Transportation

Muni says it will improve practice that forces riders off trains early

Jerold Chinn, SF Public Press — Dec 13 2010 - 12:20pm

In the past several months, Muni riders have been frustrated by Muni light-rail vehicles turning around mid-route without informing them of the switch until the very last minute.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which operates Muni, addressed those concerns in a new report and plans to change some of its policies when turning trains around including operator announcements and displaying the correct final stop on the train display.

Treasure Island building plans draw fire

Victoria Schlesinger, Way Out West — Nov 29 2010 - 4:09pm

Foes say development would choke bridge traffic and worsen air

Proposed redevelopment on Treasure Island would increase traffic jams on the Bay Bridge, lengthening commute times and exacerbating Bay Area air pollution, critics say. Residents, environmental organizations and local agencies voiced those concerns this fall in almost 700 written comments on proposed new residential and commercial development that planners have said would make the island a world-class green neighborhood. Comments about the project’s draft environmental impact report submitted by the September deadline expressed deep misgivings with the plan by the city and the developer to limit driving on and off the island.

Muni: In elusive quest for 85% on-time performance, computers are displacing eyes on the street

Jerold Chinn, SF Public Press — Nov 18 2010 - 12:11pm

Transit agency says tech will help it turn corner, but money remains tight

Multimillion-dollar vehicle-monitoring technology installed at Muni headquarters is at the heart of a new initiative aimed at solving the transit system’s never-ending performance problems.

By investing $13.6 million in the NextMuni satellite tracking system and a new 24-hour vehicle monitoring center, San Francisco transit officials promise major improvements in keeping the city’s more than 1,000 buses and trains running on schedule. Already this year, Muni Metro trains in the Market Street tunnel are speeding up, they said.

But Muni managers are still struggling with the question of how to get the most out of this new technology to increase performance at a time when budget pressures make it increasingly difficult to do that.

Muni planners say speed to come from untangling messy streetscape

Angela Hart, SF Public Press — Nov 18 2010 - 11:55am

Transit planner calls the city's streets and tunnels 'a nightmare'

San Francisco transit planners say a recipe of small fixes could amount to big changes in the nation’s fifth-largest urban transit system. But without new sources of money, many of these ideas, some of which would change the way the city’s streets are configured, will remain on the drawing board.

The system is chronically slow and crowded in part because its diverse fleet of bus and rail lines operates on a rollercoaster terrain in a fully built-out urban grid. Street fairs and demonstrations, ball games and construction routinely clog major arteries, making schedules seem academic.

The Municipal Transportation Agency launched its Transit Effectiveness Project in 2006, to reconfigure the city’s streets and tunnels — where physical constraints notoriously slow basic public transit to what one Muni planner called “a nightmare.”

Finding the slow buses

Eric Fischer, SF Public Press — Nov 18 2010 - 11:53am

This map shows which San Francisco transit routes have the highest ridership and which adhere most closely to their schedules. Color indicates on-time performance; thickness of the lines indicates ridership.

The 1-California and 30-Stockton, traversing San Francisco’s northern flank, are high-ridership lines (green), with 80 percent or better schedule adherence.

The J-Church, K-Ingleside, T-Third, L-Taraval, and N-Judah Muni Metro lines, and the 14-Mission and 38-Geary bus lines, also have high reliability, with 70 percent or better schedule adherence (yellow).

Reporters’ Notebook: En route: 28-19th Avenue often off schedule

Monica Jensen, Jerold Chinn and Sarah Fidelibus, SF Public Press — Nov 18 2010 - 11:50am

Reporter Jerold Chinn, Multimedia Editor Monica Jensen and Social Media Editor Sarah Fidelibus rode one of the Muni bus lines that has the most trouble keeping on schedule — the 28-19th Avenue.

They documented the problems the bus faced while traveling on a recent Wednesday afternoon along the route from Fort Mason to Daly City. The bus travels for much of its route along 19th Avenue, or Highway 1, which leads to the Golden Gate Bridge to the north and Interstate 280 to the south.

Drivers take the heat for discontent of Muni riders

Sarah Fidelibus, SF Public Press — Nov 18 2010 - 11:48am

Operators face long hours, crowded streets and a sometimes hostile ridership

Proposition G, the initiative that voters overwhelmingly approved to change pay and work rules for Muni operators, focused attention on the system’s drivers, painting them as a reason that San Francisco’s Muni transit system is notoriously slow and unreliable.
And the drivers did little to help their cause on the public relations front — rejecting cuts that other city workers agreed to, boycotting the annual Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest and threatening to strike if the measure passed.
But on the job, drivers work in a high-stress environment, with long hours and, for many drivers, few breaks.

SFMTA faces parking citation shortfall; Muni Metro delays addressed

Jerold Chinn, SF Public Press — Nov 8 2010 - 11:39am

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is facing a $5.8 million deficit for the first budget quarter of 2011. The move of parking control officers to patrol special events and construction projects from regular duties is the main cause of loss in revenue for the agency. Also, officials addressed recent Muni Metro delays in the past two months, causing frustration with Muni riders.

Muni update: Debating Prop. G, looking beyond driver pay to fix transit

Monica Jensen, SF Public Press — Oct 19 2010 - 1:21pm

As the Nov. 2 election draws near, Proposition G has come to the forefront as one of the city's most hotly debated measures.

The measure would force the city's transportation operators' union into collective bargaining and backers say it would "Fix Muni." But opponents say that Muni’s problems don't start and end with drivers.

Muni update: Plan in the works to restore Muni service

Jerold Chinn, SF Public Press — Oct 11 2010 - 2:05pm

A subcommittee of The Muni Restoration Task Force met for the second time on Oct. 8 to discuss how to fully restore the service cuts made in the May and how to increase performance.

John Haley, director of transit operations and management, presented a nine page draft of several proposals to increase reliability and travel time for commuters. The task force looked at solutions that the agency would be able to implement within the next year.

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