Municipal Transportation Agency - Regular Meeting

Seeing none, we will now open public comment for item four, the minutes, for two minutes each.

We'll now close public comment. Colleagues, is there a motion and a second? Second. Thank you. Secretary Silva, please call the roll.

On behalf of the board, I would just like to say thank you so much for your years of service. It's truly wonderful to see the agency recognize all of the people who have devoted themselves to the work of the agency. And congratulations, and I wish you a very happy and long retirement.

Thank you very much, Director Wise. Before I open public comment, I would like to remind members of the public that they may provide comment on the topics Director Wise addressed. Those were the special recognition of staff, parking garage reservation system, and parking meter apps. the May 18th through 21st Fix-It Week, SB 63 Financial Efficiency Review, and the AAPI community cable car ride on May 20th. 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, plea

Thank you. Public comment is now closed. Director Hemminger, may I call on you to share more with us about the SB63 committee that you serve on? Thank you very much.

Thank you, and thanks to Victoria for getting all the groundwork done. And I'll just make a couple of comments. As she indicated, one of the major tasks of this effort was to validate whether the transit operators were saving the amount of money they said they were saving. And in fact, that has been validated by this review. And the numbers range from 76 million for Caltrain all the way up to 516 million for BART. The MTA is in between at around 300, although I thought I heard you say a different number. So we'll have to coordinate after the meeting is over. But it's a very large number of sav

Thank you. That's extremely helpful, Director Hemminger. Are there any other comments or questions from the board on the director's report? Very good. Secretary Silva, can you please call the next item?

Thank you so much, Chair Leifer. Before I move to Director comments and questions, I would like if staff could maybe provide some context for the recommendation. in SOMA and bike infrastructure would be very helpful. Victoria, would you be able to do that?

Thank you. That's very helpful. Why don't we go to public comment first, and then, Chair Liefer, I think we'll probably have some questions for you. Sure. Public comment for this item is now open for two minutes each.

Very good. Public comment on this item is now closed. Before I jump in, directors, are there any other questions? Director Felder.

about the recommendation relative to the bi-directional bike lanes on 9th and 10th. Can you just clarify as to whether or not, just given that they're one-way streets, whether the suggestion is that there be bike lanes on each street because in order to get to a bi-directional dynamic, you would have to have a bike lane on each street in each direction? Or is the suggestion that there actually be bi-directional bike lanes on each street?

OK. And could we just get some clarification from staff as to what the best practice typically has been in the city relative to that?

Yeah, I guess the reason I ask for clarification is that I do think that from a roadway perspective, bidirectional bike lanes on streets that are one way for vehicular traffic does create a level of confusion to motorists, which I find can compromise safety. And it does complicate our signalization of the intersections quite a bit. And so I'm not an expert on this, but I personally would be interested in learning more about what best practices are You know, not just in San Francisco, but around the world, because I candidly, I do think that in South of Market in particular, there are a number

And if I could just chime in on that, what you were saying, Director Wise, about it depends. From the cyclist perspective, there's a lot of variation as well. If you live on 9th Street or you're trying to go to a specific destination there, of course, you'd want a protected bike lane all the way to your destination. If you're more like me, where I'm often on Folsom and some of the other bike lanes that exist going north-south in Soma, I'm very, very much looking forward to that construction concluding, because it's been a long time. And I'm given to understand that it's going to be pretty fant

Colleagues, any other questions for Chair Leifer? All right, then. Thank you so much for coming, and thank you for the recommendation. We really appreciate it.

5.30 PM. Thank you. Thank you. Very good.

Thank you. Director Hinze, I believe you have a report for us from the last Vision Zero Committee meeting?

Very good. Why don't colleagues, are there other items for new or unfinished business? Very good. Why don't we have public comment, and then other committee members, if they'd like to maybe elaborate on what Director Hinze talked about, you'd be welcome to do that at that time. I'd like to open public comment on this item for two minutes each.

Very good. Is there any further discussion pertaining to director hinsey's report on Vision zero committee? Director Kahina.

Thank you, Chair. Thank you so much, Director Ahunsi, for that really robust overview. Hopefully it gives everyone a sense of the deep discussion that we had about the high injury network and all the different things that come with being part of the Vision Zero subcommittee. Something I did want to highlight just a bit more, the committee did ask staff to bring forth at our next meeting some more information about different policies that perhaps are acting as a hindrance or could help us be a little bit more aggressive with our goals. And so I did just want to sunshine that for the folks in th

Very good. Unless there are other questions or comments from my colleagues, we'll move to the next item. Secretary Silva.

Public comment for general public comment. Item 9 is now open for two minutes each.

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

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

We'll now close public comment. May I have a motion and a second to approve the consent calendar?

Thank you. Secretary Silva, please call the roll.

That motion passes unanimously. Thank you. Secretary Silva, please call the next item.

Thank you so much for your presentation. I'll open public comment for this item now for two minutes each.

Thank you. Public comment is now closed. Directors, I see that we're lining up. I have a couple of quick questions, though, for Mr. Boland. One is, just to clarify, one of the things that I heard in public comment, if I heard correctly, is that 36 parking spaces will be eliminated on this two-block section that we just heard a lot about. Is that correct?

Oh, OK. So that's a very important clarification. And then I think that's the primary thing. I wanted to make sure we cleared up right away. Director Henderson.

There we go. Thank you. I have a couple of questions, specifically about the San Bruno and Paul, and then also that Gilman and Third intersection. But before I get there, I just want to understand a little bit. I'm looking at the past improvement slide. I think it's number four. And I'm trying to understand the progression of how we get here because I know that the 29 has gone through some evolution over I don't know the past 30 years or so you know in terms of the changes and I know the shift onto Ocean Avenue is relatively recent it seems like it happened in 2015 but how long does it take to

As part of the phase one, or that's separate from it?

OK, all right, then getting to the San Bruno and Paul. So can you just speak a little bit about why it's not ideal for the bus to make that turn, especially since you're removing the Bayshore stop and the Wheat Street stop? Is there a particular reason why the bus can't make that turn, stop there? And I think about an example of something similar. I mean, the slope is not the same, but San Bruno and Bacon, there's a stop that's pretty close to, you know, that's sort of... I think it's a 54 stop or something like that, but it's right up against the 101. And so I'm just curious if that is someth

Okay, I think that that is, well, okay, and then my other question is around the signal at that stop, because I think, or on that corner, that intersection is one, two, three, I guess. The way the streets, they don't line up, and so there's this strange convergence of vehicles and pedestrians, and that corner in particular is very sharp. And so I think that that bus stop on the corner sometimes makes the cars coming off 101 or wherever they're coming from, but from coming down the hill towards Paul, it makes them try and go around the bus and end up nearly hitting pedestrians. trying to get ar

Yeah, and I guess my concern is that with a wider lane and knowing that that activity happens quite frequently, that there may be even less margin for error because the the cars are turning in that, you know, going into the oncoming, they're going to be going basically into the oncoming traffic lane and then trying to make that turn around the bus. And I just, it concerns me a little bit. And so I would hope that we could at least do something better to make sure that cars are going at one time and pedestrians are going at, a different time, but also trying to make sure that that right turn ar

Okay. All right. Very good. Thank you. Thank you.

Thank you, Director Henderson. Director Heminger.

Thank you, Madam Chair. And I want to get on the 29 rapid discussion. bandwagon here. First of all, I want to say how pleased I am to learn that Lowell has a transit club. We should send our recruiters over to see you guys at the appropriate time of year. So the rapid, how much would it cost?

And what's the largest component of that cost?

Madam Chair, I'm trying to remember the last time we talked about the RAPID program sort of as a program. I'm not even sure it's considered a program here at the MTA, but it seems to me it'd be useful to try to build a little momentum, even if quietly, for this route and see what else is out there and try to put together some kind of priority. about where we start and what's next and so on. So I'll ask you to consider that and see whether we can find some room on a future agenda to do that.

Thank you, Director Hemminger. Vice Chair Kahina.

Thank you, Chair Chodlow. I'm also very supportive of the 29 rapid. And I think thinking about this more comprehensively as a program makes a lot of sense because I think there are ways that we could start determining what the criteria is for a rapid route and what are the considerations that we have and start planning accordingly. So I do think that a discussion like this at the board level makes a lot of sense. And to have some staff time just to tee up and prepare us for a potential dynamic where we actually can fund something like this is super helpful. Again, we are constrained with our r

OK. Will they be able to just visually denote where some of the changes are happening and just, OK. And can you present those today, or does the team need some time?

Sure, you can put it on the projector. Sure. Thanks, Steve.

Okay. I got some staff here to help, too.

And Steve, are we restoring parking on that segment of Persia between, I think it's a mission in London?

And just for context for members of the board, that area that looks like the bottom part of a triangle where it says Persia Avenue across from it, that in the neighborhood is known locally as the Persia Triangle. And it does act as a transit hub. So as Steve was saying, on the north end, the 49 stops there. On the Mission side, the 14, 14R stops there. It's a major hub for a lot of people folks transitioning from different lines and connecting to different parts of the city. So I think it's a really smart approach to start really framing the Persia Triangle as like a node of a lot of just tran

I think there's a bus. You're consolidating some stops there?

of folks walking down. Do you have conceptual designs that just show, like, from University to San Bruno, just what the treatments are going to be there? Again, just to understand how students and, I guess, faculty and other folks are going to, how this is going to change their transit experience.

And for bus stop removals, Steve, I just want to understand what this means for community members and maybe even some faculty. Does this mean that we're restoring parking in those areas? When we remove a stop, do we add parking?

Oh, I see, I see. So parking's going to, got it.

Now the other intersection, Paul and San Bruno.

Got it. And so on that corner of Mansell and San Bruno, is that where the negative 4 is at? Thank you.

Got it. OK. That's super helpful. Thank you so much, Steve. And zoomed out, do you have a conceptual design of just where the parking loss is going to be throughout this phase of the project?

From a high level then, would you say that there are certain areas that have a clustering of parking loss or is it really spread out throughout the whole project?

we're not trying to extend that bulb all the way to the back door of the bus got it thank you Steve my next question not really a question but just a moment for you all to elevate this I did want to just get a better window of your outreach engagement process with the community perhaps Brian can come up but just wanted to to get just like a perspective of what was it like to engage community members in this phase of the project I understand for phase one We had really robust outreach and engagement with students. And we saw some of them today from Lowell High School, from SI even. Just wanted

And Brian, Steve mentioned this in his presentation, too. It seems like there is a piece of this project that needs a little bit more outreach and engagement as it pertains to the bike element of a piece of the project. I think it's in the Bayview or in the Portola area. What's the plan after we make our decision today? What's the plan to re-engage folks and to keep that conversation going?

I just want to thank you all for just the outreach and engagement process that you did on this phase of the project. It seems like it was varied. It seems like it tackled a lot of different age groups. And this neighborhood or these neighborhoods are incredibly diverse in culture, in age groups, and just life experiences. And it seems like you really made a concerted effort to try to meet folks where they're at. And as we implement this piece of the project, it's only going to necessitate even more outreach and engagement, because it doesn't feel real for folks until they actually see curbs ge

I would definitely emphasize working with our merchant community during this phase of the process, and especially all the different school administrators as well. Just make sure that we have close contacts with folks at Lick, at Burden, at June Jordan, like all the different schools that this route serves. because those are the writers and those are the folks that are going to be the most impacted. And we have a lot of commercial activity in these areas too that might feel the impacts once this becomes a real life project that they're seeing implemented in their communities and might want to t

Thank you, Vice Chair Kahina. Director Wise, did you have something for us?

Thank you. That is very helpful. Director Chen?

Well, I have similar concerns, and I have a thought about how we might be able to address the concerns. So I don't know if... Oh, sure.

Most of our conversation is around one intersection and around a couple of issues at that intersection, inclusive of the fact that there is a commitment to do more outreach around bike lanes. I think there's some widespread concern over the timing of that. I think everybody wants these things to happen sooner rather than later. And as it relates to the bike lanes, I think we certainly would like for that evaluation to happen quickly. At the same time, we're hearing concerns about a small business, and what I think is a very reasonable small business concern at the specific intersection of San

And with the homework of coming back to us with bike improvements for San Bruno Avenue as well.

So Director Hinze has been waiting quite a while. And I don't know, Director Felder, if you have other comments. But just to ask on the proposal that's being floated here, I have a couple of thoughts. One question is putting a 90-day timeline on it. I have a suspicion that if Director Kirschbaum was here, she might feel a little concerned about, I mean, I don't know if the 90 days is a, it's just a timeline.

It feels like a reasonable timeline to me, but if it had to be 120 days, I wouldn't object. I don't want to get beyond much beyond that, but

So approximately 90 days or as soon as close to 90 days as is required.

And the other thing that I would add to what I think is amounting to some direction from the board, not a formal change to the legislation, is I understood from your presentation that the outreach to the community in this particular area came later in the process. And I feel like I heard from you a wish that perhaps there could have been more time for that. And I would say that perhaps this grants your wish and the additional outreach.

And I just want to caution that there may be no alternatives that are feasible. I would be eager to hear more about potential bus stop changes. Look again maybe at going around the corner and what are the trade-offs there. When you were briefing me on this, we talked about perhaps The bus stop could be mid-block at Olmstead on that side. There is a piece of curb there that is not parking currently. I mean, it probably involves some loss of parking, but...

Yeah. So something to use 90 days to investigate. But it may be that staff comes back and says there are no alternatives. But I would just say that the bike lane improvements and the repaving that's occurring in a year, I also, having biked that stretch, not happily, I would concur with the public comment that it's needed. And just a lot of shared concerns around business operations for the business at that corner and recognition of what that business has brought to that community. It was something that you said to me as well, and supporting that business if possible. So anyway, Director Hinze

Help us understand that a little bit better. So you've already undertaken a CEQA process for the project as is. if there were changes that resulted from the additional outreach and your additional analysis, there would, that would, the benefit of that would be a better project, but the downside is that there would be another process that would need to be undertaken.

Well, if that downside turned out to be, you know, too great of a barrier, that would be another result that you would be reporting to us, I presume.

Well, I'm prepared to move the item with the caveat that I described. So I put forward a motion to appreciation for the assistance of the city attorney on this, but a motion to approve the item with the direction to staff to return to the SFMTA board in approximately 90 days and before implementation with an analysis about other options for the proposed changes. at San Bruno and Paul, including small business concerns and bicycle improvements to San Bruno Avenue.

I don't know. Okay. All right. I'll move that.

Second. Very good. Secretary Silva, can you please call the roll?

Thank you. I propose we take a break. I have 10 to 4. Why don't we come back at 4.05? 4.05. Thank you. SFGov TV.

Thank you. Secretary Silva, please call the next item.

Thank you very much, CFO Mahorder. I would like to open public comment for this item for two minutes each.

Thank you. Let's close public comment. Director Henderson.

Thank you, Chair, and thank you for the presentation, Bree. I have one two-part question. Sure. I was hoping that you could just explain the slight over-expenditure in the salaries category, and if you can attribute that to any, like maybe the special events that have happened or something like that. And then also the part two of that is, do you expect to that even with the hiring of the transit fare inspectors and some of the other more essential positions, that you expect that category to still level out at around what you budgeted by the end of the fiscal year?

I am curious about what our thinking is around consumer sentiment. You were talking about the uncertainty around gas price and things like that. Do we think that we might be able to offset that in the sense that people will choose transit over driving and parking because of the cost of gas?

And also, just to harken back to Director Wise's director's report talking about customer experience improvements at the garages, Those, in the slide that was talking about citations versus revenue, I mean, we'd always rather collect the revenue in a way that doesn't make people upset. So properly parking and paying at a meter is, whether people believe it or not, the preferable route. So I wonder if that growing revenue at the garages in particular, because it's a more seamless experience, is just another virtuous trend that we'd love to see grow. So those were all my comments. Vice Chair Kah

Thank you, Chair. Thank you so much for your presentation, Bri. I had a question about, in slide five, that other category. I see that it went up by, or the delta is six there, a positive six, which is great. Curious to know if something I've seen anecdotally is a lot of bus wraps as of late. I'm curious to see if that is in this other category, or if you can explain just what the financial strategy is for that particular work stream.

Got it. And I don't know if perhaps, director-wise, you could speak to this, or somebody from comms can. But I'm just really curious about that strategy, because I see it often, especially at the intersection of Mission and Geneva. A lot of buses are wrapped now. So I'm just curious to see if what I'm seeing anecdotally is actually what's happening in our books. We're actually seeing that interest has increased by 50%, by 60%. It seems like almost 80% from my anecdotal perspective. But I don't know if you could speak to that, Victoria.

Got it. Thank you so much. And I think, you know, I just really appreciate that, and I don't want, this is not a knock on your presentation, that it's a boring presentation, but I think that's an exciting thing, because to be in this position, just like last year, there was a lot more conversation about where we were and how we were tracking things, but I think it's also a testament to to just how great you've retooled your team to do a lot of the work that happens behind the scenes to make sure that we're getting our reports in a more accurate state, that we're tracking and projecting in a wa

Thank you so much, Brie. Secretary Silva, please call the next item.

Very good. Public comment is now closed for this item.

Yes, I certainly would. May I have a motion and a second? So moved. Second. Secretary Silva, please call the roll.

Thank you, colleagues, staff, and members of the public. We are now adjourned. Our next meetings will be on June 2nd and 16th.