These are archived headlines from the RESCUE MUNI home page for 2006.

The MTA director discusses revenues, expenses and potential changes to Muni service in a Business Times interview (subscription required).

Supervisor McGoldrick has proposed legislation to discount monthly fast passes for Muni riders between the ages of 18 and 24. It will be introduced in committee Dec. 4, 4pm in Room 263 of City Hall.

Rescue Muni-endorsed candidates for supervisor Bevan Dufty and Sophie Maxwell won in the Nov. 7 election. Voters also approved state Proposition 1A and defeated Proposition 90.

The TEP is essentially an audit of the entire Muni system. The first public workshops will take place:

In the Richmond, Sat., Dec. 9 from 9am to noon at Self Help for the Elderly Senior Center, 5757 Geary (at 22nd Ave.), accessible via lines 38, 29 and 1

Downtown, Mon., Dec. 11 from 4:30 to 7:30pm at the Bill Graham Civic Auditorium, 99 Grove (btwn. Polk and Larkin), accessible via all Metro lines, the 9, 19, 21 and 49

In the Bayview, Tue., Dec. 12 from 4:30 to 7:30pm at the Southeast Community Facility's Alex Pitcher Conference Room, 1800 Oakdale Ave. (two blocks west of 3rd St.), accessible via the 15, 23 and 24

Rescue Muni endorses:

Emily Drennen for BART Board (District 8)

Doug Chan (District 4), Rob Black (District 6), Bevan Dufty (District 8), and Sophie Maxwell (District 10) for Supervisor

San Francisco Proposition E, the parking tax increase, and state Proposition 1A, devoting gas tax revenues to transportation
Rescue Muni opposes Proposition 90, which would restrict the use of zoning as well as eminent domain.

Central Subway

Tuesday, Oct. 24, 6:30-8:30pm, at SPUR, 312 Sutter (at Grant), 5th Floor

Thursday, Oct. 26, 6:30-8:30pm, at the Salvation Army, 360 4th St. (at Harrison)
Geary BRT

Thursday, Nov. 2, 6-8pm, at Jones Memorial Methodist Church, 1975 Post (at Steiner)

Saturday, Nov. 4, 10am-12pm, at Self Help for the Elderly, 405 22nd Ave. (at Geary)

Saturday, Nov. 4, 2:30-4:30pm, at Tenderloin Community School, 627 Turk (at Polk)

Learn more about bus rapid transit, the Geary Corridor study and how you can support BRT on Geary—while nibbling on delicious snacks:

Sunday, Oct. 22, 2pm, at 1542 Broderick (near Geary and Divisadero)

Monday, Oct. 30, 6pm, at Café Velo Rouge, Arguello & McAllister
At the Oct. 30 event, Café Velo Rouge will be offering wonderful drip coffee for free and fabulous savory pies for sale. Space is limited, so please RSVP to Sarah Karlinsky at [email protected]. Also, if you'd like to help hand out fliers for the upcoming Geary BRT meetings (see above), download copies from GoGeary.com or email Sarah at [email protected].

At our August General Meeting we voted to endorse the following candidates for Board of Supervisors in the November 7 election: Doug Chan in District 4, Rob Black in District 6, Bevan Dufty in District 8, and Sophie Maxwell in District 10. We made no endorsement in District 2. We also voted to endorse San Francisco Proposition E, the parking tax increase, and state Proposition 1A, devoting gas tax revenues to transportation, and to oppose Proposition 90, which would restrict the use of zoning as well as eminent domain.

Please come to our General Meeting Tuesday, August 22 for a Candidates Forum. This forum allows our membership to meet candidates that are running for supervisor in districts that are up for election. Candidates will have roughly 10 minutes each to speak about transit issues.

We will have ballots at the forum that you can fill out and rank your preferences.

Steering Committee Recommendations: The Steering Committee has recommended a YES vote on proposition E (Parking Tax Ordinance (pdf)) and a NO vote on state proposition 90 (concerning land use and eminent domain). Other measures and candidates do not have a Steering Committee recommendation.

When: Tuesday, August 22
Time: 6 pm
Where: SPUR, 312 Sutter, 5th Floor
Transit: 2, 3, 4, 30, 45, or Muni/BART to Powell Station

Refreshments will be served - see you there!

Please join Rescue Muni, Mayor Newsom and Supervisor McGoldrick this Saturday for a Richmond Town Hall Meeting to discuss Geary BRT. It's important that as many people as possible show their support for this vital but endangered project.

When: Saturday, July 29th, 2006
Time: 12:00 PM to 2:00 PM
Where: Presidio Middle School (450 30th Ave between Geary and Clement)
Transit: 38-Geary

Visit www.GearyBRT.org for additional details.

A new coalition has been formed to support Geary Bus Rapid Transit. Rescue Muni is a long-time supporter of Geary BRT (with a rail ready design). We urge everyone to join!

At our General Meeting we voted to endorse in the primary Janet Reilly for Assembly District 12 and No on C (Appointing Elected Officials to the Transbay Joint Powers Authority). We also voted to make an early endorsement of Emily Drennen for BART Board district 8.

Have you wondered why NextBus is not showing any info for your line? SFist has the story. Rescue Muni of course urges Muni and NextBus to restore all available data to the NextBus website and Google maps.

Mayor Newsom vetoed the bill endorsed by Rescue Muni and many others to close a portion of JFK Drive to cars on Saturdays. We urge the Supervisors to override this veto. Only one Supervisor who voted no (Dufty, Alioto-Pier, Elsbernd, Ma) needs to change his/her vote to make Healthy Saturdays happen. Contact your Supervisor to urge an override vote!

The Geary Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project needs your help. The SF County Transportation Authority (TA) is working on a study of this project now. Currently, the process to improve transit along Geary is getting a fierce backlash from a small but vocal group of individuals who do not support rapid transit.

We need YOU to attend the Citizens' Advisory Committee (CAC) so that voices that support Geary Rapid Transit are heard. Please attend the next Geary CAC meeting:
When: This Thursday, May 18 at 6 pm.
Where: SF County Transportation Authority, 100 Van Ness Ave., 26th floor.

Speak up in support of effective rapid transit and urge the SFCTA not to water down this important project!

Mayor Newsom and advocates announced support last week for a bill to postpone the high speed rail bond to 2008, but also allocate $113 million to continue engineering work on high speed rail and the Transbay Terminal and downtown extension project. Rescue Muni strongly supports this project and welcomes this effort to keep it going.

Our next General Meeting will be on Monday, May 15 at 6 pm. Agenda includes:

ENDORSEMENTS of candidates and measures for the June primary
Updates on Transbay Terminal/High Speed Rail, Muni Metro closure and Geary Bus Rapid Transit projects

The meeting will be at World Affairs Council, 312 Sutter, 2nd floor (same building as SPUR), at 6 pm. Refreshments will be served. See you there!

Update: The Examiner has an editorial on Muni's finances.

The MTA submitted a balanced budget to the Supervisors this year, but in future years the structural deficit will rear its ugly head again. Read the Chronicle and Examiner reports this week.

Update: The Board of Supervisors will vote this Tuesday whether to extend car-free space (just like Sundays) to Saturdays too for a 6-month trial. We strongly support this legislation, which will bring more people to the Park to enjoy safe, healthy recreation. Healthy Saturdays is good for the environment, public health, and the local economy. It is good for the museums in the Park (based on their higher attendance figures on car-free days) and good for access for persons w/ disabilities (as the legislation expands access on weekends by adding disabled parking and drop-off zones and by expanding the free shuttle in the Park.)

The Supervisors are likely to pass this measure, but Mayor Newsom needs to sign it for it to go into effect. Please contact the Mayor and urge him to support car free Saturdays, and the use of mass transit, in Golden Gate Park!

Please also contact your Supervisor and urge a YES vote! See our letter in support.

Submit your data now from the 2006 Muni Riders' Survey. If you would like to submit via emailing us an Excel sheet, please see the survey page for details.

Update: The April 27 meeting has been cancelled. Please attend the next meeting on May 18.

The Geary Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project needs your help. The SF County Transportation Authority (TA) is working on a study of this project now. Currently, the process to improve transit along Geary is getting a fierce backlash from a small but vocal group of individuals who do not support rapid transit.

We need YOU to attend the Citizens' Advisory Committee (CAC) so that voices that support Geary Rapid Transit are heard. Please attend the next Geary CAC meeting:
When: This Thursday, May 18 at 6 pm.
Where: SF County Transportation Authority, 100 Van Ness Ave., 26th floor.

Speak up in support of effective rapid transit and urge the SFCTA not to water down this important project!

Mayor Newsom last week announced two nominations for the Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors. Both are excellent choices with substantial transportation experience, exactly what we advocated for in the drafting of Proposition E (1999) which created the MTA. Leah Shahum is a long-time Rescue Muni member and advocate for alternative transportation as Executive Director of the San Francisco Bicycle Coalition, and Tom Nolan is a former Executive Director of SPUR and former chair of the SamTrans board.

The Rules Committee of the Board of Supervisors will consider these nominations on Thursday, April 20, at 10 am. Please attend the hearing or contact your Supervisor to urge their confirmation. See our letter to the committee as well.

We need YOUR help to measure whether Muni reliability is getting better or worse. Download and print out the survey form and measure how long you wait for the bus or streetcar. See our 2005 results for reference.

Updated: We have a new letter to the Mayor and Supervisors urging approval of common sense parking limits to encourage transit use.

Previously: Mayor Newsom vetoed the ordinance passed by the Supervisors to limit parking in new residential buildings downtown as well as above ground parking structures. The ordinance was aimed at reducing traffic downtown and increasing public transit use (and reliability).

Rescue Muni supported this ordinance and urges Mayor Newsom and the Supervisors not to increase the amount of parking allowed in new buildings if a compromise resolution is drafted.

Rescue Muni urged the Supervisors to approve proposed limits on parking in new residential buildings, to help reduce auto traffic while also reducing the cost of housing. See our letter to the Supervisors on the subject.

We now have a PDA friendly list of all Muni lines covered by NextBus. Point your phone or PDA to www.rescuemuni.org/nextbus-pda.html and you can access real time info for all trolley coach, streetcar, and cable car lines. Note that except for 22, 24, 33, and streetcar lines, times may not be considered official. (For Google Maps of these lines read below.)

SPUR published a major report this month on Muni's structural deficit, identifying major funding shortfalls that will occur unless new sources are found. (report in pdf) Rescue Muni supports efforts to speed up service, allowing Muni to to run more efficiently, such as SPUR's Faster Muni Campaign, as well as additional sources of funding for mass transit in San Francisco.

Muni's FY 2007 budget includes an increase in funding for fare inspectors to prevent fare evasion. Rescue Muni urges that inspectors be deployed on the buses as well as on streetcars, to make sure that everyone pays his or her fair share.

New MTA Director Nat Ford told the Examiner that the voter-mandated goal in Proposition E (1999) of 85% on time service is realistic and achievable. We agree! Coming soon, per the news article: a study of all routes for opportunities to improve efficiency and reliability.

Update: Daily reports are back! Thanks to Muni for providing these again.

Want to see how many runs Muni missed recently? We have been posting Muni's Daily Operations Reports online. At the moment you can pull the latest from a directory - sort by date. Thanks to David Vartanoff for organizing this effort!

Updated - new date: Our Service Expansion Committee reconvenes Monday, February 6 at 6:30 PM at SPUR (312 Sutter, 5th Floor). We will discuss recent developments concerning Geary Rail and BRT, Central Subway, and more.

NextBus maps using Google are available now for all trolley coach lines as well as the cable car and light rail lines:
Trolley coach: 1 3 4 5 6 7 14 21 22 24 30 31 33 41 45 49
Streetcar: F
Light rail: J K L M N S
Cable car: Powell/Mason Powell/Hyde California
Note that these are test maps only, so don't count on them to be complete, but they do show more info than the official NextBus site.