By Calvin Welch, HANC Board
The SFMTA withdrew its ill-considered seven-year-old proposal to remove 6 Parnassus service from the Upper Ashbury portion of the line and relocate it to Haight Street to make up for the previous loss of the 7 Haight line, and will keep service to the Haight-Ashbury unchanged. The decision was approved by the SFMTA Board on March 28 when it adopted the citywide Transit Effectiveness Program (TEP) which made changes to 59 of the City’s 81 transit routes. The plan also calls for the net reduction of two stops on Haight St.: the removal of the Haight/Cole stop and consolidation of two stops on either end of Buena Vista Park into a single new stop at Lyon and Haight.
HANC and other residents of the neighborhood consistently opposed the proposal since it was first made in 2007 when the TEP was first announced. HANC also strongly opposed the ending of the 7 Haight service, from Stanyan to the Transbay Terminal but SFMTA ended the service anyway as part of the original TEP “service enhancements”.Oddly, one of the reasons cited by SFMTA re-routing of the 6 from Ashbury Heights to Haight St. was to “provide more service to Haight Street.”
At HANC 's March general membership meeting, the odd history of the TEP as well as the current state of Mayor Lee's transit proposals were the subject of discussion by a panel made up of HANC's former President and current Senior Disability Action staff member, Pi Ra; Bob Allen, Acting Executive Director/Transportation Justice Program Director, Urban Habitat; and Peter Cohen, of the Council of Community Housing Organizations.
The panel made clear that the TEP increased “transit effectiveness” by, among other techniques, the elimination of transit stops. Concerns were raised about the two ballot measures Mayor Lee will place on the ballot to “fund public transit” this November: a $500 million General Obligation (GO) bond and a Vehicle License Fee (VLF) on all private autos registered in San Francisco. How the new money is to be spent is a major concern given the example of the TEP. Specifically, panelist raised concerns about money being spent to provide new services to the new market rate housing development in the southeaster portion of the City while cutting services to existing “transit dependent” neighborhoods like the Haight -Ashbury. Since most of the VLF and GO bonds will be paid by existing neighborhood residents, speakers questioned Mayor Lee's proposal to spend most of the funds on the “new neighborhoods” dominated by high-price luxury condo developments.
To insure “transit equity” in the expenditure of the new transit revenue speakers described the development of a “transit equity” charter amendment to be placed on the November ballot that would insure that all MUNI funding was spent equally in “minority and transit dependent” neighborhoods as well as the new neighborhoods in the mid- Market and southeast areas. Five Supervisors and the Transit Justice Coalition are hard at work on drafting the measure which should be completed by the end of April.
A small example of why folks need to be concerned abou the way SFMTA spends our tax dollars can be seen in the neighborhood. Late last month SFMTA demolished the bus stop at Buena Vista West and rebuilt it in the new “wave” style. The stop was then, on 28 March, voted to be abandoned as part of the TEP. Adult supervision of SFMTA needs to occur.
HANC will continue to keep our membership informed on this critical issue.