Rescue Muni

SF Streetsblog has a detailed article on proposed mid-year budget cuts to be discussed at the MTA board next week. Among the cuts and fare hikes, none of which are pretty, are some particularly bad ideas: jacking up F-line fares to $5 and requiring express and cable car riders to use the new premium pass, making the citywide network much less useful to the typical rider (and providing a perverse disincentive to riders to take faster, more efficient services).

Some proposals appear to be helpful, like charging employees for parking, but it appears that most of these budget cuts will hit riders, who are already paying more starting this month, square in the face. Meanwhile, MTA operators just received a bonus – not for performance, but because the voters mandated a pay minimum in 2007 Prop A.

You can comment on these proposals at the regularly scheduled MTA Board meeting on Tuesday, January 19, at 2 pm. Of course the meeting is being held during normal business hours, so if you work for a living, you might want to email your comments to the board.

The Mercury News has a special report on revenue shortfalls and service cuts in Bay Area mass transit – not news for anyone who follows it closely but still very serious stuff. Especially devastating is a graphic showing just how slow and expensive common regional commutes are on transit. (This is one reason we support expanded bus rapid transit service – faster service for lower cost, as LA MTA has done very successfully.)

The SFMTA, after raising fares, cutting positions, and slashing service, is asking its vendors to reduce their invoices by 3% or more to help close the nearly $22m deficit.  The SFMTA has until June to close its budget gap.

This is your last chance to let us know what you think about the December 5th service changes by filling out our survey! The last day to submit a survey will be January 2nd, after which we will crunch the numbers and find out if you, the rider, think these changes have been satisfactory, or less than satisfactory.

The SF Appeal reports inbound delays of 20 minutes or more on the Market Street subway. As usual the cause is problems with the train control system (which caused meltdowns way back in 1998). Check NextMuni before you ride!