Municipal Transportation Agency - Regular Meeting

Secretary Silva, please call the roll.

On the roll, Director Felder.

Present.

Felder, present. Director Henderson. Here. Henderson, present. Director Hinze. Present. Hinzi, present. Chair Tarlov. Here. Tarlov, present. We are expecting Director Kahina to join us shortly. We are not expecting Director Hemminger today. For the record, I note that Director Hinzi is attending this meeting remotely. Director Hinzi is reminded that she must appear on camera throughout the meeting and in order to speak or vote on any items. Places you on item number three. The ringing and use of cell phones and similar sound producing electronic devices are prohibited at this meeting. The chair may order the removal from the meeting room any person responsible for the ringing or use of a cell phone or other similar device. Places you on item number four, approval of minutes for the July 21 meeting.

Thank you. Directors, are there any changes to the minutes? Seeing none, we'll now open public comment for item four, the minutes, for two minutes each.

Members of the public wishing to provide comment will have two minutes each. There will be a warning sound at 30 seconds and a chime when the time is up. Any speakers can come up to the podium at this time to comment on the minutes. I'm seeing none in the room. I do have one accommodation request. Speaker, you've been unmuted. You have two minutes.

Hello, this is Michael Petrelis calling. I am looking at your agenda for item four, which is approval of minutes for the July 21st meeting. And the minutes, the draft minutes, are not here. I don't know where the minutes are located because you provide no information for item four. And I would really like to read the draft minutes of what was discussed on July 21st. But you're putting me at a real disadvantage because the draft minutes are not included on your nine-page agenda that I'm looking at. And as I said just a little while ago, you do not give any information about where to find these minutes. So I think in the future, you need to address my concern that draft minutes need to be easily accessible through the agenda or somewhere else on your website. Thank you.

Thank you. We have no other callers. Thank you. We will now close public comment. Directors, do I have a motion and a second to approve the minutes? So moved.

Second.

Secretary Silva, please call the roll.

On the motion to approve the minutes, Director Felder?

Aye.

Felder, aye. Director Henderson? Aye. Henderson, aye. Director Hinze? Aye. Hinze, aye. Chair Tarloff? Aye. Tarloff, aye. That motion passes unanimously. And just to note, all of our agenda and materials are on our website, sfmta.com backslash board, under each meeting date materials, including the agenda, minutes, all the staff packets can be found there.

Yes, thank you for that clarification, Secretary Silva. Please call the next item.

Places you on item number five, communications. I have none.

Thank you. Please call the next item.

Places you on item number six, the director's report.

Thank you and good afternoon. I'd like to start my report by inviting streets director Victoria Wise to present two special recognitions.

Thank you, Director Kirschbaum, Chair Tarloff, members of the board. Good afternoon, Victoria Wise, streets director. And I, today, would really like to recognize staff who have made some incredible improvements happen on the Muni Metro T3 line. Staff from different focus areas work together to support thousands of people that ride this line. And this route is really important because it supports equity neighborhoods from Chinatown all the way to Bayview-Hunters Point. More than 25,000 people ride the T every weekday. But honestly, it had more delays and longer travel times than we would have preferred. So our team launched the T3 improvement project to make things better for everybody. Over the past several months, they made changes to traffic and transit signals to help the T3 move faster and, of course, more reliably. So they gave more green light to Muni and also ensured that Muni trains don't wait as long when there are other vehicles turning. So these kind of different adjustments really made that ride so much better and faster for everyone. The results... are quite exciting. In Soma, for example, we are saving up to two minutes in each direction. That is a 37% reduction in travel time. And in the Mission Bay and the Dogpatch area, our teams shaved off a minute and a half from the travel times. Trips in Muni are more reliable, and trains are not waiting as long at the red lights as they had in the past. This may not sound like a lot. I'm talking about minutes here. But if you add up all the people and all the ridership on these lines, it does add up with more time with your family, your friends, just having fun and visiting businesses. It's actually quite a savings. And the team is actually continuing this work. Now that we've seen some improvements on this portion of the T, they are looking at opportunities to reduce travel time on the southern portion of the line. I want to thank several people who made this happen under the leadership of Sean Kennedy and Michael Rhodes. So from our Muny Forward group, we have Jasper Lee. We have Mike Hua. We have Jessica Kuo. From our traffic signal shop, we have Michael Chu. From the Transit Division's Maintenance of Way, we have Dave Harbin. And from our communications team, we have Nia Evans. Thank you to this entire team for their great work. And now I want to turn the mic over to Assistant Engineer Jasper Lee from the project team, who's going to say a few words on behalf of the team. Jasper, come on up.

Good afternoon, directors of the board of SFMTA. I just wanted to say thank you so much for being here. It feels like an honor to be here and continuing to serve the city. I just wanted to say this project, I think, is a culmination of an incredibly collaborative effort between traffic and transit engineers, traffic central electricians, infrastructure experts as well. And we're all doing this to try to make the city a better place. And it feels great to be here today. And we're not done yet. We've got another phase coming out. We're going to make improvements all the way down in the Bayview as well. And so just keep putting your faith in us, keep believing in us, and let's keep this going. So thank you.

thank you jasper i gotta give you a certificate you're not come on up come on back up and the whole team yeah thank you um jasper here's your certificate thank you thank you so much congratulations okay nia evans i'm accepting for nia thank you so much thank you david harbin okay maybe not here michael michael Jessica, are you here? Come on up. Congratulations. And Mike, last but not least. Behind me. All right. Congratulations. Thank you. All right.

On behalf of the board, I would really like to extend our sincere gratitude for your work. It is very behind-the-scenes work that the public really wouldn't know was happening unless we had recognitions like this. So thank you, Director Wise, as well.

All right, thank you, team. It is my pleasure to do another recognition today, and that is for Michael Rath. He is from our paint shop. So I want to tell you guys, a crisis unfolded on a typical workday, and the courage that Michael showed really is just absolutely extraordinary. In fact, it made an impact on our entire paint shop, and lots of them are here behind me, as you can see. So back in May, Michael was working in the Bayview with his colleague, Lauren, and they stopped at a station to refuel their truck. The two stepped out of the car, and their friend, Dan, who works there, was also there as an attendant. And suddenly, Laurent just collapsed. He fell. And Michael sensed immediately that something was wrong and just ran to him and jumped into action with his friend, Dan. So Michael started performing CPR and yelled for others to call 911. Firefighters and paramedics arrived within minutes and took over the life-saving efforts. And later, first responders confirmed that Lauren had actually had a cardiac arrest. And they also said to us that if it was not for Michael's immediate action and jumping into action, Lauren would have faced a very different outcome. As Laurent recovered in the hospital, Michael visited him, of course, regularly. The two had actually worked together for more than 20 years. And it's really such a moving story of friendship. And it just goes to show that your work colleagues are, in fact, your family. We're all together as a team. And it had profound impact on our paint shop and the crews looking out for each other. In fact, the amazing part here is that Michael's act of courage really inspired the whole team. And everybody in the paint shop saw the importance of CPR training that could save a life, and they took it upon themselves to find training and do it themselves. So the entire team is now 100% trained in CPR, and they're certified. So I really can't thank Michael enough. And just to recognize his courage in the situation in an emergency and knowing what to do and the fact that he did that had really good outcomes for his colleague. And he's here supported by his colleagues. Michael, do you want to come on up?

Thank you. Well, first I want to say Lawrence and I have worked together for over 20 years. We've had over 4,000 lunches together. He's part of my life. I'd like to thank my family and my MTA family. We all depend on each other for teamwork. My mother is the one that taught me that teamwork really matters, and to help somebody who needs help makes a difference. Thank you.

Mr. Rath, thank you so much for being here and for being recognized. What a beautiful story. Thank you so much.

Continuing with my update, I wanted to share with the board the latest news on the state budget In May, I reported to this board that the California Air Resources Board adopted amendments to the Cap and Invest program, a centerpiece of the state's climate strategy. We anticipated that those amendments would significantly cut funding to the Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund. That fund has supported transit agencies throughout the state, including the SFMTA. The Greenhouse Gas Reduction Fund expenditure plan places programs that we rely on in Tier 3. Together with the new state budget that was enacted after the Air Resources Board approved the changes to the Cap and Invest program, the Tier 3 programs will be cut by 80%. Those programs and commitments support affordable housing, public transportation, clean air, safe drinking water, and climate resilience in communities across California. Our agency counts on those funds in our operating and capital budgets including for our low and reduced muni fare programs and capital projects such as our train control upgrade and muni forward projects. A coalition led by the California Transit Association has sent a letter requesting that the governor and legislature support a one-year solution to honor the state's previous funding commitments while we work on solutions for future years. This would need to be approved by the end of August when the legislative session ends. The SFMTA is a part of this coalition, along with other transit agencies, local governments, labor unions, and others. The next few weeks will be critical to protecting this essential funding, and we will continue to provide updates to the board as this situation develops. Now moving to back to school, we are gearing up for students to go back to school on August 17 in my household and in households across San Francisco. We are adding muni service on routes that serve schools to make sure we can accommodate the many students who travel to school on muni. Starting on the first day of school, our Muni school trippers will provide extra afternoon buses on many routes that serve schools. And as part of our August 29th Muni service changes, and more on those in a moment, we'll be providing a one-seat ride for Visitation Valley to Francisco Middle School for students who previously had to transfer from the 8AX to get to school. And we're adding a 28R 19th Avenue rapid stop at Eucalyptus Drive, which we expect to be popular with Lowell High School students, one of our largest San Francisco high schools. We're also taking steps to make sure students are safe when they travel to school. We're lowering speed limits around schools throughout the city, a policy you approved at your last meeting. And before the start of the school year, we will have implemented the lower speed limits at six schools. We will also have upgraded school zone crossings at 40 locations. And we've implemented daylighting at more than 2,300 school intersections to make sure cars can see students who are crossing the street. We have completed the Mission Bay quick build project, bringing traffic calming, high visibility crosswalks, and other improvements to the city's newest school, the Mission Bay Elementary School, before it opens. And I had the pleasure today of meeting with over 100, almost 200 school crossing guards who are getting their annual training and their safety vests and getting ready to provide the smiling morning face as our students enter. In addition to the Muni service changes that we're making to serve schools, we are going to be making some cost-neutral service changes to reduce crowding and to improve the commute to work. Downtown travel has been growing over the last year, and we want to make sure that people commuting downtown in Muni have the best experience possible. On August 29th, we're increasing frequency on the One California and on the NJUDA. We are also shifting back to larger buses on the 5R Fulton Rapid. And we're making very specific capacity increases during our busiest times on the 22 Fillmore, the 29 Sunset, the 38 Geary Rapid, and the 49 Van Ness Mission. So later this week, you'll be able to find a complete list of the service changes at sfmta.com slash servicechanges. And I really want to thank our staff for identifying how to get the most out of our limited resources to benefit our riders. I'd like to end this report with a short video about our internship program. We offer dozens of paid internships this summer, many of them through partnerships with the SF Unified School District, the Japanese Community Youth Council, and other organizations. Our staff helps students build real-world skills they can use to enter the trades, pursue transit planning, and more. We're thrilled to make this investment in San Francisco youth and in our city, and we're proud that so many of our existing staff came through one of our internship programs. The video you're about to watch is about the high school interns who supported our meter and sign shops.

Tony Massetti with the SFMTA parking meter shop. I'm here at our sign division facility where we are working with some high school interns who are developing real world skills fabricating signs. Come on in and let me show you what they're up to. You know, it's important for us to get the kids from high school is interested in the trades. We've hosted interns every summer for the past few years. Our job is to give them exposure to the skills that they need to maybe one day join the force themselves, whether that's installing meters, installing signs, painting. There's a lot of things that we do here at the shops. And in the case of these interns, here they are making signs, doing all sorts of fabrication work, and they're earning a paycheck while they do it. This program is part of a citywide effort to help open doors for young people. By investing in the next generation of welders, builders, and skilled craftspeople, we are investing in the future of our city. In addition to internships and SFMTA shops, we also have interns learning real-world skills in our maintenance yards and offices throughout the city. They're also getting face time with city engineers and learning all about the behind the scenes work that goes into effective street design and management. Big shout out to the San Francisco Unified School District and the San Francisco Human Rights Commission, as well as all the other city organizations that helped to make this program a reality.

That concludes my report.

Thank you, Director Kirschbaum. We'll now open public comment on the director's report. Before I do that, I would like to remind members of the public that they may provide comment on the topics Director Kirschbaum shared. Those were the special recognitions that we heard about, the state budget update, back-to-school update, the service changes going into effect on August 29th, and the internships at the SFMTA sign shops. If you feel the director missed addressing a topic, you may comment on that during item nine, which is general public comment. If you're here to speak on an item later in today's agenda, please wait to make your comment until that item is called. With that, public comment on the director's report is now open for two minutes each.

Members of the public wishing to provide comment will have two minutes each. There'll be a warning sound at 30 seconds and a chime when the time is up. I do have one speaker card for Alita Dupree.

Thank you, Chair. Janet Taloff. And members, Alita Dupree, for the record, she and her team haven't been here for a while. Good report. Lots of interesting things. I hope we can preserve that money. I'm very concerned. about public bodies that control money are getting cold feet in this most important work of funding public transportation and clearing up our air and water. Because I depend on public transportation. And our muni doesn't need a lifeline. It needs a houseboat. So let's keep working on that. And hopefully somebody offline will show me where I can find out about these service changes. I know. I'm in BART mode, station agent. So I can learn about how that's going to affect me, because I spend a lot of time here, and I Don't want to get blindsided when I'm out in the street, but transit app helps. And thank you for the video about internships. I hope we can have a lot more of that. I didn't have that growing up. I hope that we will be always willing to accept people who are different into internships, because I believe in the benefits of a diverse society that welcomes people who are different. Yeah, I never learned how to build signs. I just barely made it out of high school while these fine, respectable young folks are doing internships and learning about Muni. When I was that age, I was skipping fare in the New York City subway. I was really good at it until they stopped me. Now I pay fare in the New York City subway. And I pay fare in your subway with a small s. So thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker.

Good afternoon. Griffin Lee on behalf of Connected SF. No comments, just questions about the service changes. First, I feel like this maybe should have its own agenda item, given it's a pretty big announcement. Two, though, where is the additional funding coming from to increase service again? Of course, we're supportive of public transit, but... uh when you're asking for not one but two tax measures to pass this november um i think every item should come with financials uh regard transparency around financials the source of funding how much is it going to cost to run the operation the additional operation um i mean there's question marks around how much it'll cost uh for numerous reasons, but one, we know that transit for kids is subsidized today. So where is that? All those questions, all of the above around funding is, I think, really critical when you're asking for not one, but two tax measures this November. Thank you very much.

Thank you. Any other speakers in the room for public comment on this item? Seeing none in the room, I do have two accommodation requests. First speaker, you've been unmuted. You have two minutes.

Yeah, this is Herbert Wein. One thing I'm concerned about is the extension of service to the public at large. Now, I realize that you're making accommodations for attendance at school. That's good. And also for the early morning and late evening of rides to and from downtown, but I also wonder how the neighborhoods are being served. So this is a concern that I have because public transportation should really be for everybody. Thank you.

Thank you. Second speaker, you have two minutes to provide comment.

Hello. This is Michael Petrelis again. I am very concerned that there were two directors who made reports. They were reading from printed documents. They weren't just talking off the top of their head. They were reading from public documents. Yet the agenda for today doesn't include those written reports that they were reading from. I looked at the minutes from your last meeting. Thank you. I found out where they are. I read those minutes from July 21. And again, there's nothing there indicating how to get the written comments, the written report that the director made. There were, what, good four or five items that were discussed just in the past few minutes, and there's no report. Why aren't you posting the advance written reports that the director is making, and why don't you include it in the minutes? you really need to start providing those reports that the director makes during these meetings. I am at a real disadvantage because I cannot read what was said. So please insist that the director provide the written report at the meeting and also online so that we can read it before the meeting happens. Thank you.

Thank you. No other speakers. Thank you. Public comment is now closed. Colleagues, do you have any questions or comments for Director Kirschbaum? Vice Chair Kahina.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you, Julie, for your report. Two questions came to mind, particularly around the one-seat ride from Viz Valley to Francisco Middle School. Curious if you could talk about the outreach and engagement that's happening with families to make them aware of this resource for them, and especially for monolingual families.

I am not aware of the specific details of the outreach. I do think the change came in part based on feedback that we had gotten from the school. So I'd be happy to follow up with a more specific answer as to how we are letting folks know about the change.

Thanks, Julian. I would definitely encourage us to work with school administrators and typically schools have packets that they distribute at the beginning of the year and encourage some information there, a flyer or something to be included in those packets. Biz Valley has a lot of folks that are monolingual in the community and so would ensure that any sort of outreach and engagement material there is accessible to those monolingual families. And then my next question is on the Captain Invest program. We're in August already and so this feels quite pressing. Curious to understand when would riders and folks feel the impacts if come end of August either no decision has been made or the posture has not moved or folks are committed to these changes?

We are in the process right now of closing out the year. And as we do on a regular basis, looking at all of our budgeted funding sources, looking at where we are exceeding our revenue expectations, seeing unknown issues like this, and we would bring to the board a recommended set of next steps once we know if we are ultimately successful in getting a one-year reprieve. So we would not implement any changes to the public until we review how this change would fit into our kind of larger financial picture and then would bring a recommended strategy to the board.

So at the earliest, are we looking at six months from now, a year from now? I know it's hard to say.

It will be something that we would address in Bree's next quarterly report to you all, which I anticipate to be in late September.

Thank you, Julie. And based on your report, we can appreciate that this is something that impacts various points of operation for the MTA. And so I know that each one of those have different budgetary considerations to consider. And so appreciate that before any sort of drastic changes happen, we'll have an opportunity to weigh in on what that looks like. Thank you, Julie.

Thank you for that clarification.

Thank you, Vice Chair Kahina. Director Hinze.

Thank you, Madam Chair, and thank you, Julie, for your report. To our public commenters' points, can you talk a little bit about how I'm assuming these upcoming service changes are cost neutral, so can you talk about how staff and the agency is able to do that with keeping the service changes cost neutral?

Thank you, Director Hinze, for that question. The restart of school is built into our budget. And so while we don't, for example, provide the school trippers over the summer, they are built into our budget process for school days throughout the year. We also have an incredibly creative service planning and scheduling team. And some of the changes they're making creative as having something start a few minutes earlier or a few minutes later just to get that big rush that's happening. And then we are always optimizing and refining our operator schedules. In the case of the 5 Fulton, for example, when we closed Potrero, we initially started with a modest number of 60-foot buses on the route and more 40-foot buses because our maintenance teams were going to be maintaining them in a temporary facility and we didn't want to overextend that operations. As those kinks have been worked out, they are now more confident that they can have 60-foot buses on the full route, which means we need slightly less 40-foot buses, which then frees up 40-foot buses on routes like the one in California. So when I say that they are cost neutral, I truly mean that, that our staff is looking at this entire optimization and service puzzle and making smart choices to keep up with our changing conditions.

Thank you. And I know you love the opportunity to shout out your staff. And so I thought I would give you that. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you. Thank you, Director Hinze. Director Kirschbaum, another thing that came up in public comment is where members of the public can find information about these service changes, which I believe, just in my experience, this is something that happens at the end of summer when, as we anticipate, the pretty dramatic change in ridership that the start of school represents. Where can the public find that information about what the specific change is?

Thank you for that question. Within the next few days, we will have information up at sfmta.com slash service changes. For the majority of our customers, these changes should be relatively invisible but positive. So for example, if the NJUDA comes every nine minutes instead of every 10 minutes, you're not changing your overall travel patterns. But because that's about a 10% increase in space on the train, you will have a more pleasant commute in. For some of the very specific changes, like the changes to the middle school, I think really reaching out and working with the school is a wonderful suggestion. And then for our folks that can benefit from the 28R additional stop, that signage will be right on the stop. so that as people are waiting for the 28th, they'll see, both because the bus will be stopping and because of the signage at the stop, that the 28R is now an option for them. So for the majority of our customers, these changes are not going to make it possible more complex to navigate the system. There's not a lot of learning to do. But we do think customers will see some small but meaningful benefits to their travel.

OK. And just to recap, what I've heard is that the service changes are both cost neutral and they'll be seamlessly experienced by the riders just in improved service.

That is correct. We, two or three times a year, make small changes to our schedules. That type of nimbleness has allowed us to really meet the customer needs. It's also an opportunity for our operators to pick new work. So they might want to learn a new route. Their schedule may change. They want to be able to accommodate it. So it's also an important employee benefit that we do these periodic schedule changes.

Very good. We will move on to the next item. Secretary Silva?

Places you on item number seven, citizens advisory council report. We have no report today.

Thank you. Please call the next item.

Places you on item number eight, new or unfinished business by board members.

I believe that Director Hinze is prepared with a report or an update on the Street Safety Committee, which met just last week. Director Hinze? I do.

Thank you very much, Madam Chair. Yes, we did have a Street Safety Initiative meeting committee meeting last week, Vice Chair Kahina and I are the current membership. It was a very short meeting, but a very comprehensive review by staff. So we'll provide a short update and the presentation and materials will be are available online if Any member of the public would like to view them in more detail. But again, it was a six-month review of the Street Safety Initiative, primarily mostly giving us an update on the status of the actions in the Street Safety Initiative that are under SFMTA's jurisdiction. some of which are near completion or are strongly being worked on. There was a lot of talk and questions from the two of us specifically around the e-device and e-safety working group that's being convened and led by the mayor's office. We had questions specifically about who's going to be on that group. what kind of recommendations might they have and also funding for such recommendations and what that might look like. This group and this idea is in its infancy and so the group has yet to convene so the committee looks forward to deeper engagement with that topic in future meetings. Also, items that have been worked on and nearly completed by staff include the Community Quarters program that you just recently approved in one of our most recent meetings that Portal will launch later in this summer or fall and we also will be getting an update sort of on how that's going in future meetings. Other actions include how we can best work with Public Works when it comes to repaving and tagging along with repaving projects, etc. Also, there has been collaboration with the fire department on a sort of street design manual. Staff is working with the fire department to be more specific about, um, specific treatments and how those can be installed to meet our street safety needs, but also be ideal for the fire department. Um, so work is being done there. Um, also there, we did, um, review the, um, some crash data for the beginning of the year and noted that overall collisions are on the decrease but severe injury and fatality collisions are holding steady unfortunately so we know that we're all as a city doing great work on street safety but we all know that there is more to more to do and so we anticipate that our next meeting will be sometime before the end of the calendar year and at that meeting we hope to have further updates as the street safety initiative will be coming on for its one year anniversary by the end of the year and so That is it. Director Kahina, do you have anything you'd like to add?

No, your update was quite comprehensive. Thank you, Director Hinze.

Excellent. Thank you, Madam Chair.

Thank you very much, Director Hinze, for that update. Colleagues, are there any other items to share for new or unfinished business? Very good. We'll now open public comment for this item for two minutes each.

Members of the public wishing to provide comment will have two minutes each. There will be a warning sound at 30 seconds and a chime when the time is up. Any speakers can come up to the podium at this time.

Good afternoon, Chair Tarlow, directors and staff. I was actually going to comment on non-agenda public comment, but thank you to Committee Chair Hinze for providing a summary of the Street Safety Committee. My name is Sam Greenberg. I'm the advocacy director of Walk San Francisco, which advocates to make San Francisco streets safe for pedestrians. And I'm here to comment regarding last Thursday's Street Safety Committee meeting. Walk SF was in attendance, and we continue to be grateful that this forum exists for the public to hear substantive updates on the Street Safety Initiative. It's an important space, and it's the only one of its kind where members of the public can be informed and make their voices heard on our city's traffic safety crisis. At last Thursday's meeting, we feel that we regretfully heard very little new information about progress that the SFMTA is making to implement the Street Safety Initiative. And while we're grateful that this form exists, we want it to be productive. And we were just disappointed by the depth of the presentation shared with the public last Thursday, given what we had already known. This meeting was the six-month update on reforms to address traffic safety in our city, the traffic safety crisis in our city. And we were frustrated that very little new information was shared on progress, and also by just the short duration and depth of discussion, given it was an important six-month update. We also find it challenging that the committee does not have a regular meeting time, which makes it very difficult for members of the public to participate in this important conversation. We also hope that a third member of this body will step up soon to fill the empty seat on the committee. It's important not only that the SFMTA is implementing the Street Safety Initiative, but that members of the public have meaningful opportunities to hear substantive updates on progress and make their voices heard. Thank you.

Thank you. Next speaker for New or Unfinished Business by board members.

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to speak. I feel like this seems so trivial, but my name is Mitchell Schoenbrunn. I've lived in San Francisco for 49 years. It's my home. I lived on Castro Street between 25th and Jersey for about 30 years. I was rather disturbed to wake up a few weeks ago to discover that a major change had taken place with the parking across the street. when I inquired why I had not gotten any notification, I was told because... Mr. Shondron, I'm sorry to interrupt you.

Are you commenting on Director Hinze's Street Safety Committee?

No.

Your opportunity to make your comment will come very shortly at... Wasn't this Section 9? No, not quite. I apologize. This is Section 9. Okay, all right. Thank you. We'll look forward to hearing from you shortly. Thank you.

Any other speakers for item number eight in the room? I'm seeing none. I do have one accommodation request. Speaker, you've been unmuted. You have two minutes.

Hi. This is Michael Patrelis again. I just want to thank Director Hincy for her report. That's all. Thank you.

Thank you. No other speakers.

Thank you. Public comment for this item is now closed. Secretary Silva, please call the next item.

Directors, that places you on item number nine, general public comment. Members of the public may address the board of directors on matters that are within the board's jurisdiction and are not on today's calendar.

Public comment for item 9 is now open. Thank you.

Members of the public wishing to provide comment, we'll have two minutes each. There'll be a warning at 30 seconds and a chime when the time is up. We do have two speaker cards, Mitchell Schomburg and Alita Dupree. Go ahead.

Yeah. Apologies. I'm very nervous. I don't speak at meetings very often. As I said, I was disturbed to wake up to discover a major change to the parking across my street. My neighborhood isn't bad for parking, generally, except on Tuesday morning when something like 40% of the... Tuesday morning every second and fourth when something like 40% of the surrounding area spots are unavailable due to street cleaning. But we do what we can. What I woke up to find is that whereas previously there were six available... spots to park in for the people living on the street, although one was a green zone. That had all been changed. You put in four parking meter spots, including the green zone. There was one other section of two spots, which you changed to a blue zone, which I support. But for some reason, even though there's room for two cars, they put in a blue spot and painted the rest of it red for no apparent reason. It's not on a corner. And I'm really disturbed that I read on social media about the so-called war on cars in the city. And I thought this is just conspiracy. But I really feel like I'm being put upon, I had no opportunity to make any comments about this. And that's why I'm here. I'm hoping there's some way to review this and to look into why these changes were made. It's a predominantly residential block. That's all I can say. It just seemed really inappropriate that they just worked around me and didn't, you know. Anyway, that's what I have to say. Thank you. Thank you for listening.

Thank you. Next speaker.

Thanks again, Chair Tarlow and members. Alita Dupree for the record. She and her with Team Folds. I speak about lots of things in Muni. I did get to use our subway with a small s today. It was fine. I use it quite a bit. Every time I get on it, it reminds me that I should go back to New York and use the subway with the big S. So it seems like we're gaining some inspiration there in both ways. Clipper is essential. I hope someday we will have comprehensive fare capping or accumulation. I never overpay in New York because they have a seven-day fare capping on their bus system and their famous subway. And it's mostly open payments, but you can also get a plastic card or their app and they have Omni vending machines that look like nice refrigerators. I don't know that our vending machines look like nice refrigerators. I don't even know how to use one. But I did use a BART vending machine to add some change that I picked up off the ground for Clipper. So I get the transfer benefits. And so I change systems I decide should I use Muni first or BART first because then I get that transfer. Sometimes I'll get on BART for one stop and then I transfer to Muni. I save about 40 cents. I'm going to use the tools in my toolbox, because I have to watch my small change, if you will. And maybe on the way down, I'll look at the muni vending machine, which in all my years I've never used. I can only share things as I know them, and I call things as I see them. I'm not originally from here, but I have 56 years of using the New York City subway. That counts for something. I look forward to your next meeting. Thank you.

Thank you. Any other speakers in the room for this item? I'm seeing none. I do have two accommodation requests. First speaker, you've been unmuted. You have two minutes for general public comment.

This is Herbert Wagner. I'm really concerned about the modification in traffic. I mean, for instance, there are too many one lanes for driving, and this greatly congests traffic. And I really wonder what this agency is doing for motorists. I never hear anything done for the benefit of motorists. Every other group gets something. But nothing is really done for the benefit of motorists. And I think you really have to address that. There's too much congestion in the city. Driving is very inconvenient. And you're transforming traffic lanes into a nightmare. So you really should address this at your meeting. And that's all I have to say. Thank you.

Thank you. Second speaker, you've been unmuted. You have two minutes for general public comment.

Hello. This is Michael Petrelis again. I am deploring that the $12 million elevator at the Castro Muni station was supposed to open in February, and it didn't. And then SFMTA said it would open in July. The $12 million elevator did not open in July. In the past few days, you quietly updated your website for this $12 million elevator to say it will now open in the fall of 2026. No date is given. handicapped people, parents with strollers, we are all put at a disadvantage because SFMTA is saying nothing, nothing about why the delay in opening this $12 million elevator. We are getting a runaround from Justin True and Lolita Sweet just trying to find out what is the delay Justin True and Lolita Suite owe us detailed information about who the contractors are for this elevator. When are they going to post some information at the Casa Muni station? Because right now, nothing is posted there about why this delay is happening and when, if ever, that elevator will open. We really need information now on your website and at the Muni station regarding why there's this delay and when. When are you going to start operation on this elevator? It is inexcusable that you spent $12 million on it and we cannot use it. Thank you.

Thank you. No other speakers.

Thank you. Public comment for item nine is now closed. Secretary Silva, please call the next item.

Directors, that places you on item 10, your consent calendar. These items are considered to be simple or routine and will be acted upon by a single vote unless a member of the board or public requests that an item be taken off consent and heard separately. For all speakers providing public comment, please identify which item number you are speaking to. Item 10.1, approving various routine parking and traffic modifications as listed under 10.1A through... S in the agenda. Item 10.2, approving parking regulations to establish five dedicated on-street parking spaces for marked San Francisco Police Department vehicles near Central Police Station at 766 Vallejo Street by converting existing general metered parking and relocating metered commercial loading and amending Division 2 of the Transportation Code to create a parking restriction on Vallejo Street. ITEM 10.3, AUTHORIZING THE DIRECTOR OF TRANSPORTATION TO EXECUTE SFMTA CONTRACTS NUMBER CS-194, CS-195, AND CS-196 AS NEEDED SPECIALIZED ENGINEERING SERVICES FOR FEDERALLY FUNDED PROJECTS WITH HNTB CORPORATION, AECOM TECHNICAL SERVICES AND PGH WONG ENGINEERING. respectively, to provide technical and professional services on an as-needed basis with each contract amount not to exceed $5 million and an original term of three years with an option to extend for two additional years for a maximum of five years. Item 10.4, authorizing the Director of Transportation or her designee to request funding from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, anticipated to be approximately $471,000 and is subject to finalization of the state budget and unforeseen economic volatility for allocation of fiscal year 2027 Transportation Development Act TDA Article III funds for construction of the Folsom Streetscape Project. That concludes your consent calendar.

Thank you. We will now open public comment for the consent calendar for two minutes each.

Members of the public wishing to provide comment will have two minutes each. There'll be a warning sound at 30 seconds and a chime when the time is up. Any speakers wishing to comment on the consent calendar can come up to the podium at this time. I'm seeing none in the room and no accommodation requests.

Thank you. Directors, can I have a motion and a second to approve the consent calendar? So moved.

Second.

Secretary Silva, please call the roll.

On the motion to approve the consent calendar, Director Felder?

Aye.

Felder, aye. Director Henderson?

Aye.

Henderson, aye. Director Hinze? Aye. Hinze, aye. Director Kahina?

Aye.

Kahina, aye. Chair Tarloff?

Aye. Tarloff, aye. The motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Please call the next item.

This is you on your regular calendar. Item number 11, authorizing the director of transportation to execute contract number SFMTA-2027-02-LOC with universal protection service doing business as allied universal security services for a short-term sole source security services and transition support agreement for an initial three-month term with an option to extend for up to three additional months at an amount not to exceed approximately $5.7 million.

Thank you, board members. This item is seeking your approval for a short-term security services contract to commence on March 31st, 2027. Before I turn it over to staff, I do want to flag that this is a proactive measure and sort of an example of us learning on these large contracts. When we brought you the parking app contracts last year, we did not have a transition contract in place, and it really took a lot of work between the contractor and our streets director, Victoria Wise, to set up the needed transition space. So this contract before you today represents that learning. It is a key first piece. to our broader efficiency goal of trying to set up these large contracts with as much learning and innovation and creativity as possible. I'm very appreciative of Allied Universal, our current contractor, who has been very open to this concept of putting in a transition short-term contract, and appreciative of both our director of contracts and procurement, Julia Friedlander, as well as our Deputy Director of Security, Theresa Schism, for working on this, as well as the larger RFP, which will be coming to you next month. So with that, I'd like to bring up Julia Friedlander, as well as Theresa, to support.

Thank you, Director Kirschbaum. Good afternoon, Chair Talav and members of the board. We have very, very much appreciate the opportunity to share this strategy that will help us avoid the circumstances that we were in. And the only details I would add are that this is for a short, this is a three month extension starting March 31st of 2027. And it will then be, we have the opportunity to extend it for a further three month period if that's necessary. And I'm going to turn it over. We've been working very closely together as a team between contracts and procurement and the security team. And I'm going to turn it over to Theresa. And if you have questions either on the procurement side or the security side, we're both here to answer.

Good afternoon. Just one thing I wanted to add is it's so important to have this transitional support for operational handoff, workforce and city resources, and service continuity. We just need this contract in place to ensure that we have our security services seamless throughout the transition. If it doesn't happen to be the same vendor, that we have this in place to ensure that seamless transition.

Thank you, Ms. Friedlander and Ms. Gizem and Director Kirschbaum. Very grateful for your presentation. Directors, do you have any questions or comments? Director Henderson.

Thank you, Chair. I just have one question about the timeline. I understand that this is up to six months after the March 31st deadline. I'm just curious about the average time it takes to procure this type of contract? Do you think you will be close to that? Six months from March is what, September?

Thank you for that question. We do very much hope that we will be coming to you in June, or before June, so that by June we have a contract that you have approved and that the Board of Supervisors has approved. We're building that additional three months in just to be certain. We have done a much deeper dive than we would typically do on an effort to compete, again, a longstanding recurring service agreement. and so that deeper dive we've been really trying to scrub the contract to make sure that we are creating the best opportunity for maximum competition and to apply innovation and new tools that may be in the market for us going forward great thank you and then i think my last question and i i hope this is um something that you'll be able to answer before you do the bid so if not then you know i understand but

I'm just curious, because I remember there was a contract and then we had some amendments and extensions for the last one that came earlier this year. And so I guess my question around that is, do you anticipate this also being a similar kind of maybe five years plus some extensions? Or is it a longer period that you're able to bid this service out for?

So when we come to you in September with our new RFP, what we're looking at is a three-year contract with options to exercise for two additional years.

OK. All right. Thank you. Thank you, Chair.

Thank you. And yes, I have no concerns about this extension. I think it makes very good sense and is prudent to add in this transition component should we need it. Also just add that I'm looking forward to this board learning more about the RFP when it's ready. It sounds like just next month. So we'll have plenty of opportunity to discuss this contract more at that time. Colleagues, any other comments or questions? I would entertain a motion and a second to approve. Public comment. Oh, so sorry. I haven't had public comment yet. I would like to open public comment for this item. That's quite out of order, out of my usual order.

Members of the public wishing to provide comment will have two minutes each. There'll be a warning at 30 seconds and a chime when the time is up. Speakers for this item can come up to the podium at this time. I'm seeing none in the room and no accommodation requests.

Very good. Public comment on this item is now closed. Is there a motion and a second? I'll move the motion.

I'll move to approve. Second.

Secretary Silva, please call the roll.

On the motion to approve, Director Felder?

Aye.

Felder, aye. Director Henderson? Aye. Henderson, aye. Director Hinze? Aye. Hinze, aye. Director Kahina? Aye. Kahina, aye. Chair Tarloff?

Aye. Tarloff, aye.

Thank you. The motion passes unanimously.

Secretary Silva, please call the next item.

Places you on item number 12, discussion and vote pursuant to admin code section 67.10D as to whether to invoke the attorney-client privilege and conduct a closed session conference with legal counsel.

I will now open public comment for item 12 for two minutes each.

Members of the public wishing to provide comment will have two minutes each. There will be a warning at 30 seconds and a chime when the time is up. Any speakers wanting to comment on this item 12 can come up to the podium at this time. Seeing none in the room and no accommodation requests.

Thank you. Public comment is now closed. May I have a motion and a second?

I'll move to enter into closed session.

Second.

Secretary Silva, please call the roll.

On the motion to go into closed session, Director Felder.

Aye.

Felder, aye. Director Henderson.

Aye.

Henderson, aye. Director Hinze.

Aye.

Hinze, aye. Director Kahina.

Aye.

Kahina, aye. Chair Tarloff.

Aye.

Tarloff, aye. The motion passes unanimously, and the board will now go into closed session. It'll take me just a moment.

Bye. Thank you.

SFGov TV. San Francisco Government Television.

Thank you.

SFGov TV, San Francisco Government Television.

SFGov TV. San Francisco Government Television.

SFGov TV. San Francisco Government Television.

Thank you.

All right, chair and directors, we are ready to reconvene. The open session places you on item number 13. The board met in closed session and voted to settle items 3A and 3B. Places you on item number 14. Motion to disclose or not disclose the information discussed in closed session.

Motion not to disclose.

Second.

Roll. On the motion to not disclose, Director Felder?

Aye.

Felder, aye. Director Henderson? Aye. Henderson, aye. Director Hinze? Aye. Hinze, aye. Director Kahina? Aye. Kahina, aye. Chair Tarloff? Aye. Tarloff, aye. That motion passes unanimously and concludes the business before you today.

Thank you, colleagues, staff, and members of the public. We are now adjourned. Our next meeting will be on September 1st and 15th.

Thank you.