SFBG: Yes on A, No on H
Less than two weeks before the election, the SF Bay Guardian has published a detailed editorial urging voters to vote for transit, not traffic – Yes on A and No on H.
We agree! Don’t forget to mail in your absentee ballot or vote on November 6, and get involved at the Transit not Traffic campaign.
Like most arguments for A and against H, this article contains nonsense on both sides. If the case for A and against H is so good, why not tell the truth and show some facts. Feeding me BS makes me want to vote the opposite way.
Just one example of the hogwash in this article: “New parking turns into more cars, more cars create congestion, congestion slows down bus service, slow buses frustrate riders, who get back into their cars — and the cycle continues. It’s transit against traffic, and the stakes couldn’t be higher.†“Traffic has also steadily slowed Muni, which often shares space with cars, to an average of 8 mph, making it the slowest transit service in the country. Buses now take about twice as long as cars to make the same trip, which discourages their use.â€
There is no evidence that congestion has anything to do with discouraging the use of buses. It may in fact encourage use. The truth is that all other factors being equal Muni travels at exactly the same speed as cars. If a bus did not need to stop for passengers it would take a bus the same time to make the same trip. With transit first lanes Muni travels faster.
Congestion is not the issue. On a congestion free street the trip by car can be very much faster than Muni. As congestion increases, the time gap between cars and Muni decreases not increases. Someone pointed out in an earlier article that in a congested area walking can be faster than transit. If you are on transit you have the option of getting off and walking. If you are driving you must stay in traffic with your car.
It would be nice to have more facts and less opinion. I am not persuaded that H is bad or that A is good.
Of course there would be no “new parking” without new building a fact often overlooked. Also no one seems to differentiate between residential and commuter parking.