety that's worth checking out. I think that as we go forward, the good citizens of San Francisco are going to have to keep pestering their elected officials and others if we're going to see any of that Measure A money spent to benefit the folks that pay said money (i.e. the citizens!)

Also, a couple of folks have emailed regarding a comment I made in the story that perhaps needs a slight clarification. The incident I described happened at Irving and 9th, and in this case a guy crossed the street on a red as a 44 O'Shaughnessy was rushing through the intersection to pick us up. As some of us saw what was happening, we were all convinced this was going to be another accident, but the driver in question saw the guy and managed to avoid an accident. Being an idiot I forgot to note the driver's badge number so I could send a compliment in to MUNI because this guy was on the ball.

While this did happen on the same night as the fatal accident on the N, the one described above has nothing to do with the N accident, and just because in this particular case some guy crossed on a red, that has nothing to do with the other incident.

In this case I was merely pointing out that there are many reasons why the streets are unsafe, and as such, no one "solution" will magically solve all our problems.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 9:58 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Holy guac! We just got word of news about another potential fatality on the N-Judah line this evening. Reader Jeff writes:

Greg:

News helicopters are overhead right now. Judah is closed off 28th Ave - 30th Ave. I just got home, but it looks like it happened about an hour ago.

My neighbor tells me someone was trying to get onto the train and got caught somehow. Passengers tried to alert the driver, but the train didn't stop in time.

I'm guessing the accident will be on the 11:00 news with all the details.

jeff

I got home around 8pm and missed this incident. This sounds pretty bad, though, so if anyone has info or details, please feel free to post in the comments. I'll be up for a few more hours to post details as they come in.

UPDATE: Bay City News has the story so far....

UPDATE 2:, The Chronicle has more information about the incident as well. This is so depressing.

Continue reading "Reader Mail: Another Fatality on the N Judah" »

Posted by Greg Dewar at 10:11 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

The Cylons in the re-imagined Battlestar Galactica have a prophecy they keep repeating: "All of this has happened before, and will happen again." One could say the same thing about the MUNI test program to allow backdoor boarding to try and combat fare evasion, et al.

The thing is, once upon a time, MUNI had "back door boarding" and the like on busy lines, by paying people as "loaders" to collect money and get people on the bus as fast as possible. This has long since been abandoned, in the interest of cutting the payroll. Is this the best way to do things? Maybe, maybe not. But it is interesting to see MUNI revive ideas and call them "new" when in fact a quick look at MUNI history shows that a lot of this is not really new at all. There are plenty of good ideas out there, and many can be found in the history of MUNI. I suppose we're paying the big kids big bucks and giving out big raises so that they can rediscover MUNI history and re-brand it with the help of expensive consultants.

Awesome.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 9:47 PM | Permalink | Comments (2)

aaaa021

Posted by Greg Dewar at 7:20 PM | Permalink | Comments (19)

"Mason Powell," one of our loyal corrrespondents, reports that something is blocking 19th around Ulloa and Taraval, necessitating a re-route of the bus he was taking from the Daly City BART to Irving Street.

Trains don't seem to be delayed (too badly), however. Anyone see what happened?

UPDATE: Flickr user DeathByCamera took some pictures of the incident yesterday and posted them to Flickr and SFist's "contribute" section!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 3:30 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Double Decker Muni Bus!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 9:36 AM | Permalink | Comments (4)

Sometimes writing this little blog is like shooting fish in a barrel, especially when you open a newspaper and read this little news item about MUNI Boss Nate Ford's raise.

The story reveals so much more than just the facts - in this case the MTA board is giving serious consideration to giving Our City's highest paid (at $298,000/year, plus low interest home loan, plus pension, plus benefits etc.) a nice big bonus. It gives us a nice overview as to why it is people distrust MUNI, and the junkie logic that seems to infect the place.

Note, for example how not only does Mayor Newsom believe Mr. Ford should get his big bonus (despite the fact that the papers tell us MUNI has Big Problems), he also interjects that the voter mandated 85% on time rate is "unrealistic" and that it should be abandoned.

Note also that he supported the measure in the first place, but, like he does so often, he's now against it. Just like when he supported the formation of a Taxi Commission, only to then support its total dismantling with the infamous "Measure A." John Kerry would be proud of these flip flops. So is San Francisco, according to the latest vote count!

Likewise, when Andrew Sullivan of "Rescue Muni" is asked whether Ford deserves the raise or not, we get an answer only a politician could love. Is he for the raise? Against it? In the effort to try and offend no one, he ended up not saying anything. C'mon, Andrew, you're better than this. You're the head of a group that claims to be for us riders. Now is not the time for Establishment Doublespeak to make everyone happy - now's the time to make some noise.

Even funnier (in the "funny as in frakked" way not "funny as in ha ha" way) is Mayor Newsom's statement that to make MUNI run a losy "80% of the time," the system needs $90 million more dollars.

Now, putting aside the fact that Loyal Readers have pointed out time and again how meaningless the systemwide percentage statistic is, I find it really kind of insulting that after we went through all the pain and suffering that was the Magical Measure A campaign, we're now being told by Mayor Newsom what boils down to "We can't even do a half-assed job without more money, and most of that has to go to the boss, even though we screwed up the T-Third rollout and spent a bunch of money on parties, and frankly I don't care because I have a free car from you taxpayers!"

Or something like that.

All this, right as they're considering a pay raise for Nate Ford. Even though the system's at a C- level of service, he gets a raise. And they'll pay him no matter what for the length of his entire contract - even if he got fired tomorrow for gross negligence. In other words, there's no "performance incentive" here - just more and more money for the top, while we get stuck with higher fares and more service cuts.

I guess since the Mayor's so popular, this is what folks want. And I suppose that asking MUNI to keep its employees from stealing from us or at least collect the money they're owed in an efficient manner is too much to ask of a popular Mayor or the best paid guy in City Government.

Meanwhile, we see the results of squandered money, and opportunity every time a Loyal Reader sends in a tale of woe to the site.

And people wonder why a blog about MUNI gets so many hits in the first place. Now you know!

If you'd like to send an email to the Folks In Charge, why not contact the SF MTA, or send an email to Our Mayor Have fun with it and if you've got a particularly entertaining one to share, send it in and we'll use it in a future Reader Mail feature!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 2:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (10)

Reader Patrick sent me an email about an hour ago indicating that there's been a collision between a Honda car and an N-Train at 9th and Irving. As I'm at work I can't just run down the street and check this out, so if any other Loyal Readers have any info to report, please do so in the comments section!

For those of you just joining us, I made safety at the 9th/Irving and 9th/Judah intersections a mini crusade, with mixed results. Any pedestrian, motorist, or mass transit rider, however can witness a host of near-misses and other problems at these intersections on a daily basis.

Maybe this accident will move along MUNI's folks, flush with Measure A money and whatnot, to get off their backsides and make good on a promise they were supposed to have fulfilled almost a year ago!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 1:50 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

Sorry I've been away for so long...but the ongoing distraction of finding a non-crackhouse apartment in the unusually bad, dot-commish like rental market these days is becoming such a distraction I don't really have the time to write genius posts on things like MUNI or that non-election we had last week. All I can say is, if you're thinking of moving, don't for now. It's really not worth the hassle. Usually when I go apartment hunting it takes maybe a week at the most, and I always find something I like. This time - well let's just say that the phrase "all the good ones are taken" pretty much sums it up. After almost 2 months it was really only yesterday I found something that was truly worth renting - the rest were these bizarre "in law" units that were being rented for like, $1400 a month.

Anyway, enough of that. It looks like despite the best efforts of a few, and the total lack of voters at the polls, Measure "A" ended up passing. Um, hooray, I guess? We've had plenty of discussions here about how Measure A isn't perfect, but frankly, now that it's passed, it can be amended if something doesn't work out. More importantly, it's up to us and our elected representatives and our popular Mayor to make sure that all those promises Sup. Peskin, SPUR, and others made about how this thing was going to "save" MUNI are actually met - and that won't be easy.

Personally I found it interesting that in the supposedly "conservative" suburbs, almost every tax measure or bond issue passed, while in supposedly "crazy lefty" San Francisco, something that had "global warming" and "mass transit" stamped all over it was close. Perhaps the stereotypes of the outsiders don't fit the Bay Area after all.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 9:49 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you're one of those folks who thinks a good plan today is better than a perfect plan tomorrow, there are some chances for you to get involved with volunteer efforts to help pass Measure A. Those of you who are not so inclined, I'm sure there are things you can do as well. Since the only people who contacted me were the volunteers of Measure A, I shall be posting some info which is as follows, reposted from their email:

Help Us Reach Voters on MUNI Friday, 11/2 and Monday, 11/5 After Work!

Help flier every commuter on a train leaving downtown. Meet at Montgomery MUNI Station (on the north side of Market by the circle fence) at 4pm or 5pm each day. Bring your friends! It will be two hours of fun, crucial outreach. Many bus riders still don't know about these Propositions so it's our job to use people power to show them there's a chance for them to vote to make their commute better.

Help Us Walk Precincts on Saturday, 11/3!
We are walking Precincts 10am and phone banking 1-7pm. Meet at 350 Kansas by 16th.

Help Us Get Out The Vote On Election Day (Tuesday, Nov 6)

We really need your help to get transit supporters out to vote. Even if you can only volunteer an hour, anything you can do will help us.

We will be meeting at 7:30 am at Castro Station to talk to transit riders on the way to work, and we'll be meeting at Montgomery Station at 4pm and 5pm to reach people as they go home on Election Day.

If you have any questions, or need additional directions to find us, please call Fred at 415-375-1972 or email at firecircus@hotmail.com. Thanks for your help and support of Measure A!

Well, there you have it. In a low-turnout election, even just a few hours reminding people that there's an election can make a big difference. All those high school civics class lines about "participation" aren't as far out as they sound. Enjoy your weekend and enjoy voting on Election Day!

UPDATE: Dave Snyder, transit policy guy at SPUR sent me an urgent email asking folks in Our Part Of Town to help out on Sunday. If you're an N-Judah rider, and you would like to help out, they are asking good people to staff information tables at our infamous 9th and Irving intersection (where we scored a minor victory for pedestrian safety, better car traffic and faster transit) from 11am to 5pm. Please contact Dave Snyder at 415 216 7393 for more details. Or email him at DSnyder@spur.org .

Posted by Greg Dewar at 9:41 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

If you're wondering what to do during your lunch hour on Monday, why not stop by the latest forum at SPUR, since not only will they be talkin' all things MUNI, but they will be talking specfically to MUNI operators and union representatives. Billed less as a presentation and more as a discussion intended to elevate the dialogue, it should be interesting. Or entertaining. We'll see.

Unfortunately, I don't know that I can make it personally since the day job probably won't allow me time to take a long lunch break at SPUR's offices (located at 312 Sutter Street in downtown), so if anyone attends, please drop us a line and let us know how it went!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:50 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Just a friendly reminder....if you're ready to speak up and tell the folks in charge of the Transit Effectiveness Project a dose of your reality, as well as hear more about what they say they're doing, you can do so at Monday's meeting right here in the Inner Sunset...info is as follows:

Inner Sunset, Mon. Oct. 22, 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm
County Fair Building (Hall of Flowers) near entrance to SF Botanical Garden
9th Ave. at Lincoln Way
The nearest Muni lines are N-Judah, 6, 43, 44, 66 and 71.
Check it out!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:46 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

I have a rule which is never to blog when I'm mad. It leads to all sorts of bad karma which I, and the cosmos, simply don't need.

So, when I read this little nugget about how the dispatchers and supervisors union decided to stick it to us today with a cute little "sickout" because they're not getting their 5.75% raise sooner than they wanted, well, the original post, well let's just say I composed a rather rabid post.

Cooler heads and a couple of pints at the Blackthorn prevailed and now, I am trying something new to stick up for us, the MUNI riders and us, the San Francisco taxpayers.

I am openly challenging Transport Worker's Union Local 200 President Glenda Lavigne to compose a short, concisely worded piece which I will publish in the alloted space to tell us, the taxpaying, MUNI riding public the following:

-Why this was such a great idea given that Proposition A is in trouble? Are you politically tone deaf or what?

-Why this was a good idea given that people compromised many reforms in proposition A to accommodate the union bosses' wishes, only to see that goodwill kicked in the face with this action?

-How their demands for more money and cushy rules benefit us, the MUNI riding public?

-And finally, why it is they think this kind of action is somehow going to benefit MUNI reform and make MUNI better? How are those of us who don't get automatic pay raises, union protection, and who pay the taxes that pay their big pay and pensions benefit from their selfish actions?

Rather than place blame or choose up sides, I'm offering a free space for Local 200 to speak up, justify their actions and engage in a free discussion with you, the readers at the N-Judah Chronicles. I'm sure that there's nothing Local 200 would like more than a free forum to talk to you directly - so I'm providing it. I'm sure the free exchange of ideas with you the MUNI rider and SF taxpayer will be most illuminating and informative.

Here's their response as of 10/18/2007:

If it's blank, keep returning to the site. I'm sure they're gonna respond any minute now!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 10:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (17)

For the past several months, Really Important and Smart People have been working on a project called the Transit Effectiveness Project which is supposed to really analyze how real people such as yourselves use MUNI, and make adjustments since they really haven't changed a lot of routes in say, 20 years.

The words that describe said action sound great, and it's a cornerstone of the reforms in whole Proposition A campaign as well. Which is great, if it is something that is driven by good research and input from you, the citizen. If it's just a snow job by overpaid "consultants" and bureaucrats to make people who get paid too much to look good, it's just more hype.

Recently, many of you have written in about the collision of reality and statistics on MUNI, so you can see the bad side of this sort of thing. But how, then can one speak up and be heard by The Powers That Be at MUNI.

Wonder no more. The nice people at SPUR sent me an email with a list of meetings you the public can attend. Now, be aware that many times when "public meetings" are held, they are more "lecture" than meeting - but ultimately that's only if you let them lecture you. Show up, ask questions, take notes and hold them to their promises. Let them know what's really going on and hopefully a dose of reality will accompany reams of statistics.

First, there's SPUR's MUNI Monday meeting where representatives from the TEP will speak about the latest news, at SPUR's offices at 312 Sutter Street from 12:30-1:30pm. These can be quite informative if you can make it - but be sure to ask questions when they finish up.

The TEP itself will be holding "community meetings" around town, most notably here in the Inner Sunset. Meeting dates and times are as follows:

Excelsior District, Sat. Oct. 20, 10:00 am to 12:30 pm
Monroe Elementary School, 260 Madrid St. at Excelsior Ave.
The nearest Muni bus lines are 14, 29, 49 and 52.

Mission District, Sat. Oct. 20, 3:00 pm to 5:30 pm
St. Peter’s Catholic Church, Alabama St. at 24th St.
The nearest Muni bus lines are 9, 27 and 48.

Inner Sunset, Mon. Oct. 22, 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm
County Fair Building (Hall of Flowers) near entrance to SF Botanical Garden
9th Ave. at Lincoln Way
The nearest Muni lines are N-Judah, 6, 43, 44, 66 and 71.

Civic Center, Tue. Oct. 23, 6:00 pm to 8:30 pm
Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 99 Grove St. at Polk St.
The nearest BART and Muni station is Civic Center.
The nearest Muni bus lines are 9, 19, 21 and 49.

Getting ticked at bad service, or showing concern online or in print is the first step. Showing up to these meetings and shocking 'em a little with what you're seeing is the next. Pile on the reality and your ideas, and hopefully at least some of it will find its way into whatever Big Plan the TEP people come up with.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 12:35 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Wow, what a day in MUNI news. First, we hear of an incident where a man got his hand caught in the doors of a departing L-Taraval at Embarcadero, and was dragged by the train as it left the station.

I can only imagine how scary this must have been for the aforementioned victim and the passengers on the train - especially when attempts to stop the train for such a mishap didn't seem to work at first. The good citizens on board the train who did their best deserve some kudos for paying attention and trying to help - instead of just taking the "screw you" attitude some would suggest is more appropriate.

At the same time, I'm also a bit surprised this doesn't happen more often. So many people will try to jam their hands or feet into a nearly-closed door in an attempt to board, this is bound to happen. And, it's not like the doors on MUNI trains are all in tip top shape - if you've ever been on one where they don't open, or don't close, you start to realize the doors aren't as friendly as those on say, an elevator.

Either way, though, the entire incident sounds like one that I'd just as soon never see repeated again....hopefully the injured party got treatment and is doing ok.

Today's Examiner has some early reporting on the potential for a Bus Rapid Transit system on Van Ness Avenue. Done right, this could be a big help for both buses and cars. When I used to commute from Marin County to San Mateo County (one of the worst commutes you can imagine), every day I had to drive down Lombard and Van Ness. If they move the buses to their own lanes so they're not cutting across, and reduce local car trips in favor of faster bus rides, I think the BRT might have the effect of speeding up car rides on Van Ness since the traffic would be a little more orderly.

Or not. Who knows? But this is all in the early stages, so it could go any one of a number of ways.

UPDATE: If you can, try and see local filmmaker Blake Weirs' film "New Urban Cowboy", which I mentioned previously. There are showings tonight, tomorrow and Saturday at the Roxie Cinema, and I think many would be pleasantly surprised at the film's subject and message about how, yes, it is possible to turn a crack town into a nice town. Check it out!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 9:57 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Tired of bitching about MUNI on my blog? Sure you are.

Wanna say something to the Big Guy who will be appointing the new MTA Commissioners now that he's asked for the resignations of the folks he hired on that board?

Or, do you just wanna to tell the guy how happy you are about the current state of MUNI management?

Well, you have a chance. Go, my friends, to the "Rescue Muni" meeting on October 1st (AKA tomorrow) and ask the most probing, nonpartisan questions you can think of.

Remember, no one serious is challenging this guys for his actual job, so your unexpected questions will be of value. Remember also that during the Mayor's "problems" about that whole "you know" thing earlier this year was dismissed by Rescue Muni because he appointed such good folks to the MTA board.

People who he now wants to fire.

Ummmm....Yeah.

For now, let's take a look at a YouTube Video of an N-Judah Chronicles neighbor who has some things to say about MUNI. Perhaps in his inimitable policy deliberations, Mr. Newsom might pay attention to what us mere citizen/taxpayer/riders have to say about what's going on with MUNI....

Posted by Greg Dewar at 3:17 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

The kind folks at SPUR sent out an email recently letting people know how they can help out the MUNI charter amendment on the ballot this fall. Since the fall election is easily one of the deadest in recent history, it's likely that turnout will be low, thus making any volunteer effort that much more important to ensure the measure succeeds. Here are the details from Dave:

I’m writing to ask you to join your fellow SPUR transportation committee members and our allies in the Transit not Traffic campaign phone bank to identify absentee voters who support better Muni. We’ll feed you. It’s fun. It’s effective.

SPUR Day at the phone bank is a week from today, Wednesday Sept. 26, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Put it in your calendar now, and call me at 781-8726, ext. 135 to reserve your space. The phone bank is hosted by the SEIU. The address is 350 Rhode Island, Suite 100 South. It’s near 16th Street on the north side of Potrero Hill.

You can phone bank any day, Monday through Thursday, from 5:30 to 8:30 p.m. Call Natasha at 415-357-1593 to volunteer on any other date.

This election is going to be close. If we lose, it will be hard to fix Muni in subsequent election cycles. Please, find the time to make a few phone calls.

So if you're interested in helping out, be sure to give Dave or Natasha a call and let 'em know you're ready to go to work! Should be fun!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 10:20 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Quite a bit of local news in Cole Valley these days, some N-related, and some only sort-of-N related. First, Reader Chris alerted me to this meeting that was announced via email to people living in Cole Valley, about a meeting to begin preliminary discussions with the community about potential improvements at Carl and Cole Street.

Among the things being discussed for this key stop on the N are the moving of the inbound stop to accommodate a new platform so that the N doesn't have to make 2 stops - right now it has to stop once at Carl and Cole, and again if anyone needs assistance getting on the train. Some have raised concerns in the past about disabled access at Carl and Cole, hence the study, I'm guessing.

Other items include the new bus shelters that are coming soon, adding such things as ticket machines, etc., and other amenities. The meeting is on September 27th at Grattan School. If you live in the area and have any concerns, now would be the time to express them as they begin to get the ball rolling.

Remember, with a lot of these kinds of things, if no one shows up early on, it becomes harder to get your $.02 in later on. Even if you can't make the meeting, if you've got concerns about the future of Carl and Cole, email the MTA and let them know!

On a lighter note, the annual Cole Valley Festival on September 23rd. As always, one of our favorite local artists, Niana Liu will have a booth selling her works.

Niana's work often has a MUNI focus, such as this piece on MUNI fares we linked to a while back. She also produces these wonderful gift items celebrating neighborhoods in San Francisco, too.

Quite a lot going on in this corner of the N, for sure. Hopefully the storm will pass and this weekend we'll go back to the "San Francisco Summer" weather we'd been enjoying so far!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 2:37 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Rachel Gordon writes an interesting piece in the Chronicle about the aging control infrastructure that runs MUNI. To many who have been involved in MUNI and transit issues, the control center's quaint and aging technology is the stuff of legend - most people have cell phones or PDAs more powerful than some of the machines that run MUNI.

While Ms. Gordon's piece does a good job of informing the public some of the specific woes of the system and how it impacts our ride each day, it is more revealing about the effects of half-assed management and budgeting by elected officials, and armchair-quarterbacking by the public on MUNI.

Put simply, for a long time, our elected officials, our esteemed entrenched bureaucrats, and yes, us, the public, have taken the easy way out on decisions regarding MUNI, and now we're paying the price.

Phony compromises, allocations of money that can "only" be spent on one thing (giving us the bizarre situation of piles of money that can't be spent to improve the control system but CAN be spent on nonsense and pay raises) and the like create the Seven Headed Hydra of Problems the system now faces.

Or, put another way - you can't cut back on the things that matter, like maintenance, information technology, and the true costs of running a system on time for the City of San Francisco, while at the same time spending tons of money on pay raises, unnecessary bloated middle management, featherbedding by the civic unions and interference from political hacks, and expect MUNI to run any better than it does today.

More importantly, it's time for MUNI management to do what it can to be more honest with the public about what it costs to make a system run properly for all of us, and demand no less from our posturing politicos. To continue accepting empty platitudes about "do more with less" and to not be willing to cut out the deadwood or collect the fares from the deadbeats does nothing to build the kind of trust MUNI will need to earn our support in the future.

Likewise, it is very easy for politicians to put a picture of the Earth on a campaign sign or drive around in a Prius in an ad, or pose for Vanity Fair talkin' greenie chatter, but it's much harder to make the special interests involved capitulate and do the right thing for citizens and taxpayers and riders of MUNI.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 6:15 PM | Permalink | Comments (6)

What a great birthday present. Well, sort of, anyway...it seems that Wednesday is a Spare the Air Day, meaning that MUNI buses and trains will be free and BART, CalTrain, and ferry service will be free from 5 a.m. to 1 p.m.!

Read more about this wonderful day at the Examiner and enjoy what is going to be Yet Another Warm, BM/Rapture-like Day. Use up one of those "Get Out Of Work Free" days if you can!

Party like a rock star and don't bother driving. See you at the Blackthorn late this afternoon, where I'll be spending my Schrute Bucks and having a wonderful day...and if you're wondering how to make a blogger's day, well, here's the amazon list...or just stop by and say hi....

Posted by Greg Dewar at 4:57 PM | Permalink | Comments (11)

Ah, the end of August. The weather's nice and sunny, my birthday's coming up in a few days (one I share with such luminaries as "Weezy" from the Jeffersons, John McCain, and Elliot Gould), and....and...well that's about it. Oh, and then there's some election thing going on this fall too, right?

Given how things have gone for the MUNI reform measure, Proposition A, it is unclear if there will be any formal opposition to the measure this fall. But that's not to say someone won't say something to spoil the fun.

In today's Examiner, we got a taste of that, and found why it's so hard to eliminate government agencies once they're created, as some taxicab drivers announced their opposition to Prop. A, because it eliminates the bureaucracy at the Taxicab Commission, and instead put taxicab decisions (as well as all transit decisions) in one place - the SF MTA.

Frankly, it makes sense to have one agency be in charge of all things related to transit, to better coordinate efforts and avoid the duplication of service San Francisco seems almost in love with. Any changes, though, are bound to be difficult, and in this case there's a fear about what the merger may bring - coupled with a lot of anger that's now being used to try and stop MUNI reform. That's unfortunate, but not unexpected.

Cutting out the Taxicab Commission and placing the decisions regarding taxis in the same place where decisions are made about cars, buses, trains, parking, tickets, et al would allow the MTA to coordinate policy better, so there's some coherence to decisionmaking. And, if they screw up, or try to violate the public's will on things like taxi medallions, it will be pretty easy for the public to nail the folks responsible - instead of diffusing responsibility as we have all too often in San Francisco government and policy. Most other cities and counties, both here in the U.S. and elsewhere, coordinate policy like this - why should we be any different?

Besides, given all the problems this agency has had in its short lifetime, perhaps it's just as well it be eliminated. Although it was created by an initiative by Supervisor Gavin Newsom, Mayor Gavin Newsom apparently had so little interest in appointing people to serve on said commission, it allowed for all sorts of taxpayer funded drama. Now, according to the article in the Examiner, the Mayor supports eliminating the commission he created in the first place.

To me, that seems to say it all. If the guy who invented a new city commission no longer has any interest in keeping it going, and merging it with the MTA ends up with a more streamlined government decisionmaking process and a better-run MUNI, well then, so be it.

Change is never easy, but I'm not convinced that in the end taxicab drivers will be hurt by this measure in the long run. No one will dare mess with the voters' will as expressed in previous ballot measures, and let's face it, in this town, if someone did, concerned folks I am sure would put forth something for us to vote on in the future. MUNI reform is too important to let it be badmouthed by critics who may end up better off than they are now.

Posted by Greg Dewar at 5:16 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

This morning's Examiner has some news that should be of interest to Loyal Readers: it seems that The MTA/MUNI/Whatever is finally appropriating some money to improve signals and safety at Irving and 9th.

The news could be considered a "victory" of sorts for the mini-crusade I'd been pushing, both here, and at the Act Locally SF "blog", but I think that'd be a bit too pretentious, don'tchathink?

However, I think this whole situation reflects the Average S.F. Citizen's frustration with MUNI, the City, and the kind of groupthink that envelop said institutions. It does not require a freakin' "TEP" or armies of imported "consultants" to figure out that:

a) something wasn't working right with the situation at Irving/9th and Judah/9th to begin with for cars, transit, and pedestrians

and

b) there were/are some fixes MUNI, with its armada of highly paid City Workers and Geniuses could have implemented by now

and

c) that requests to do so fell on deaf and often hostile ears when brought up, both by this blog and by others, including elected officials.

Whatever. I'm just glad something is being done, especially, as I like to remind people, this was promised almost a year ago at a town hall meeting sponsored by Sup. Mirkarimi. (And unlike that other town hall meeting, they didn't dodge questions on this issue.)

In an irony of ironies, not soon after I spoke with Ms. Rocha on the phone, I was going to the post office at Irving and 9th where I not only almost got hit by a speeding car making a right turn, while dodging that car, I then had to dodge a cab making a left ,which was not only speeding, but Ol' Cabbie was on the frakking cell phone, oblivious to traffic or anything besides That Big Phone Call.

Being the speedy walker I am, I dodged both, but of course, a senior citizen or one of our disabled citizens might not have been so lucky. I told the idiot cabbie to "be more careful and get off the cell phone" and he replied with some choice language not meant for the kids and to "shut up."

Ticked as I was, I replied to him in his native language, which elicited a surprise. I learned very little in junior high school, but being friends with the foreign exchange students taught me a few things, including how to tell someone off in languages from around the world. Who says the public education system isn't worth something?

If we'd had the fixes, though, Rude Cabbie, myself, and everyone could have made our way safely and happily, sans drama. Maybe when MUNI finally engages in the fix in the year 2015, we can achieve something close to Nirvana, at least while crossing the street or heading home....

PS: Today's Examiner also had a short roundup of the cuts MUNI and BART will be getting, thanks to the enviro-hip Legislature and Governor. Remember, next time you see Assemblymembers Mark Leno or Fiona Ma, be sure to thank them for the budget cuts to MUNI, since as we all know unstable funding is what is necessary to make the system run better!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 10:43 AM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Today's paper had some notable MUNI news. First off, we read a report by Rachel Gordon on efforts to improve the on-time reliability of MUNI, which is showing some signs of progress on paper, but riders don't seem to be "feeling the love," so to speak. That's mostly because no matter how much overall the system seems reliable (at what, 67% now?), none of that matters if you're trying to get your errands done or get to work and have that "oh God is MUNI going to crap out on me when I need it most" feeling.

There's been some progress, of course, since the Bad Old Days of the T Rollout, but that is not saying much given how completely frakked up the whole thing was. On the other hand, turning around a big, old institution like MUNI can't happen in a day, either.

That's where the record-scratch WTF moment came, with this comment from Mayor Newsom, who prides himself as being a "green" eco-conscious kind of guy:

"The concern about reliability is not a surprise," said Mayor Gavin Newsom, who is running for re-election this year and knows that Muni is a bread-and-butter issue for a San Francisco mayor. "We are working on making improvements, with more resources, more staffing."

Um, really? As I recall, when this Mayor, who is literally bulletproof from any threat to re-election, pulled a John Kerry-like flip-flop when a serious, difficult proposal to reform MUNI was being negotiate. Rather than tell some special interests to "stick it" since he is virtually un-opposed for re-election, he ran away from a tough choice.

Now that the dust has settled, and his pals aren't against the reform amendment any more, presumably he can "safely" support it now. I tried calling the Mayor's office, but no response was forthcoming. Maybe I should act locally, instead

The other record-scratch moment ,