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November 2002

San Francisco, 94119-0966 CA

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Expansion Ideas RESCUE MUNI

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RESCUE MUNI No. 18, November 2002 .rescuemuni.org Transfer

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Inside: Runoff From the Chair 2 Muni's Service Expansion Plans 3 Endorsement MTA CAC Update 5 For Supervisor, District 4:

Place Stamp Here Transbay Terminal & Caltrain Ext. 7 Introducing City CarShare 9 Fiona Ma Car #162, Where Are You? 11 (No endorsement for District 8) Volunteer Opportunities 13 VOTE December 10!t Page 16 RESCUE MUNI Calendar 14 Page 1 From the Chair Membership Form An update on Rescue Muni's doings from Steering Committee Chair Andrew Sullivan. hanks to the hard work of our vol and will need your help - watch for We need YOU to help us Rescue Muni. Tunteers, Rescue Muni has had a survey forms and instructions in the Join us by mailing this form to P.O. Box 190966, San Francisco, CA 94119-0966. very successful 2002. Here's just a bit next Transfer. You can also join online at www.rescuemuni.org. of what we've been up to, working for Oversight: Three members of Name: better public transit in San Francisco Muni's Steering Committee (Chair Membership category: and the region. With your help we Daniel Murphy, Joan Downey, and Address: __ $5 Student / Limited Income can have even more success in 2003! David Pilpel) and three other active __ $15 Basic Muni Reliability: Rescue Muni members of Rescue Muni (Nia __ $40 Sustaining completed its sixth annual Riders' Sur- Crowder, Norm Rolfe and To m Phone: __ $100 Contributing vey in March, showing that Muni's reli- Wetzel) serve on this committee cre- Fax: __ Other: $______ability had improved significantly since ated by Proposition E (1999) to pro- Email: its worst point in 1998. Delays were vide active citizen oversight of the Rescue Muni may from time to time cut in half, from 28% of riders delayed Municipal Transportation Agency, which Muni lines you ride: publish membership lists with names in 1998 to 14% in 2002. This year, 67 now includes the Department of Park- only. May we publish your name only volunteers collected 2,464 data points ing and Traffic. The CAC has studied # riders in your household: as a member? Y N and tracked all major lines in the sys- carefully Muni's budget, service plans, tem. Thanks to Survey Coordinator marketing, alternative fuels pilot pro- I would like to volunteer! Y N Signature: Collin Maslov and all the volunteers! gram, and other issues affecting San ______We'll conduct another survey next year Continued on page 10 Steering Committee SPUR, 312 Sutter, 5th floor (chair: About the cartoon: Seattle's voters just passed a resolution to plan, build, and fund Chair: Andrew Sullivan Howard Strassner, 415-661-8786, a monorail connecting northern and southern neighborhoods to downtown. Vice-Chair: Daniel Murphy [email protected]) It's a great example of transit advocates making real change happen! See Charlotte Breckenridge, Eric Carlson, Service Expansion discusses ways www.elevated.org for Seattle's plans to expand elevated transit, thanks to the hard Joan Downey, Dan Krause, Richard Muni can add service. Meets last Tues- work of the voters! Mlynarik, David Pilpel, Howard day of each month at SPUR, 6:30 PM; Strassner, David Vasquez see calendar at left or contact the act- Transfer Executive Committee ing chair. (chair: Eric Carlson, 415-863- Chair: Andrew Sullivan (acting) 5578, ericrescue@ yahoo.com) the newsletter of RESCUE MUNI at San Francisco, Calif. Vice-Chair: Richard Mlynarik November 2002 - No. 18 POSTMASTER: Send all address Membership Sec'y: Daniel Murphy Other Rescue Muni Initiatives Editor: Eric Carlson changes to Transfer, RESCUE MUNI, P.O. Recording Sec'y: Howard Strassner Membership (coordinator: Daniel Designers: David Vasquez, Andrew Box 190966, San Francisco, CA Corresponding Sec'y: Eric Carlson Murphy, 665-4074, [email protected]) Sullivan 94119-0966. Treasurer: Joan Downey Surveys (coordinator: Collin Maslov, Contributing writers: Eric Carlson, Joan © 2002 RESCUE MUNI Coordinators: 371-0726, [email protected]) Downey, Allison Drucker, Dan RESCUE MUNI (Riders for an Efficient, Charlotte Breckenridge, David Pilpel, Krause, Rick Laubscher, Gabriel Safe, Consistent, Utilized, and Expedi- Andrew Sullivan, Dan Krause Form a committee! Any member Metcalf tious Muni), founded 1996, is a volun- may form a committee. If it meets at Transfer is published (roughly) quarterly teer-run, not-for-profit transit riders’ Standing Committees least four times per year, the commit- by RESCUE MUNI, P.O. Box 190966, association. Muni Metro: addresses scheduling and tee may request appointment of a rep- San Francisco, CA 94119-0966. Yearly Hotline: 415-273-1558 reliability of Muni's light rail lines. Meets resentative to the Steering Committee, membership dues are $15 ($5 for lim- www.rescuemuni.org second Wed. of every month, 6 p.m., at Rescue Muni's policy-making body. ited income). First-class postage paid [email protected] Page 2 Page 15 RESCUE MUNI Calendar Rescue Muni Responds to Muni's New Coming events, for the transit activist. If you would like to form a committee or add an Service Expansion Proposals event to the calendar, let us know! Updates are on www.rescuemuni.org. Muni has requested comment on a series of service improvements. Steering Committee date event location member Eric Carlson describes the proposed changes, and our recommendations. DECEMBER 2002 n February 2001, Bayview Advocates agrees and asks Muni to lay track Note: RM Metro Committee Cancelled for December I(aka Earthjustice) filed suit against in the raised Right-of-way (ROW) 12/3, 4 PM Municipal Transportation Agency Board City Hall, Rm. 400 Muni, AC Transit, and the Metropolitan it is planning for future rail service. 12/5, 5:30 PM MTA Citizens' Advisory Council 401 Van Ness, #334 Transportation Commission (MTC). This rail service could connect to 12/9, 6 PM RM Executive & Steering Committees Special location - The suit alleged that the agencies vio- the J and N lines and connect to call for details lated the Clean Air Act, failed to com- Muni’s barns, the Embarcadero rail 12/17, 4 PM Municipal Transportation Agency Board City Hall, Rm. 400 ply with the 1982 Bay Area Air Quality lines, and cross town to the N and 12/20, 5 PM Geary Rail Promotion and Email allison@ Plan, and demanded reinstitution of to Golden Gate Park. Membership Recruitment rescuemuni.org transit funding in the region. As part of • 19th Avenue and Park Presidio TBA DecemberRM Service Expansion Committee SPUR the Clean Air Act, the MTC commit- from Stonestown to Lake. Rescue JANUARY 2003 ted to working with local transit pro- Muni agrees and suggests a center 1/2, 5:30 PM MTA Citizens' Advisory Council 401 Van Ness, #334 viders to reduce ozone pollution by lane with boarding islands. 1/7, 4 PM Municipal Transportation Agency Board City Hall, Rm. 400 increasing public transportation rider- • Folsom from The Embarcadero to 1/13, 6 PM RM Executive & Steering Committees SPUR ship and getting commuters out of their 16" Street 1/15, 6 PM RM Metro Committee SPUR cars by 1987. That didn’t happen – in • Geary from Pacific Ocean to Van 1/21, 4 PM Municipal Transportation Agency Board City Hall, Rm. 400 fact Muni’s ridership dropped 19.5%. Ness. Rescue Muni supports light 1/28, 6:30PM RM Service Expansion Committee SPUR Muni signed a settlement agreement rail transit (LRT) on Geary. Muni TBA January RM General Membership Meeting TBA that identified projects for further de- proposes a BRT system and we FEBRUARY 2003 velopment. We are delighted that many support it as a first step to LRT. 2/4, 4 PM Municipal Transportation Agency Board City Hall, Rm. 400 of the initiatives come from Rescue We support installation of rails 2/6, 5:30 PM MTA Citizens' Advisory Council 401 Van Ness, #334 Muni’s work on service expansion. In during the construction of BRT so 2/10, 6 PM RM Executive & Steering Committees SPUR fact, may of these ideas were initially that conversion can be easily done 2/12, 6 PM RM Metro Committee SPUR proposed by Rescue Muni volunteers! later. We offered detailed sugges- 2/18, 4 PM Municipal Transportation Agency Board City Hall, Rm. 400 Here’s a summary of the projects tions on getting through, under or 2/25, 6:30PM RM Service Expansion Committee SPUR Muni recommends and Rescue Muni’s over cross traffic at Fillmore, MARCH 2003 - Muni Riders' Survey - Watch for it! comments: Divisadero and Masonic. Six lines are slated for bus rapid • Potrero. Rescue Muni calls for an transit (BRT). Buses make limited exclusive ROW on Bayshore now Wash that Muni rage right outta your hair! It’s stops, move fast, often have their own before intensive development cheaper than therapy. Need that special holiday gift? lane, and often are able to ‘hold’ a green makes it more difficult; we agree Give the gift of Puni! light to get through it before it turns. and advocate for exclusive ROW Because buses cycle through their on Potrero Avenue Paperback, full color cover, includes 82 classic Puni routes faster, they can carry more pas- • Van Ness Avenue between Market PUNI strips, character bios, and Puni bus lines. Also includes sengers with the same number of ve- and Lombard. Rescue Muni sup- the unreleased APOCALYPSE MUNI saga, a parody of hicles and operator hours. Passengers ports this project and also recom- Francis Ford Coppola’s Apocalypse Now. get across town much faster and are mends extending Bus Rapid Tran- the book Send $12 to: (U.S. check or money order only) more likely to ride transit than drive. sit on Lombard to Doyle Drive. Dan Siegler, P.O. Box 193-556, SF, CA 94119 • 16th Street, including electrifica- Electrification of three lines would For this week's Puni, see: tion on 16th Street. Rescue Muni use trolley coaches. They are powered Page 14 http://www.sfweekly.com/comics/puni/index.html Page 3 electrically from fixed overhead wires, suggestions of RM’s Metro Com- produce zero emissions, and are par- mittee (see N-line proposals on Volunteer for Rescue Muni! ticularly effective on steep grades. www.rescuemuni.org). Our new Volunteer Coordinator, Allison Drucker, has a list of ways YOU can help the Conversion to trolley coach operation • Geary from Van Ness to Transbay organization grow, and how YOU can help promote better public transit in SF. is desirable in more locations system Terminal. Stockton/Market to the wide because they are quiet and clean Presidio through North Beach and Rescue Muni needs your help! Here are some ways you can help with our efforts vehicles. Rescue Muni supports these the Marina to make our transit system better. projects. • 19-PoIk route to Hunters Point • 19-Polk • Fillmore. Rescue Muni agrees and What You Can Do Where? When? • 47-Van Ness asks Muni to lay track in the raised • 9-San Bruno ROW it is planning for future rail Petition for a new light rail line Friday, December 20, along the 38- Thirteen lines will receive Transit service. This service could connect (surface and subway) along Geary, re- Geary line during evening rush hour. Preferential Streets (TPS) improve- to the J and N lines and connect placing the 38 line. Also recruit new Please call Allison Drucker at 916- ments. This could encompass signal pre- to Muni’s barns, the Embarcadero riders to join Rescue Muni from this 448-1687, ext. 7 or email empts, bus bulbs, boarding islands, bus rail lines, and cross town to the N heavily-traveled line. [email protected] to sign up. exclusive lanes or bus and HOV (high and to Golden Gate Park. Or meet us at Montgomery Station occupancy vehicle, 2 or 3 occupants at • Geneva and Ocean from Junipero (Muni exit, west side) at 5 pm on De- minimum) lanes. Serra to Bayshore/Sunnydale, in- cember 13 for info session and to pick • J-Church from Duboce Portal to cluding exclusive ROW for K up materials. 30'” Street • Market Street from Castro to The Attend meetings at City Hall and See Rescue Muni Calendar (next • K-lngleside from St. Francis Circle Embarcadero. Rescue Muni sup- write updates about Muni, MTA Board, page) and our web site, rescuemuni.org; to Green Terminal. Rescue Muni ports and calls on Muni to re- Board of Supervisors, and other orga- also watch sfmuni.com, sfgov.org, and calls on Muni to lay rail on Geneva implement the timed lights system nizations' goings-on that affect transit cable 26 for notices about public hear- for future use. in service before the 1989 earth- riders. ings and committee meetings. Email • L-Taraval from West Portal to quake. [email protected] to let us know Wawona/46th” Avenue • San Bruno you'll be attending! • M-Ocean View from St. Francis • Mission Submit articles to Transfer, this Email [email protected] or call 273- Circle to Green Terminal. Rescue Also, a terminal loop is proposed newsletter. The newsletter is sched- 1558 with your ideas. Muni supports Muni’s proposal and for the historic E-line on The uled to publish quarterly but needs calls for full crossing gates at 19th Embarcadero. Rescue Muni has sup- your content to publish on time! and Eucalyptus as well as standing ported the E line for many years. Metro Committee recommenda- The battle for Muni, the SFCTA, Res- Organize a General Meeting on Email [email protected] or call tions (see M-line proposals on cue Muni and others will be to see that transit issues of interest to you. 273-1558 with your suggestion, then www.rescuemuni.org). the MTC in Oakland comes up with contact the guest speaker you would • N-Judah from Duboce Portal to La the money to implement this consent like to invite after Steering Committee Playa. Rescue Muni support Muni’s decree and fund these improvements. gives the go-ahead. proposals with the addition of Should this interest you, come to a Participate in our annual Muni Rid- Email [email protected] or call Duboce/ Church signalization, ex- monthly meeting of our Service Expan- ers' Survey to track Muni reliability. 273-1558 to sign up, or just participate clusive ROW on outer Judah, ex- sion Committee. when you get the form with the next clusive ROW at Duboce Park seg- For more information about these projects, Transfer. ment by requiring westbound cars contact Muni and ask for a copy of their to turn north on Steiner eliminat- Amendment to Short Range Transit Plan How else can you get involved? ing cross-traffic, signalization with FY2002- FY2021. ★ pre-empts at all intersections, and If you have other ideas or just want to help out, please email Allison Drucker at implementation of longstanding [email protected] or call 916-448-1687 x7! THANKS for your help! Page 4 Page 13 #162 and Market Street Railway, at Transbay Terminal EIR continued www.streetcar.org. You can also do- Rescue Muni Service Expansion Citizens' Advisory Council Update: nate by sending a check to Market Committee’s Position: We strongly sup- Service Reliability & Quality Street Railway, 870 Market Street, Suite port as much transit-oriented develop- 803, San Francisco CA 94102. Thanks ment as possible. The Full Build-Out CAC and Rescue Muni Steering Committee member Joan Downey explains what very much! supports the entire project much bet- Muni's volunteer advisors are doing to improve service. For information on Market Street Rail- ter then the Reduced scope option. Prop E established the MTA Citizens’ ity (SRQ) Committee is currently way, including opportunities to join and We are strongly encouraging our Advisory Council, an advisory body working on the Rescue Muni propos- volunteer, see www.streetcar.org. ★ membership to be involved in this pro- to the Municipal Transportation Agency. als for improved service to the J,L,M, cess. To find out more about the DEIS/ The CAC provides recommendations and N lines. Muni staff will be present Car Sharing continued DEIR you can log on www.sfgov.org/tjpa/ to the Agency with respect to any mat- at the November meeting to discuss and more people join car-sharing, the documents/drafteir.htm and view the ter within the jurisdiction of the Agency. the proposed changes with the com- total number of cars in the city will DEIS/DEIR online. The Council focuses on issues relating mittee. Other issues the SRQ Com- decrease. Sidewalks can be freed from Written comments are due no later to the delivery of service to riders and mittee has addressed are: parked cars. Housing can be built with- than December 6, 2002 and should to fiscal responsibility. 39 Coit Service: Working with the out parking, making it more affordable. be submitted to: Paul E. Maltzer, Three Rescue Muni board members neighborhood groups, the SRQ pro- We can shift urban land to better uses Environnmental Review Officer, are on the CAC: Dan Murphy is the poses a trial installation of a paddle- than parking lots. San Francisco Planning Depart- Council chair and chair of the Finance stop at Pioneer Park to periodically Car-sharing has an important place ment, 1660 Mission Street, Suite & Administration Committee stop cars from descending so that the in the alternative transportation move- 500, San Francisco, CA 94103. (Management/Labor Relations, Person- 39 Coit could use the contra-lane to ment. As Rescue Muni, Walk SF, and the We urge you to review the docu- nel, Budget, Cost Effectiveness, Con- bypass the line of cars (up to 40) wait- Bike Coalition make progress, the city ment and submit comments support- tract Negotiations, Service Standards, ing to access the 28 parking spaces on will become more transit-rich, walk- ing this critical project! ★ Data Collection & Analysis); David the top. More reliable service in com- able, and bike-able. For the vast major- Chair's Update continued Pilpel is the Council vice chair and chair bination with publicity aimed at the ity of trips, people who live here are What's Next? In 2003, Rescue of the Service Design & Marketing residents of Telegraph Hill and tourists not going to need a car. But for occa- Muni will have a long list of challenges. Committee (Routes, Schedules, Fares, would improve the ridership and use- sional trips—going camping, buying gro- Muni faces some of its most difficult Maps, Marketing Plan, Communications, fulness of this historic line. ceries, or just visiting a friend who lives budget constraints in years due to the Public Relations & Media); Joan Cable Car service: SRQ recom- somewhere without good transit— weak economy. We will push for Downey is chair of the Service Reli- mendations were: people are still going to need a car. On rd choices that preserve service levels and ability & Quality Committee (Ve- • use 3 person to turn car around these occasions, car-sharing will fit the take advantage of transit preferential hicle Cleanliness, Fares, Operations, & watch passengers to give bill. This range of options will increas- streets to speed service. In addition, Service Reliability, Customer Service, gripman more time off ingly define the transit-first lifestyle, the SF County Transportation Author- Customer Communications). • cross train grip & conductor so something uniquely available in cities ity is preparing a new Countywide How it works: The council hears that they can trade off during the like San Francisco. Plan that may lead to new funding pro- Muni staff presentations on a variety day City CarShare is signing up both in- posals for transit; we will work with of topics. Issues brought up by council • increase the pay for physical labor dividual members and business mem- the SFCTA to make sure our agenda members, Muni staff, or the public that & out in elements bers. (Business members use the cars for expansion is included. We'll con- need to be investigated are assigned to • devise a physical entry test to for work , with slightly different costs.) tinue to advocate for Caltrain Expan- a committee. The committee invites eliminate those not fit To join, please sign up at our website, sion and High Speed Rail. And we Muni staff and members of the public • use a fallback crew www.citycarshare.org. ★ will definitely need everyone's help on to meetings to discuss topics in depth PSR process: Muni is in the pro- the 2003 Muni Riders' Survey, and and then a motion is made and sent to cess of overhauling their procedures to on promoting our Geary Rail and the full CAC. If the full CAC passes handle the Passenger Service Request Bus Rapid Transit plans - see page the motion, it is presented to the MTA. (PSR) process. Anyone who has dealt 13 for how you can get involved! ★ The Service Reliability & Qual- with the current system can confirm Page 12 Page 5 that the process discourages anyone rights of the operator and cus- from filing a complaint. Muni is in the tomer must be protected. Neither Help bring Muni #162 home! process of devising a new policy and should be identified by name or Rick Laubscher of the Market Street Railway describes his organization's project to the SRQ has made suggestions from address. restore one of the oldest Muni streetcars still available - and how you can help. the customer’s point of view: • A new PSR process should be ac- • To the extent hearings involving companied by much more careful he Market Street Railway is reach Our volunteers, who are well along on complainant passengers remain and detailed measurement of in- Ting out to the public transit com- the work of ex-Market Street Railway part of the new process, the hear- coming PSRs. New, more narrowly munity to ask your support for the Co. “California Comfort Car” #798 ings should be conducted by tele- categorized numbers should be most important project we’ve under- (1924), are excited about working on phone at a time convenient to the turned into regular reports and taken in our 25-year history (except, #162, which is complete and sound, but passenger. If a complaint lacks distributed widely, perhaps as an of course, for our work to help start obviously will need significant work merit, then that should be the find- attachment to Muni’s charter-man- SF’s F-line and now the E-line). before going into service on the F-line ing of the PSR process; such find- dated service standard reports. We have agreed to fund Muni’s reac- (and later the E-line as well). ings should not come about be- That statistics gathered in the new quisition of Muni car #162. This “B- When restoration is complete, the cause a passenger has been per- PSR process include a detailed ag- type” Muni car is one of only two sur- first operation of car #162 (after the suaded or intimidated into drop- gregate report of how PSRs have vivors of a class of 125 cars (preserved formal dedication ceremony) will be ping his or her complaint. been resolved, including how many car #130 is the other). our charter of it for a sce- • Make reporting easier for the cus- were dismissed as invalid, how The B-types were built nic trip out the J-Church, tomer: Use 673-MUNI with a many were major or minor, and, in 1914 by Jewett Car K-Ingleside, and L-Taraval submenu to report a PSR by how many warnings, suspensions, Co. of Ohio to enable lines to Muni’s last origi- phone. The website link to the PSR terminations, etc. resulted from Muni to expand from its nal piece of trackage (the process needs to be more obvi- PSRs of each type. Geary Street beginnings Taraval spur, Belgian block ous. The PSR and hearing process • The new PSR process should not to serve the 1915 still in place, from 46th to needs to be explained early and be codified in new labor agree- World’s Fair and then 48th Avenue, built in clearly. Include this information ments until such time as a pattern the southwest quadrant 1923). Those who join on the website. of quarter-over-quarter compari- of San Francisco opened the 162 Charter Club • All PSRs should be acknowledged. sons of the newly categorized PSRs up to development by ($500 or more contribu- The initial letter should be a form show steady, significant progress. the Twin Peaks Tunnel. tion) will be invited on letter sent within two business Service Standards: Prop E re- Car #162 served San this first run. days signed by the PSR clerk (not quires that Muni set and measure ser- Francisco faithfully for This is almost certainly the General Manager). It should vice standards. The SRQ committee 44 years, then rested for 44 more years the last streetcar from Muni’s original include a summary of the PSR, ref- has examined those standards and at Orange Empire Railway Museum in heavyweight fleet (1912-1928) that erence number, and request for made suggestions for changes to make Riverside County. we’ll have the chance to bring back to correction. them more readable and so that the The plan is to leave this car in its 1958 San Francisco. Only two others sur- • The final resolution should be sent individual measurements actually mea- retirement configuration: rear platform vive, both K-types built in 1923, one at to the customer within five days sure what was intended. doors and green and cream “wings” liv- Orange Empire (#171) and one at the indicating exactly what action/fol- Participate: The general public is ery. This would give Muni vintage cars Western Railway Museum in Solano low-up is to occur and it should encouraged to attend the MTA CAC representing all three liveries of the County (#178). Both are part of those also include a summary of the PSR general and committee meetings. For “battleship” (sometimes called “Iron museums’ core collections and it is and the reference number. This the time, place, and agenda see http:// Monster”) period: gray and maroon highly unlikely either would be offered should be sent whether or not a www.ci.sf.ca.us/mainpages/deptsall.htm or (car #1), blue and yellow (car #130), for sale. So this is literally a unique PSR hearing is held. call Vincent Dunlap, MTA CAC Secre- and “wings” (#162). opportunity. ★ • In all correspondence, privacy tary at 415-554-6873. At this writing, we have raised about You can make a tax-deductible do- $15,000 of the $70,000 purchase price. nation online, and learn more about car Continued on next page Page 6 Page 11 Chair's Update continued reliability as the top priority for vehicle Francisco and regional transit. CAC acquisition. As we have noted in previ- Comments Needed on Transbay recommendations have led Muni and ous issues of Transfer, both our Steer- Terminal & Caltrain Extension EIR the MTA board to make many decisions ing Committee and the MTA CAC have that make service more reliable for San voted overwhelmingly to oppose any Dan Krause has reviewed the project plan and wants you to as well. Comments are Francisco riders. requirement that Muni buy compressed due on December 6. Service Expansion: Transit riders natural gas (CNG) or other alterna- he Draft Environmental Statement Reconstruction of the Transbay scored a major victory this fall when tive-fueled buses before they can be T& Draft Environmental Impact Re- Terminal Muni chose to settle a lawsuit with a shown to be as reliable and cost-effec- port (DEIS/DEIR) for the extension of The new Transbay Terminal is de- coalition of environmental activists, led tive as conventional diesel buses, and Caltrain to a new Transbay Terminal has signed to accommodate Caltrain, Baby by Earthjustice Legal Defense Fund, that to demand that Muni's studies be com- finally been released for public review. Bullet trains, and CA High Speed Rail. demands that Bay Area transit agencies pleted before any alternate-fueled Back in 1997, a DEIR was completed In addition, the Terminal will serve as a take measures to increase transit rid- buses are acquired. but never released to the public due huge hub for local and regional buses, ership to 1983 levels (approximately Unfortunately, the Board voted on to politics. Now, the DEIS/DEIR has including Muni, AC Transit, Golden Gate 15% over current ridership). As part November 25 for a resolution, spon- been updated to reflect a new concept Transit, Samtrans, Greyhound, etc. of this settlement, Muni published a sored by Supervisor Aaron Peskin, urg- for the Transbay Terminal and has also There will also be substantial commer- draft update to its Short Range Transit ing Muni to buy alternative-fueled buses added intensive transit-oriented devel- cial development on the concourse Plan that includes many of the service quickly and stating that Muni would not opment as a major component to the level of the Terminal to serve patrons. expansion ideas that Rescue Muni has be funded for any further conventional project. The DEIS includes two alternates for advocated for the last year. In particu- diesel buses, despite the fact that 80 The DEIS/DEIR has three main com- the design of the Terminal. lar, many of our ideas for Bus Rapid motorcoaches desperately need to be ponents to it. They are as follows: 1. West Ramp Only (from Bay Bridge) – Transit (BRT) and light rail expansion replaced. While this resolution is open 1. Reconstruction the Transbay Termi- This alternate will require the demoli- are included in this plan. We submit- to diesel-electric hybrid, a technology nal. tion of the existing loop ramps and ted very favorable comments about this that shows promise as being the least 2. Downtown Extension of Caltrain reconstruct a double-decker ramp plan and hope to see some of these bad of a set of unreliable choices, none- (from 4th/King to new Transbay Termi- from the Bay Bridge to the Terminal on projects, notably Geary BRT and theless we are very disappointed that nal). the west side of the Terminal. Buses citywide Transit Preferential Streets, Muni will be forced to buy buses that 3. Transit-Oriented Development will come into the top-level of the Ter- implemented soon. will break down more often (and force around the new Transbay Terminal. minal from the Bay Bridge on the up- You can read this proposal at people into their cars) for political rea- www.sfmuni.com. Thanks to the Service sons. Expansion Committee, notably Chair We will keep fighting for transit rid- Eric Carlson, Dan Krause, David ers on this front, however, as this is a Vasquez, David Vartanoff, and Pe- crucial issue for our members and Muni ter Ehrlich for all your hard work! riders citywide. If you agree with us Policy: Rescue Muni ha scored some that it's wrong to force Muni riders to crucial victories in the public policy bear the burden of technology that is arena, and has also recently experi- not ready for prime time, we urge you enced some setbacks in the area of al- to write your Supervisor as soon as ternative fuels. While we have lobbied possible on this subject. Urge your for service expansion and transit pri- Supervisor to let Muni complete the ority in the combined Municipal Trans- alternative-fuels study! Thanks to portation Agency, we have had a harder Daniel Murphy for leading the charge time convincing the Board of Supervi- on this difficult issue. sors (acting as SF County Transporta- Continued on page 12 tion Authority Directors) to demand Source: Caltrain Downtown Extension/New Transbay Terminal EIR Page 10 Page 7 per ramp and then make a U-Turn and two center platforms, which will within the Terminal structure and go stub-end under the Terminal. There City CarShare: SF's Newest out on the bottom ramp back to the will also be two additional tracks that Bay Bridge. This alternate will elimi- split off going northeast to end up un- nate the need to rebuild the eastern der Mission Street with two side plat- Transportation Alternative section of the loop ramp. forms. Tail tracks will extend under Rescue Muni member Gabriel Metcalf introduces this innovative new way to get 2. Loop Ramp (from Bay Bridge) – This Mission to near the edge of the Bay at around town without needing to buy a car. alternate completely rebuilds the loop the Embarcadero. ar-sharing has arrived in San Fran This cost-savings translates into a ramps from the Bay Bridge in a similar Both alternates above include sub- Ccisco, making it possible for people major benefit for society. Because car- configuration of the existing ramps. alternates as follows: to use a car when they need one, with- sharing turns the fixed costs of driving Buses would simply enter on the east 1) Construction of an underground pedes- out having to pay the costs of private into variable costs, people have an in- ramp and exit the west ramp as they trian walkway from the Transbay Termi- ownership. Members reserve a car on- centive to pay attention to how much pass through the Terminal. nal to the Embarcadero BART/Muni line, walk to a “pod” of cars, and drive they drive. Most people radically un- Rescue Muni Service Expansion Metro Station under Fremont Street. off. They get billed at the end of the derestimate how much they spend on Committee’s Positions: 2) Tunneling versus Cut-and-Cover meth- month, based on a time and mileage driving because they only factor in vari- We support the West Ramp Only op- ods for construction of Caltrain Down- charge. able costs like gas and parking. Private tion because it will allow for more Tran- town Extension. Berlin, Amsterdam, and Zurich pio- car ownership gives people an incen- sit-Oriented Development. Rescue Muni’s Service Expansion neered the idea. Over the last decade, tive to drive as the “default” mode of Committee’s Positions: We support the Downtown Extension of Caltrain the Green movement in these cities choice, given that the marginal cost of 2nd St. to Mission alignment, tunneling The extension of Caltrain to the built large, successful car-sharing orga- extra trips is so small. Car-sharing in- over cut & cover, and strongly encour- Transbay Terminal has been a priority nizations. City creases the age the pedestrian tunnel. for Rescue Muni for several years. This CarShare, or- marginal cost exciting extension will include a new Transit-Oriented Development ganized by of extra trips. subway station adjacent to the current The third component of the project the San Fran- When people Terminal under Townsend Street be- will be the creation of a Redevelopment cisco Bicycle join, they tend tween 4th and 5th Streets. There will Area, which will allow for a high den- Coalition, to voluntarily also be reconstruction of surface tracks sity of Transit-Oriented Development SPUR, and drive less at 4th and King and a reconfiguration around the new Transbay Terminal, Urban Ecol- over time. A and depressing of the storage yard just which in turn will help pay for the ogy, opened in March of 2001 to bring study by the Swiss Office of Energy to the west. project. There are two alternates for car-sharing to San Francisco. Affairs indicated that car owners who The tracks will continue under intensity of development in the Rede- What are the benefits of car-sharing? switch to car-sharing reduce their driv- Townsend and the curve north to an velopment Area as follows: As a member, you save money over ing by an average of 30% over three alignment under 2nd Street. There are 1) Full Build-Out – This alternate will owning your own car if you drive less years! two alternates for how the trains will include 7,617,400 square feet of mixed- than 10,000 miles a year. This is because The other main way that car-sharing enter the terminal as follows: use development, including space for car ownership involves large, fixed costs benefits society is that it reduces the 1) 2nd Street to Main – Under this sce- offices, retail, hotel, and 4,667 units of that you pay no matter how little you number of cars that have to be pro- nario, trains would all curve East from housing. drive. The fixed costs include the price duced and stored. Twenty people es- 2nd Street to enter directly under the 2) Reduced Scope – This alternate will of the car itself, insurance, some por- sentially “share” each car. From an en- footprint of the new Terminal and then eliminate all office development, reduce tion of routine maintenance, and regis- vironmental perspective, this eliminates the trail tracks would curve back south the size of the hotel and retail spaces tration (not to mention the cost of an some of the resource impact from the to go under Main Street. and reduce the number of housing unit off-street parking space if you have one). car manufacturing process. From an 2) 2nd Street to Mission – This alternate to 3,430 for a total of 4,725,965 square With car-sharing, these large fixed costs urban planning perspective, car-sharing will have some trains entering the Ter- feet of development. are factored into the time and mileage is perhaps the single most promising minal directly under the footprint of Continued on page 12 charge. So you pay proportionally to solution to the parking crisis. As more the Terminal. There will be four tracks how much you drive. 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