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City and County of San Francisco FINAL MINUTES
Tuesday, August 14, 2007, at 5:30 p.m. 1. Call to Order / Roll Call MTA CAC Members Present at Roll Call: Daniel Murphy (Chair), Joan Downey (departed at 7:10 p.m.), Emily Drennen, Griffith Humphrey, Bruce Oka (departed at 6:00 p.m.), Cesar Perez, Greg Riessen, Norman Rolfe, and Jamison Wieser. MTA CAC Members Present, but absent at Roll Call: Daniel Weaver arrived at 5:36 p.m. MTA CAC Absent: Steve Ferrario (Vice Chair), Mary Burns, Art Cimento, and Dorris Vincent MTA Staff (San Francisco Municipal Railway [MUNI] and Department of Parking and Traffic [DPT]) Present: Judson True (MTA CAC Liaison), Julie Kirschbaum (Planning), and Debra Reed (MTA CAC Secretary). Community Representatives Present: Darrel Carbonaro 2. Adopt Minutes of July 12, 2007: Minutes for July were adopted. 3. Public Comment – Concerning any issue within the jurisdiction of the Council and not noted on the agenda: None 4. Report of the Chair: Daniel Murphy (MTA CAC Chair) A memorial service for Cleopatra Vaughns, former Chair of the MTA Board of Directors, was held at the City Club in San Francisco. 5. Staff Report: Judson True Mr. True reviewed staff report for August. Staff-Initiated Items6. TEP (Transit Effectiveness Project) (Discussion/Action) Julie Kirschbaum Ms. Kirschbaum distributed project facts sheets and reviewed a PowerPoint presentation that summarized the TEP findings to date. The TEP, a partnership between the SFMTA and the City Controller’s Office, is the first comprehensive study of the Muni system in twenty-five years. It is studying the needs of San Francisco’s ridership as well as performance trends like Muni’s on-time performance. The TEP is evaluating how to better serve existing riders, attract new riders to the system and improve cost efficiency. Valuable information was collected from the public through random telephone surveys and web surveys, as well as from employees through operator interviews, surveys, and ride-alongs. Reliability and travel time have emerged as the number one and two priorities for San Francisco riders. Research has also determined that there are far fewer schedules, street supervisors, and dispatchers than what is needed to run a reliable transit system. Another key issue related to the reliability problem is the high number of operator vacancies. Recent reliability improvements were noted, such as less frequent light rail breakdowns and decreased operator absenteeism. Comments and Questions from the CAC Dan Weaver: Has the MTA looked at improvements in service in high commute areas other than the downtown area, such as U.C.S.F.? Response: The market research included universities and hospitals. Greg Riessen: Who instigated the TEP? Response: The SFMTA was initiated by the SFMTA Planning Group and has also received significant support from the Executive Director and management team. It receives Proposition C funds from the Controller’s Office as part of their work to support City agencies and conduct performance evaluations. Mr. Weaver added that the initiative was conceived with SPUR to improve Muni service and efficiency. Council-Initiated Items7. Recommendation from a CAC Committee (Discussion/Action) Engineering, Maintenance, and Safety Committee (EMSC) Wayfinding 1 Motion 070711.01 WHEREAS wayfinding (including signage, messages, layout, design and arrangement of stations and stops) is increasingly important for public transit systems, and WHEREAS the MTA does not have professional wayfinding expertise on its staff THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the MTA CAC recommends that the MTA add experienced professional wayfinding expertise to its organization. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the MTA CAC recommends that a portion of the revenues received from the new wayside advertising contract be used to create and fund two full-time wayfinding positions within the Planning Department of the MTA. Upon filling these two positions, all future Muni wayfinding functions will be removed from the Marketing Department. CAC passed unanimously (Ayes – Murphy, Downey, Drennen, Humphrey, Oka, Rolfe, Perez, Riessen, Rolfe, Weaver, and Wieser) 8. Recommendation from a CAC Committee (Discussion/Action) Engineering, Maintenance, and Safety Committee (EMSC) Wayfinding 2 Motion 070711.02: The MTA CAC recommends that the subway station name signs, located on the station platforms and the trackside walls, be changed. The new signs shall have all Title case plain block lettering, of a size and font easily read from the train, within the station and by persons who have less than perfect vision. CAC passed unanimously (Ayes – Murphy, Downey, Drennen, Humphrey, Oka, Rolfe, Perez, Riessen, Rolfe, Weaver, and Wieser) 9. Recommendation from a CAC Committee (Discussion/Action) Engineering, Maintenance, and Safety Committee (EMSC) Platform/Boarding Island Maintenance Motion 070711.03: WHEREAS some Muni platforms/boarding islands outside of the tunnel, such as along The Embarcadero, King Street and Third Street, are expertly maintained on a regular schedule, and WHEREAS all other Muni platforms/boarding islands are never maintained on a scheduled basis; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the MTA CAC recommends that the MTA establish a policy that all platforms/boarding islands be cleaned and maintained on a regular basis; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the MTA establish and make public its maintenance standards and schedule on its website. CAC passed unanimously (Ayes – Murphy, Downey, Drennen, Humphrey, Oka, Rolfe, Perez, Riessen, Rolfe, Weaver, and Wieser) 10. Recommendation from a CAC Committee (Discussion/Action) Engineering, Maintenance, and Safety Committee (EMSC) Facility Landscaping Maintenance Motion 070711.04: WHEREAS some MTA property, such as the Forest Hill Station grounds and the Flynn Maintenance Facility landscaping, is generally well maintained and attractive, while other MTA property, such as the Phelan Loop, the Green Maintenance Facility and the Geneva Yard, is not maintained to any acceptable standard, THEREFORE, the MTA CAC recommends that the MTA properly maintain the buildings, grounds and landscaping of all of its facilities immediately. BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT additional gardeners be hired or outside help be employed to end the long-standing maintenance backlog. CAC passed unanimously (Ayes – Murphy, Downey, Drennen, Humphrey, Oka, Rolfe, Perez, Riessen, Rolfe, Weaver, and Wieser) 11. Recommendation from a CAC Committee (Discussion/Action) Engineering, Maintenance, and Safety Committee (EMSC) Station Lighting Motion 070711.05: WHEREAS Muni Metro underground stations seem to be poorly lit due to dirty light fixtures, walls and/or ceilings or to inadequate lighting, WHEREAS Muni will be undertaking cleaning and re-lighting of its underground stations without lighting standards, and WHEREAS adequate station lighting is essential to a successful wayfinding program; THEREFORE BE IT RESOLVED THAT the MTA CAC recommends that the MTA establish a standard or standards for lighting its stations. The minimum lighting standard should be a standard for the edge of the boarding platform where passengers move between the train and the boarding platform. The BART lighting quantity standard for this is 30 foot-candles, based on Illuminating Engineering Society criteria. (BART Facilities Standards-Electrical includes additional quantitative lighting standards as well as lighting quality standards for its stations.) BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED THAT the MTA CAC further recommends that the MTA review the lighting levels at all boarding platform areas and adjust the light level to a level no less than appropriately established lighting standards. CAC passed unanimously (Ayes – Murphy, Downey, Drennen, Humphrey, Oka, Rolfe, Perez, Riessen, Rolfe, Weaver, and Wieser) 12. Recommendation from a CAC Committee (Discussion/Action) Engineering, Maintenance, and Safety Committee (EMSC) Motion 070808.01: The MTA CAC recommends that the MTA increase the number of emergency maintenance crews to provide 3 fully staffed crews available on-call at all times. CAC passed unanimously (Ayes – Murphy, Downey, Drennen, Humphrey, Oka, Rolfe, Perez, Riessen, Rolfe, Weaver, and Wieser) 13. Recommendation from a CAC Committee (Discussion/Action) Engineering, Maintenance, and Safety Committee (EMSC) Motion 070808.02: The MTA CAC recommends that MTA’s first priority in design and deployment of the next generation of bus shelters should be for the bus and streetcar islands without NextMuni services to include NextMuni monitors by using solar power. CAC passed unanimously (Ayes – Murphy, Downey, Drennen, Humphrey, Rolfe, Perez, Riessen, Rolfe, Weaver, and Wieser) (Bruce Oka was not available for the vote) 14. Committee Reports: 15. Council Members’ Questions and Comments: Emily Drennen asked why trains approached tunnel stations one train at a time to load and unload passengers at a single boarding point while following trains waited their turn from tunnels. She wanted to see multiple trains at underground platforms opening their doors anywhere along the stop for passenger boarding and off boarding. Dan Weaver responded that trains are run within the safety measures built into the ATCS computer program for safe spacing between trains. Judson True pointed out that government guidelines and safety regulations require adequate distances behind trains. Dan Murphy added that ATCS could not stop trains at such close distances from each other. Greg Riessen commented on designated stop points versus the chaotic difficulties for people having to run throughout the station to hunt and board preferred trains. 16. Agenda Planning for the Next CAC Meeting: Thursday, September 6, 2007, 5:30 p.m., 1 South Van Ness Avenue, Conference Room 3074 17. Adjournment: The CAC adjourned at 8:45 p.m. in memory of Ms. Cleopatra Vaughns. Respectfully submitted by: |
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