The following is a summary
of the fourteenth meeting of the SFTEP Citizen Advisory Committee (
PARTICIPANTS
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PUBLIC & OTHER |
PROJECT |
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Joan Downey, SFMTA CAC Steve Ferrario, SFMTA Brain
Larkin, SFCTA Jim
Lazarus, SF Chamber of Commerce Daniel
Murphy, SFMTA Gary Noguera, CSFN Bob Planthold, David Pilpel, Sierra Club Tom Radulovich,
Livable City Norman
Rolfe, SF Tomorrow Dave Snyder, SPUR Heather World, Parents for Public Schools |
Geeta Bhaduria
Eric
P. Scott
Better Streets Team Adam Varat, SF Planning Department Cristina Olea, SFMTA |
SFMTA Julie Kirschbaum Peter
Straus Controllers
Office Liz
Garcia Consultant
Team Russ Chisholm,TMD Joe Forgiarini, TMD Julie Ortiz, CirclePoint |
I.� PROJECT
UPDATE
Status of Key Activities
The project team is planning
a series of community meetings in October to share key findings and solicit
structured feedback from the public to help shape draft recommendations (see
http://www.sftep.com/ for details). �The
format of the workshops includes a half hour open house followed by a half-hour
presentation of key findings and broad recommendations, then a brief group� Q&A, followed by small group break out
exercise and report back.� We are hoping
to get input at service level, not just feedback on specific routes. CAC
members are encouraged to invite community members through email and personal
phone calls.�
Outreach efforts to notice
workshops include:
�
Coordination
with Mayor�s Office Neighborhood Services, Board of Supervisors and SFPD
�
Ads in multiple
newspapers, including in Spanish and Chinese; flyers on vehicles, direct mail
notice, announcements on SFGTV and City�s home page
�
Flyering at the busiest
stops
�
CAC member
outreach to their organizations
The following comments were
made by
C:
We should announce workshops through 311 if possible.
C:
Post on blogs (e.g., www.suspects.com).
C:
Pursue Public Service Announcements on radio stations like KCBS.
C:
Get notices to schools. (Parents for Public Schools has
put notice on its list serve.)
The project team will be
ready to share the draft Service Development Framework at the November meeting.
The Service Analysis findings to date show that our transit system is
productive and there is tremendous potential to increase demand with faster
service, especially along key corridors (e.g.,
C:
Changing stops creates issues when residents lose parking, or curb ramps added.� Let�s try to address all these issues with
C:
We need to step back and look at big picture implications of accessibility that
will involve capital improvements. Besides stop spacing, consider low floor,
high floor, stops where passengers step into traffic. If the TEP isn�t going to
address issues such as low floors on light rail vehicles, we can at least make the
recommendation.
C:
Even though the TEP won�t be the 20-year vision for MUNI, hopefully it will be
robust enough to help move us in the direction of addressing the bigger issues.
II. SERVICE EVALUATION PRESENTATION
Russ Chisholm (TMD) presented
the last portion of the service evaluation, continued from the September
Comments from meeting
participants:
C:
Don�t use these metrics as a substitute for reliability. Use these once
reliability is fixed.� More frequent
service on an unreliable line could lead to more bunching.�
C:
�Please consider how an adult fast pass
factors into all this.
C:
Consider the whole service level as well as individual lines; look for specific
poor performing routes. �
III. BETTER STREETS PLAN BRIEFING�
Adam Varat
with the City�s Planning Department and Cristina Olea
of the SFMTA presented an overview of the Better Streets Plan.
The Better Streets Plan (BSP)
will create a unified set of standards, guidelines, and implementation
strategies to govern how the City designs, builds, and maintains its pedestrian
environment.� The BSP process brings
together staff of multiple City agencies to comprehensively plan for streets
which seeks to balance the needs of all street users, with a particular focus
on the pedestrian environment and how streets can be used as public space. Two
of three rounds of outreach have been completed with more than 40 community meetings,
street level events, surveys.� A plan
will be developed in spring of 2008. Top three concerns expressed by community
members include the need for more greening, more pedestrian safety and traffic
calming.�
Comments from meeting
participants and responses where provided (R):
C:
I�m concerned that adding street furnishings will attract homeless and
undesirable behavior. �R: The goal is to
increase pedestrian activity and create an urban policy, not necessarily to
address homelessness.
C:
Don�t take away benches. Address dog feces on the streets.
C:
Will you be rerouting buses so they don�t go down crowded corridors where
pedestrian activity on the sidewalk spills over to streets?
C:
Are you looking at volume of projected pedestrian use and volume of transit use
on each street to make sure they work in sync?��
R: We would never take a bus off a street with lots of pedestrian
activity because this is exactly the kind of connection we want to make.� The idea is to improve the pedestrian
experience in our city and to prevent pedestrian activity from impeding transit
movement on the street.
C:
Will the BSP be so complex that it will go through a full EIR similar to the
bike plan? R: This is a policy document. It doesn�t focus on specific streets
or changes.�����
C:
If we operate out of fear of doing a big CEQA analysis, and make the BSP so
general it doesn�t apply to any specific location, I worry it means it won�t
result in any change. �
C:
As a plan will this require approval of various agencies? R: The overall plan
won�t require approval but approvals to change various codes must go through different
agencies, maybe eventually the Board of Supervisors.
C:
Include standards for small, medium, and large bus stops with appropriate
amenities.�
C:
With high volume transfer areas, please look at the kinds of street amenities that
should exist.
C:
Must deal with traffic speed before making inroads with pedestrian safety. �Also address peak period tow away zones.
C:
Make these real, specific standards. If they are only guidelines, they will be
ignored.�
C:
�You should coordinate with SFMTA�s plan through Clear Channel to add bike sharing/rentals
throughout city.� There may not be enough
room on the sidewalks to accommodate both.�
Perhaps some of this should be put in parking spaces.
C:
Address truck loading, which causes delays to transit.
IV. PUBLIC COMMENT
Geeta Bhaduria
expressed the following concerns about Muni service and asked how they would be
addressed:
�
Cancellation of
service along key routes without notice;
�
Inefficient NextMuni system that does not provide reliable information
and doesn�t report canceled service; and
�
Cancellation of
key transit service during major street fairs and events and the need for a
better plan to accommodate such events and maintain service.
Julie encouraged Geeta to
continue to participate and to comment. �The