By Richard Ivanhoe, HANC Board
The two panel members at our April meeting, Chris Arvin and Jason Henderson, were a wealth of information. Unfortunately, nobody from SFMTA was in attendance.
Chris Arvin began with a number of reasons why MUNI is slow at restoring service post-Covid: operating funding for MUNI has decreased from $200 million to $50 million; the Mayor’s position is no new taxes on transportation, MUNI has difficulty finding drivers because Prop G (2010), a union-busting measure, lowered wages for starting operators, and increased the time for their wages to rise.
Measurements have shown that it takes the 7-Haight longer to travel the length of Haight Street since stop signs were replaced with traffic signals. The 43-Masonic is scheduled to return to its full route through the Presidio and to Fort Mason in July. The 21 is also scheduled to return in July, but will only run to Market and Grove. The 6-Parnassus is now also scheduled to return in July, but only after voices were raised about SFMTA's failure to schedule its return.
Citywide, MUNI is at about 54% of its pre-Covid boardings. The 7 is at 74% (this higher percentage could be due to the suspension of the 6).
Jason Henderson spoke about congestion in Hayes Valley—Haight Street transit is often stuck behind double-parked vehicles, and the transit lane stops shy of Buchanan. The State has billions of dollars, but no transit plan or push from transit agencies. Octavia is backed up both from Citywide and regional traffic (which is more than a local issue) as well as by gig traffic (Uber, Lyft, delivery vehicles, UCSF shuttles).
MUNI is shifting from electric buses (with overhead lines) to battery electric buses, but since the batteries make the buses heavier, they might not do well on hills.
The Supervisors had passed a 3-month pilot of free MUNI, but it was vetoed by the Mayor, who instead pushed for free parking at Union Square.
Lyft raised prices on e-bikes; Dean Preston requested a report on the City running its own bikeshare—it found that the cost would be $33 million for equipment and $15-$18 million annually to operate.
Both panelists liked HANC’s idea of running a shuttle from regional transit (BART and Muni Metro) to Golden Gate Park.