At yesterday’s Municipal Transportation Agency (MTA) Board of Directors meeting, members of the public were reminded of what they did not want from a new transportation director even before they were allowed to discuss what they did.
The majority of those who piled into room 400 of City Hall yesterday at 2:00 p.m. did so because they wanted to discuss agenda item 11, which allowed for public views regarding criteria for selection of the new MTA director of transportation. Nearly three hours after they arrived, they were allowed to speak their minds.
Before that, however, they were reminded of the San Francisco Municipal Railway’s (MUNI) current state of affairs. As a MUNI representative read results from the system’s quarterly report, it became clear that MUNI’s performance falls short of standards outlined in Proposition E. The lack of operators and number of missed runs are two of MUNI’s bad pennies.
Even members of the MTA Board recounted their tales of public transportation woe. Director Wil Din recalled one evening when he waited an-hour-and-a-half for a bus. More than one passed him by, he said, adding that he would have been home sooner had he walked.
Representatives of MUNI’s custodial, car-cleaning, and clerical staffs, as well as its station agents, spoke of employee shortages and poor working conditions. Station Agent Mary Walker told directors about public platforms and agent booths with filthy, toilet-like environments. There are far too few custodians, she told the Board, and agents do not get proper supplies to clean their booths themselves.
Other workers denounced the fare hikes and service cuts that will go into effect next month. “MUNI management does not manage,” one person said. “Where does all their money go?”
Meanwhile Chairman Cleopatra Vaughns proclaimed that she hopes to see vast improvements, particularly in the problem areas of missed runs and operator shortages. Later in the meeting, it was she who encouraged people to relay their thoughts on the qualities of MTA’s future director of transportation, including skill sets and leadership abilities. “We as the Board would like to hear what you have to say,” she affirmed.
David Tornheim of the Central City Progressives began by saying that he and his organization want a director who abides by the city’s transit first policy, is friendly to labor, and gets the money from downtown that is already there. In addition, Tornheim requested better communication from the director. Not enough riders were notified of the last set of fare hikes, nor have they sufficiently been notified of the upcoming hikes in September, he said.
For Sue Vaughn, co-chair of the Transportation Working Group of the San Francisco Green Party, the new director should not only abide by the transit-first policy, but should embrace it.
“I’d like the new director to be someone who does not own a car.” With gas prices rising almost daily, noted Vaughn, the western civilization is headed toward a crisis. She explained that our entire transportation system is based on petroleum, and that our fertilizers are natural-gas based.
“What happens when we run out of those resources?” she asked. “How will we feed 6.4 billion people then?” We need to get people out of cars and onto buses, bikes, and feet she encouraged.
Emma Gerould, who spoke on behalf of herself and the Coalition for Transit Justice, agreed with the previous speakers. She added that the new director needs to make low-income and disabled persons, as well as senior citizens, a priority, which is something former Executive Director Michael Burns did not do.
“He raised fares – twice, and cut services,” Gerould scoffed. “I work with low-income families and they can’t afford the fare increases.” She pointed out that for a number of low-income people in the city, public transportation is their lifeline, their way of getting to food and clothing.
For San Francisco resident Roger Basely, “Public transportation needs to be a quality product to get repeat buyers.”
Public transportation in this city is not up to the standards it should be,” he detailed, and so many people, or “buyers,” do not want to ride it. “Our city is only as viable as our transportation system,” said Basely.
In order to achieve a more viable system, David Pipel, member of the Sunshine Ordinance Task Force, recommended that the new director be a politically minded individual who understands the Board and can work with players of city government.
Further, the director needs to appreciate MTA’s history, understands its present, and have a vision for its future, said Pipel.
