The following is a summary of the February 2008 meetings of the SFTEP Citizen Advisory Committee (CAC) for the Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP). Both meetings included the same presentation of the new route recommendations, a discussion with members about the changes, and brief public comments.

PARTICIPANTS (Wednesday, February 27)

CAC Members/Alternates	PUBLIC & OTHER	PROJECT TEAM
Beck Evans, Sierra Club Steve Ferrario, SFMTA CAC Bert Hill, Bicycle Advisory Committee Brain Larkin, SFCTA CAC Daniel Murphy, SFMTA CAC David Pilpel, Sierra Club Tom Radulovich, Livable Cities Norman Rolfe, SF Tomorrow Dave Snyder, SPUR Heather World, Parents for Public Schools	Jamison Wieser, SFMTA CAC Bryan Cohen, SF Bay Guardian Alex Prodan Michael Cronback Wade Crowfoot, Mayor�s Office	SFMTA Julie Kirschbaum Peter Straus Judson True Consultant Team Russ Chisholm, TMD Joe Forgiarini,TMD Laura M. Gray, CirclePoint

PARTICIPANTS (Thursday, February 28)

CAC Members/Alternates	PUBLIC & OTHER	PROJECT TEAM
Joan Downey, SFMTA CAC Gary Noguera, CSFN Andrew Sullivan, Rescue Muni Bruce Wolfe, Coalition for Transit Justice	Eric P. Scott	SFMTA Julie Kirschbaum Peter Straus Consultant Team Laura M. Gray

I. PROJECT UPDATE

On February 26th, Julie Kirschbaum spoke at a media event announcing the TEP�s draft service recommendations, publicly available for review on the project website, www.sftep.com. The Mayor, represented by Wade Crowfoot, offered full support during the meeting. At the both CAC meetings, Julie encouraged the CAC members to think about the best way to explain the proposed changes to the wider public over the next few months and at the neighborhood workshops in the spring. She noted that the 701-4599 hotline number may be discontinued in favor of better utilizing the City�s 311 call center.

II. PRESENTATION ON DRAFT SERVICE RECOMMENDATIONS

Julie presented the draft service recommendations using a combination of slides and printed maps of each neighborhood. Proposed changes were presented using the draft service framework categories shared at previous CAC meetings (i.e., Rapid, Local, Community Connectors, and Specialized Services). The recommendations also assume an additional 200 service hours to increase reliability, hiring of additional operators and supervisors, and systematic evaluations of each route to generate specific and ongoing improvements. New schedulers will be hired this March. Overall, the recommendations anticipate that 80% of riders will experience increased service.

Julie encouraged members to highlight any errors and inconsistencies as they are identified to ensure the most accurate maps shared on the website. A disclaimer will be posted on the website explaining that revisions are in process. Neighborhood maps and discs with all of route changes were available for members. The recommendations shared are preliminary suggestions that will change over the next months before the SFMTA Board reviews them in detail.

III. COMMENTS FROM CAC MEMBERS

CAC members provided a wide array of comments (C.) which are grouped by theme in the section below. In general, the members expressed strong support for the plan and offered constructive advice.

Support

C: I like a lot of what I see and many things are brilliant.

C: I was thrilled to see that the 5 doesn�t zig-zag before going onto Market.

C: I recommend that we implement the changes for the 21, 5, 6, and 71 now. Don�t spread out the changes. Do them all at once.

C: I have asked a lot of questions over the years and many of the changes have been made, for example the 49L.

C: I am impressed by how much there is and how well it has been thought out. It is more than I expected to see.

General Comments

C: Make operators aware of how NextMuni is working.

C: Clarify on the map that buses will start from schools when they let out.

C: Clarify whether or not assumptions include all-door boarding.

C: Clarify how much, if any stop consolidation is built into the plans and the metrics used.

C: We need to change the parking control officers� culture to move cars out of the way for transit.

C: Clarify how the Central Subway will affect the runs.

C: Modify stop signs to have green lights for buses.

C: Consider the Better Streets Plan in your recommendations

C: Deal with the things that could be triggers for environmental issues early on.

C: Take a proactive approach on particular lines, promoting people to use transit (increase revenue) rather than cutting lines.

C: Follow through with the double park camera scheme.

Capital/Funding

C: Incorporate the capital cost as part of the proposals/plan.

C: Call out the lines that require capital investment. Spell out for the public exactly what they would get at each funding level.

C: Consider shifting other projects so as not to displace the capital improvements needed for the TEP.

Website

C: Please post night service proposals the web.

C: Post a map showing where people will no longer have service within ¼ mile on the website.

Specific Lines ( in numerical order)

C: If you discontinue the 3, you leave a section of Jackson Street without service.

C: Changes to the 2, 3, and the 4 will produce an extreme public outcry.

C: Get rid of the kink on the 5.

C: Work with DPT to change their priorities so they focus on Muni.

C: If you discontinue to 7, it doesn�t appear like you have more trolley hours.

C: On the 14, 14L, 47, 49L. Please clarify which are diesel coaches and which are trolleys.

C: Pick up the line to Hunter�s Point if you cut the 19.

C: The 19 circulator is a horrible idea because it�s confusing and it won�t work without a terminal end.

C: For the 22, move the wires onto Webster. Consolidate the Laguna and Fillmore stations.

C: 24^th street is too congested. It can�t take it any more service.

C: I don�t see that the 28 will be faster than Van Ness and the M.

C: The Golden Gate route is popular with tourists and is less expensive than Golden Gate Transit. Consider working with Golden Gate Transit so they accept Fast Passes.

C: The 28 also provides an important connection between the bridge and Daly City BART. Back tracking from Richardson would depress riders.

C: Consider taking part of the 30, turning right at Harrison and left on 5^th because there are overhead wires.

C: You�re downgrading the buses near the proposed Home Depot will open. At Home Depot in Manhattan you can check out a vehicle to take home your purchases.

C: The 33 changes will affect people on 18^th street.

C: Extend the 38 to Cabrillo.

C: Extend the 39 to Pier 39 for the tourists.

C: The 36 needs to connect with Forest Hill Station. Most of the people in the neighborhood work on the West side of the city.

C: Redesign the 44 and 48 at the Portola intersection so it is less hazardous for pedestrians.

C: If you reroute the 47, people going to Costco will need to transfer.

C: Consider the possibility of Saturday service for the 79 since it�s popular with seniors and tourists.

Light-rail

C: Add 3 cars on the N-Judah.

C: Extend the N line to 6^th and Barry.

Market

C: You need traffic control officers on Market at some intersections. How about no private cars between 4 and 6pm on Market?

Presidio

C: Maybe Don Fisher would pay for the Presidio extension.

Mission

C: The population in the East Mission will grow with the development going on.

Outreach

C: Show the configurations for the new and old lines, side by side.

C: Explain to the public that you�re adding and taking away routes.

Speed/Reliability

C: Calculate total trip times to see how many people would have shorter trips.

C: Calculate the trip length between the Marina to City College.

C People don�t understand that for a typical route with 40 stops, an extra 20 seconds at each stop adds up over the whole line.

C: State how many more bus lanes and bulbs will be part of this plan.

Suggested Improvements for the maps and slides

C: Slides 21 and 22 show the F line as a Local network and a Rapid. Which is it?

C: Slide 33, you show the F line as a 5-minute headway, but in the spreadsheet it�s 6 minutes.

C: Slide 36, the F line is missing.

C: 20th Street is missing. You still have a coverage gap between 16th and 24th.

C: On the M-Oceanview and the J-church the existing headway is 9 and the enhanced will be 10. Check to make sure that is not a typo.

C: You need to allow for the operator layover at each end of the routes in your graphics.

V. TIMELINE/ NEXT STEPS

The final round of citywide public meetings is planned for April. Public input will be documented and used to inform the final set of recommendations presented to the SFMTA Board this summer. Implementation may begin in July of 2009 pending the completion of environmental assessments, but Muni will try to work on low cost changes that can occur sooner.

VI. PUBLIC COMMENT

The following includes the public comments from both CAC meetings.

C: Clarify whether or not new, longer routes will have a high level of reliability.

C: Consider the whether or not the combined headway in the subway exceeds the capacity of the subway to handle it.

C: Consider the whether or not we have the fleet to handle an expansion of no-emissions routes.

C: The F-line is in the top ten of all lines as far as ridership goes.