#freemuni

Tuesday, December 4, 2012

Like a slow bus forced to lurch through heavy traffic (The 30-Stockton comes to mind), the two-year battle by youth activists for a Free Muni for Youth program successfully reached its desired destination Tuesday.

The Metropolitan Transportation Agency voted unanimously  to spend an estimated $1.6 million in federal funds dedicated to improving transit performance and ridership on a 16-month program offering free Fast Passes to low-income San Franciscans under 18.

The program is scheduled to begin in March and continue through June 2014.

Youth activists, headed by the group POWER, have been pushing for a free youth fare program for nearly two years with the backing of Supervisor David Campos.

“Many families will benefit from this program,” said Elena Martinez, a parent supporting the plan. “Thank you for investing in our children.”

Last April, as part of the budget process, the MTA board rejected the idea of giving a free ride to all kids but tentatively OK’d plans for a program for low-income youth. That approval depended on getting up to $5 million in funds from the regional Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which declined the request out of concerns of regional fairness.

But last month, the commission gave the MTA a $6.7 million allotment of federal funds that can be used for ridership-boosting programs or for repairs and maintenance to improve system performance.  Those funds prompted some members of the Board of Supervisors, who don’t officially have any say over Muni operations, to oppose the free-fare program and instead devote all of the funding toward better maintenance of Muni.

MTA chief Ed Reiskin recommended splitting the money to fund both free fares and light-rail vehicle maintenance with the latter getting $5.1 million.

“It’s a balancing of different needs,” he said. “We have the needs of the system and we have the needs of the community.”

Director Malcolm Heinicke voiced concern about funding the free fare program when Muni has so many maintenance needs but voted for the program because he said the agency had made a commitment to proceed if it got funding from the commission.

Wednesday, December 5, 2012 

After two years of ups and downs, The City’s low-income youths and their families and advocates can finally take a deep breath, relax and enjoy the moment.

On Tuesday, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s board of directors accepted $1.6 million in regional grant funding that will clear the way for a 16-month pilot project to provide free Muni service to 40,000 low-income youths. The program is scheduled to begin in March.

“Not only does this address the immediate needs of getting our youths to schools, but it makes a strong statement that our local transit agency values young people and their families,” said Supervisor David Campos, a vocal advocate of the program.

The program was originally approved by Muni directors in April, but that authorization was contingent upon the agency receiving $4 million from the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, the region’s lead transit financing agency. The MTC rejected the request in July, leaving the program in doubt.

When $6.7 million in regional money became available in October, many local lawmakers — notably Supervisor Scott Wiener — argued that all those funds should be used for shoring up and maintaining Muni’s beleaguered fleet.

But Tuesday, Muni directors defied those wishes, instead deciding to dedicate $5.6 million to rehabilitate light-rail vehicles. Jaron Browne, a community organizer for POWER, one of the leading organizations that pushed for the youth program, said there were times when the effort appeared doomed, but advocates stayed committed.

“We weren’t willing to accept that it wasn’t possible, and that hope and courage really paid off,” Browne said.

Despite Tuesday’s outcome, opponents of the program have plenty of ammunition — considering Muni’s woeful performance over the past few days.

An electrical shock to the system’s light-rail network shut down underground service at 6 p.m. Monday. Just before that, an F-Market streetcar struck and injured a wheelchair-using pedestrian. The victim’s condition as of Tuesday was unknown. Both the incidents resulted in major delays.

On Sunday morning, flooding at the Church Street station halted service for several hours. And on Saturday night, a pedestrian was killed at the Mission Rock stop on the T-Third Street line, although it’s still unclear if a Muni vehicle was involved, said transportation agency chief Ed Reiskin.

“I’m very concerned with our system needs, and in the end, the bulk of this funding expenditure is going toward maintenance,” said Malcolm Heinicke of the board of directors. “We feel that we made a commitment to the free Muni program before and this is our way of maintaining that obligation.”

The board of directors also moved forward with a study about bringing up Central Subway tunneling equipment at a derelict theater on Powell Street. The agency originally proposed to extract it on Columbus Avenue, but that plan drew opposition because of its construction impacts in North Beach.

Click here to read "SF MUNI should give students a free ride" on SFGATE.   

SF Muni should give students a free ride

Thursday, March 8, 2012

Letting students ride Muni for free is an appealing idea that City Hall is all but certain to adopt. Eliminating fares makes it easier for kids to get to school, cuts the bills for parents and helps reduce traffic congestion in San Francisco.

But the idea means a fare-box hit of $4 million to $7.9 million for the under-funded transit system facing a $23 million deficit. The money factor is giving the Metropolitan Transportation Agency, which runs Muni, pause while it searches for the right mix of funds and rules for the program.

The idea, which originated with Supervisor David Campos, calls for youths up to 18 to ride free with a Clipper transit card. A majority of his fellow supervisors have endorsed the plan, which is now before the transit agency for a final decision.

Lining up the funds is major worry. Muni has $1.4 million from low-income student program with another $4 million possible from regional transit funds. The balance might be squeezed from other public sources and private donations.

Also, any money spent to subsidize student fares would come at the expense of other Muni projects that add bus seats, vehicles and more service. Though the free youth rides are billed as a trial program, it would be nearly impossible to cancel once it got under way.

That's why a good idea needs to treated carefully. There may be reasonable tweaks to consider. Students could be restricted to school hours and weekdays as they are in cities with similar plans. Free rides could be restricted to needy students only. These rules, however, could be hard to enforce and overly complicated, factors that Campos says argue for 24/7 free rides for youths.

On balance, the concept is a positive one and worth trying. There are 36,000 daily riders under 18, and several thousand more could be coaxed out of cars if the plan swung into place.

That's a win for convenience, schools, traffic congestion and social disparities. Now it's up to transit planners to find both the money and the operating rules that will make the program a success. It's a challenge the city can and should meet.

http://sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2012/03/08/EDQH1NH9SQ.DTL