Hello San Francisco, I'm calling into the @sfmta_muni board meeting today. There's a packed agenda today:

- Balboa Reservoir project
- Bike lane on Valencia
- Bike+transit lanes on Beale
- New rider info system to replace NextMuni
- Transit safety plan

Chair BORDEN: Press event last week with supes Peskin and Preston announcing we'll be delaying our fare increases, and looking for a way to fill out funding gap. Supes dropped their charter amendment.

Time for @jeffreytumlin's director's report

TUMLIN: Another round of Muni service improvements on Saturday, alleviating crowding on highest ridership lines. 8, 9, 14 have higher frequency than ever to serve essential workers. Restarted 30, extended 43, some other changes.

TUMLIN: Likely the last improvements before August, when we hope to bring back light rail. Expecting a long-term loss of 20-30% of service hours, and if we don't find an alternative to social distancing, that's another 67% loss of capacity

TUMLIN: US is the only country relying on distancing, and only on transit, not on airplanes. Other countries are running transit without distancing.

Pre-covid, Muni carred 760k riders/day. 20-30% service reduction is equivalent to losing all lanes on the GG and SM bridges.

Add in the 67% reduction due to distancing, and it's like losing the Bay Bridge and Richmond Bridge too.

For August, we will rethink the rail system. Has been the most unreliable, won't come back the same way as before.

Hoping to use West Portal crossover to run 3-car shuttles between Embarcadero and West Portal. Looking at terminating the J at Market Street, to improve the reliability of the subway. It's also just faster for riders to walk down into the subway.

Also looking at interlining the K and L, so they wouldn't go into the subway. Ks would turn into Ls at West Portal and vice versa. This introduces high frequency lines with transfers.

TUMLIN: Highways and streets downtown are congested, can't take more cars. Transit capacity is also lower. So we need to invest in the bikeway system. Over the past few weeks we've implemented 24 miles of Slow Streets. Attracted people on bikes we've never seen before

Also opened up Great Highway, JFK, Shelley, etc. Expecting 10 more miles of Slow Streets or closures in the next weeks. Built a protected bike lane on 7th, starting work on Townsend, soon starting on the Embarcadero, and building a bike lane on the 3rd Street bridge this year

Meter enforcement started this week with warnings, actual enforcement next week. Working with the Mayor's office on outdoor seating on sidewalk and in parking lanes, got ~150 applications for each, and 13 for full street closures.

Parking garages have mostly reopened, now with contactless payments. Supported taxis, waived fees for 2 years, lowered insurance requirements. Have advocated for loan deferral for medallion holders. Pushing taxis for city worker trips. Impressed by success of Essential Trip Card

TUMLIN: We made a tough and important call on our relationship with SFPD. Police are key partners, work with them daily to ensure safety of riders and operators. At the same time, the image of police in riot gear stepping off Muni buses was jarring for many, esp POC

TUMLIN: Will not be transporting police officers to anti-police brutality protests. Continuing to work with Chief Scott as he works to reform his department, as I work to reform MTA.

EAKEN: Re rearranging rail lines, you said not everyone wants to get to a job downtown. Have we run scenarios for when commuting to downtown is expected to resume?

TUMLIN: The last stage of the recovery plan is when office buildings fill again. But who gets to telecommute?

People in downtown office buildings are telecommuting, they tend to be more affluent and whiter. Essential workers are going different places, to neighborhood commercial districts and hospitals. So ridership on the 14 is nearly up to normal, while it's down 80% systemwide

Same on the 8, travel between Vis Valley and Chinatown is extraordinarily high. For those reasons we're having to direct our resources to very high frequency on those lines, and doing headway management. But this makes transfering more convenient than it has been in decades!

TUMLIN: Transferring between 5-minute lines is fine, transferring between 20-minutes is terrible

HEMINGER: During SIP you improvised that @GoldenGateBus could pick up local passengers. Can we let other operators do that too?

TUMLIN: Have been thinking of partnering with other bus agencies. But they're having even worse financial challenges than us. @rideact has reduced Transbay service. The crisis has brought operators together, so what was previously impossible was decided in half an hour.

That's what happened with the GGT arrangement, we decided to just try it. Have not seen a lot of riders taken advantage of it though. Also not a lot of opportunity for working with @SamTrans because they've withdrawn most of their service.

TUMLIN: But we now have a forum at the blue ribbon committee to look into fare integration and making things more seamless. In other regions, that's been done by pouring in federal money, not sure how we can fund this without cutting core service

BRINKMAN: Love the changes to the J and the K/L, will help with the backup at Duboce. What sort of outreach will we do? Can't do it on the trains because the lines aren't running. What do we see the frequency of the 3-car shuttles being, for people transferring from the J?

TUMLIN: Have been rethinking outreach during the covid era, also for the non-covid era. Outreach in SF tends to be dominated by a small number of people who show up all the time, or are angry or focused on a single issue. Hard to involve the actual users of the system.

Impossible to involve people who would benefit from a change but don't yet exist, or don't know it's coming. The conventional engagement process makes projects take a long time. What we learned from quick-build bike lanes is that if projects are quick and temporary...

...we can do engagement while doing the project, which is more substantive. That's what we'll do during the emergency. Interlining the K and L is an experiment, if it doesn't work we'll do something else. Trying it out will let us learn a lot quickly.

We are running the L bus, we can engage riders there. Already engaging merchants on West Portal Ave. For moving stops, we can go into the field and mock stuff up. But it'll all be painted plywood, so we can change things easily. We can't slow down, have to accelerate

We're acting out of a genuine emergency, but we're also trying to change the way we engage the public, especially the voices we're otherwise the least likely to hear from.

BRINKMAN: Love the idea that we don't know who isn't riding the train, they're phantom riders

TUMLIN: Re the subway, we know what the vulnerabilities of the system are, but we don't now what the system can do until we try it. Vulnerabilities are at the Duboce portal and the Embarcadero turnaround. Removing the J at Duboce dramatically improves reliability.

But it also means the only train that turns at the Embarcadero is the shuttle. So it theoretically completely solves our Embarcadero turnaround problem. We could improve reliability, and frequency as well, and get a lot more capacity out of our subway.

TUMLIN: We've never used the subway capacity well. In theory we did, when we coupled trains, but that didn't work well.

BORDEN: Do we know when SamTrans will be resuming downtown service?

TUMLIN: Don't know, SamTrans and Caltrain are harder hit than we are.

BORDEN: You said we have to talk about funding for seamlessness, but the GGT/Muni arrangement can stay for now?

TUMLIN: Yes. To make some of the stop changes permanent we'd need approval later.

Time for public comment!

SPEAKER: It's important to do meaningful public outreach even during this time. Rail service changes should be brought to the CAC, an on line forum or webinar as with the budget, and notices should be put up on vehicles.

Many people would have to transfer from the L at West Portal, there isn't an accessible stop there. Wheelchair/stroller passengers would have to transfer at St Francis Circle. J riders will be unhappy about having to transfer.

TUMLIN: There will be substantial engagement and outreach between now and August, I just like talking out loud about what we're thinking about.

NEXT SPEAKER: Jason Henderson, Hayes Valley Nbhd Assn. Tumlin is spot on that essential worker traffic isn't going downtown

HENDERSON: North-south bike access in the Hayes Valley / Hub / Mission area is critical. Businesses will open, essential workers will have to travel here, and the transit capacity just isn't there. 18-22 N-S lanes on Franklin, Gough, Octavia, Laguna, bigger than I-80 in Berkeley

HENDERSON: These streets will fill up with cars as traffic comes back. Laguna has become a freeway access road. Will not be inviting to cycling. Critical to connect North Mission through this part of the city.

NEXT SPEAKER: Rail plan sounds great, look forward to seeing it implemented. Many other agencies list their board meetings on their buses, suggest doing that. Please run more and longer buses on the 30, it's a core line. Run shuttles on core sections of routes.

NEXT SPEAKER: Thanks Tumlin for taxi comments. Have not seen a lot of ETC passengers, they're mostly during the day. Re essential ride home program: word has not gotten out enough. I had a passenger from a hospital not even know the program existed.

NEXT SPEAKER: 12 Folsom was reinstated to accommodate grocery outlets in Chinatown. But we also need it in the Mission, have seniors using the line and grocery stores along it. When will it be reinstated?

NEXT SPEAKER: Support more bike lanes and slow streets. Looking forward to the subway changes. Can learn from other cities on running a high frequency subway, like the Lexington line in NYC.

ME: Bring back the Vehicle License Fee tax measure that almost happened in 2014. The Board was pressured into repealing Sunday parking meters and then the measure was dropped. We're only now recovering from that damage. State legislation never expired, so let's bring back the VLF

NEXT SPEAKER: Think separating light rail and subway is visionary. Curious what it would take to add a 4th car to the subway shuttle. In the future, can we hold an MTA Board meeting on a Slow Street or Great Highway? Meet people where they are.

SPEAKER: How much money could a congestion charge raise? Could we have tiered congestion charge zones? Re bikeways, make the Great Walkway permanent, add bike lanes on 11th, 14th, to SF State, and over Twin Peaks

NEXT SPEAKER: Would like to see more bikeways to Lake Merced. Make the Great Walkway permanent. Agree with the rail changes, and engagement while piloting. Someone asked for robust outreach prior to changes, I think piloting is the most effective

NEXT SPEAKERS: Operator at SFMTA, expressing concern after learning the agency canceled the Back First contract. Was a very successful program to prolong health of operators. I've really been helped by both Back First and Road to Fitness.

SPEAKER: Wellness programs are on hold during the pandemic, but it would be good to bring it back.

NEXT SPEAKER: Compliment MTA on ambitious plans for protected bikeways and transit-only lanes. Sidewalk dining is a great pilot, but tables are blocking the sidewalk.

SPEAKER: Take away parking spaces and create parklets so we can continue sidewalk dining with ADA-accessible walking space. When the emergency is lifted we should have a fully protected bikeway network and a full transit-only lane network. This is the time to pilot them.

NEXT SPEAKER: Cat Carter from @SFTRU. Look forward to engaging in the blue ribbon panel about using masks vs distancing. Happy to hear 8 and 9 are higher frequencies, have to pay attention to communities. T bus is not frequent enough. Excited about the rail pilot projects.

CARTER: We wouldn't have this excitement about the Great Walkway if we hadn't just tried it. In the budget, retain Free Muni for Youth and other fare assistance programs.

End of public comment

BORDEN: Can we get an update on employee wellness programs and cuts to them?

TUMLIN: Our budget situation is dire. Highest priority is saving our workers, I don't want to lay off anyone. In order to do that we had to trim everything. I support Back First, but we had to cut stuff

TUMLIN: Because of when the contract came up for renewal, it was the first thing we canceled. More of this will happen.

Next item: CAC recommendations.

- Proactive sidewalk parking enforcement on sight
- Swiftly install temporary transit lanes
- Temporary bike/transit lanes should be prioritized w/ economic recovery and human flourishing in mind
- Improve public participation in Slow Streets

- Improve public participation in new transit-only lanes
- Better communicate new Slow Streets and transit-only lanes to the public

Next item: general public comment!

SPEAKER: Re CAC report, recommendations should be included as an attachment to the board agenda.

(Yes please! That would be great)

BORDEN: Asks Secretary to do that in the future

SPEAKER: Special meeting on the 30th for revising the budget. Hope that information will be available beforehand, on the fiscal and program implications of the revised budget. You're making heavy decisions without a lot of public engagement.

NEXT SPEAKER: Sidewalk parking is really frustrating. When you make a report, it can take 5 hours for DPT to respond. They say blocked driveways is higher priority. They don't proactively cite. Sunset and the Richmond sidewalks are covered in cars. Need to cite and tow them.

NEXT SPEAKER: Director for Back First, contracted in 2001 to address operator back injuries. Program worked really well, was expanded to diabetes, stress, etc. Black and brown workers don't have the same access to health info as white ones.

SPEAKER: Back First pays for itself. Injuries cost the agency much more. Preventing 2 injuries per month pays for it. Back First should be reinstated.

NEXT SPEAKER: Thank you for not raising fares, let's find other ways to fund Muni, not place an undue burden on fare payers

SPEAKER: Work with bikes and small scooters, also helpful for ppl with disabilities like myself

NEXT SPEAKER: My staff and I have used Back First for 15 years, have had a few back surgeries. I have two employees out with back issues today. Invaluable program.

NEXT SPEAKER: Slow Streets issue. Have asked taxi services to give us a list of them, so we can maneuver around them. The map is too complicated to figure out, especially on a phone. Still haven't gotten anything in the mail about renewing my taxi permit.

NEXT SPEAKER: When Tumlin says trade-offs, that can be construed as winners and losers. I'm concerned the winners will be the Bicycle Coalition, Vision Zero and the Transit Riders Union. It should be a win-win. Is Tumlin a public servant or a hired gun? Muni shld be for everyone

ME: Lifeline Pass had ridiculous requirements in the before times, you had to show up in person at an MTA office on a day depending on your last name. Now you don't have to renew, but new passes aren't being given out. Other programs have mail or on line applications.

See also this for my rant about the Lifeline program https://twitter.com/catrope/status/1233200679780438016

NEXT SPEAKER: Work for Muni as an operator. Back First has been vital to me.

TUMLIN: Deadlines for taxi permits and many other things have been pushed out, will revive them after the emergency, and move services on line.

Next item: consent calendar. More public comment!

SPEAKER: On item 10.1, parking meter replacement. Didn't see anything about reusing/recycling existing hardware. Make them long-lasting, so we don't have to replace them every 5 years.

NEXT SPEAKER: On item 10.1, existing meters don't seem that old, kinda disturbed that they need to be replaced already. On 10.3, support adding a plaque, thank Malcolm Heinicke for advocating for 3-car shuttles

NEXT SPEAKER: On item 10.1, after the Board of Supervisors Budget Committee meeting I'm surprised this is on the consent calendar, needs more deliberation

End of public comment

HEMINGER: What were the BoS's concerns?

TUMLIN: Our parking meters use 3G, that gets shut off in 2022. We also can't use 1935 tech in our parking meters anymore. Sync with mobile apps, reduce cost of maintenance, get better data. Old tech is not cost-effective.

BORDEN: Installation was completed in 2016, that was only 4 years ago. Are we scoping the RFP so we don't have this same problem in the future?

TOM MAGUIRE: Parking meters aren't cellphones, they're rugged, can't swap components out easily for all meters.

BORDEN: Will our next solution be more flexible?

MAGUIRE: RFP is written to allow us to be flexible about policy priorities, including extended meter hours (needs extended battery life), more complex rates, things we need for 21st century curb management

EAKEN: On item 10.2, re environmental analysis. Senator Wiener has introduced a bill (SB288) to streamline environmental analysis. Hearing about cutting Back First, and then seeing this contract. How much did cutting Back First save, and how much does this cost?

TUMLIN: Original Back First contract was for $1M, could be reduced to $500k. Maguire can speak to environmental analysis.

MAGUIRE: This contract is for a wide range of services. Direction in state policy is encouraging, we're spending less than a few years ago

In 2016 we spent $2M on an EIR for 6th Street, and by the time the project came to the Board the state law had changed and we didn't even need it anymore. But this contract is for environmental, transportation and engineering analysis. Not just CEQA busywork.

BORDEN: Would Wiener's bill reduce these costs?

MAGUIRE: Yes, it would. I've been in touch with his office for examples.

HEMINGER: Re parking meters, do we really need to buy way more single-space than multi-space meters?

MAGUIRE: 28k spaces in the city, 90% are single-space. So this is a big move in the direction you're suggesting, we'll get close to 50-50. In some places multi-space meters aren't efficient, and we also don't want to disrupt maintenance processes and customer acceptance

HEMINGER: SF seems to be an outlier, there are more multi-space meters elsewhere in the Bay Area. Is this an industry where we only get 1 or 2 bids?

MAGUIRE: I believe we'll get more than 2 bids. We'll be able to take different bids for single-space and multi-space.

MAGUIRE: Vendors are specializing, this way we'll get more bids. We have two vendors now, good chance that'll happen again.

BRINKMAN: Parking meters are important as places to lock bikes to.

BORDEN: People talked about reusing the meters, I'm a fan of MTA having our own shop, so let's look into that.

Consent calendar passes unanimously

Next item (11): Balboa Reservoir. Presentation slides: https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/reports-and-documents/2020/06/6-16-20_item_11_agreement_-_balboa_reservoir_-_slide_presentation.pdf

STAFF: 16-acre residential development on PUC property. City has negotiated a development agreement. Originally constructed for water storage, but never used, now surface parking.

STAFF: TDM plan has some interesting things, like a fleet of loaner electric cargo bikes. Considered a shuttle between the site and Balboa Park BART, but wouldn't be better than Muni service.

Project will provide up to 450 parking spaces to replace City College parking (whyyyy)

STAFF: Since we know that parking catalyzes driving trips, we don't want to make the project build more parking than is appropriate. Project will conduct a parking garage analysis and confer with MTA before building parking, and come up with an ultimate number of spaces

Project will pay a Transportation Sustainability Fee. We may need more transit service on the K, 29, 43.

Outside the process: the retaining wall will be moved back, making Ocean Ave wider. MTA is redoing the Ocean & Frida Kahlo intersection and making improvements to the K

Staff asks the board to consent to the transportation-related parts of the development agreement between the developer and the city.

BRINKMAN: We changed our TDM process a few years ago, did that work well here? How can we be sure the TDM benefits won't be value-engineered away?

STAFF: New TDM ordinance has definitely streamlined the process, projects are making decisions about how much parking to provide vs how much TDM to do to offset the impact of parking, and that really does affect what projects look like.

Re being sure we'll get the benefits: it's a binding contract, and it's also a condition of them getting their permits from Planning.

HEMINGER: Re parking, the development has 0.5 space per unit, right? And that's a minimum? [Staff: Maximum] So that's 550 spaces

And then there's the replacement parking for City College, that's 450 spaces. [Staff: maximum] Maximums are better than minimums, but that's 1000 spaces. Can you explain the sharing parking spaces plan better?

STAFF: If some residential spaces could double as public spaces during the day, those spaces would count against the 450 maximum for public spaces. Don't know yet if that will be done or how much, depends on research into what parking demand will look like

HEMINGER: How many spaces does City College have today?

STAFF: Main campus has ~2000 spaces, City College keeps those. The overflow lot where this project would be built has 1000 spaces. We've tracked parking usage for 5 years, only 200-250 of those 1000 are ever used.

STAFF: 4 weeks out of the year all 1000 spaces are full, that's the first 2 weeks of each semester. And that's because City College does not have online registration, you have to physically go there to register.

HEMINGER: If they're only using 250, why replace with 450?

STAFF: This has been one of the largest areas of community concern in the past few years --

HEMINGER: I'm sure, I used to live in Westwood Park. This is a big project, but it's a lot of parking, and when you build it it gets used. But 0.5 space/unit is better than before

STAFF: This parking analysis will let us look at the actual needs closer to the time. Maybe City College will have online registration by then, and the parking lot won't fill up the first two weeks of each semester.

EAKEN: Looks like to the residents of the project, it's providing every best practice, reducing the need for parking spaces. Re the 450 spaces, could these same kinds of amenities reduce parking needs for City College students? Through bike share, car share, etc

EAKEN: Providing that much parking, and inducing that much driving, will make it more unpleasant to walk and bike in the area.

STAFF: You're absolutely right. City College is working on their own TDM plan, a lot of opportunities to support people not driving.

The directors are done asking questions, it's time for public comment.

SPEAKER: Well thought-out project, glad to see bike share and car share. Since it's family-oriented, kids will go to schools in the area, and the 29 is already full of students, so look at a 29 Rapid.

NEXT SPEAKER: Avalon Bay rep (developer for this project together with Bridge Housing). Sings the praises of the project and lists the benefits. Will be careful to provide the right amount of parking. We're funding some street projects, including on Frida Kahlo Way

NEXT SPEAKER: Support the agreement, but ask the Board of Supervisors to remove the commuter parking garage, or at least prohibit it from offering discounted/multi-day parking passes like you do in downtown. Publish plans for K quick-build improvements ASAP, fix St Francis Circle

NEXT SPEAKER: City College has had online registration, they had problems when moving to new software. Problems with parking studies not looking at enough times of day and year. Don't look at pandemic parking demand. Delay the project until it's clear how impacts can be mitigated

SPEAKER: Where is the MTA plan to mitigate these impacts? There is no plan right now, and not enough funding. Access to City College will be impacted, why no agreement with them? How much will the 43 be delayed? With low-income residents, will there be Muni svc for night shifts?

NEXT SPEAKER: Urge MTA not to approve this project until concerns are addressed. TDM lacks performance measures, no accountability. Smoke and mirrors. $10M is going into the general fund, not this area. Was the agreement written by city staff or an outside land use attorney?

NEXT SPEAKER: Jon Winston, chair of the Balboa Reservoir CAC, support the project. Glad we're delaying determining the number of parking spaces. Need to improve Ocean Ave. Right now people find it easier to drive to school. Widening Ocean will let us have protected bike lanes

WINSTON: Need to give people the option of taking sustainable transportation. Need to update the Ocean Ave plan to include transit-only lanes and signal priority.

NEXT SPEAKER: On behalf of @SFHAC, in strong support. Opportunity to add 1100 homes, 550 below market rate

SPEAKER: Walking from the reservoir to the BART station is a disaster, this project will fund fixing that.

NEXT SPEAKER: Member of the CAC, President of the Westwood Park Association. Wrote a report. Plans to incentivize transit use are still unclear.

SPEAKER: CAC has yet to hear how MTA plans to accommodate the influx of new residents. No MOU yet to protect City College, until then this project should not be approved.

NEXT SPEAKER: Please reject the development agreement. The transportation plans are doomed.

SPEAKER: No timeline yet for the K quick-build, no outreach done yet. Agreement is too vague to be valid and enforceable. According to the EIR the project will have significant impacts that can't be mitigated. 450 parking spaces provided, but data indicates we need up to 2000.

NEXT SPEAKER: City College is a commuter college, students run from classes to work, therefore they need parking space. It is not 1000 spaces we have in the reservoir, it's 1400. I look at the parking lot every day from my bedroom, and it's full every school day.

SPEAKER: 2-car K trains block cross traffic when the train stops at a red light, they're too long.

NEXT SPEAKER: How will this affect transit around the area? How will you compensate for the loss of parking spaces? Are you removing public property and making it private?

SPEAKER: You're selling out the people by giving away public property. Reject the plan as utopian, do it somewhere else, possibly outside the city, but don't do it at City College

ME: Urge you to approve. People oppose because they don't want housing near them, or because they're concerned about transit impacts. But those "impacts" are more riders, we should welcome those! Build the project, don't build the public parking garage.

ME: Stanford has an extensive TDM program, where they brag about the parking garages they *didn't* build. That's what we need here, especially so close to BART.

NEXT SPEAKER: Support this. 550 affordable units, only 1/3 funded by the city, 2/3 funded by the market-rate units

NEXT SPEAKER: City College teacher, urge you to reject. BART and Muni are already over capacity. Before you remove the viable options for students with complex lives, make the public transit options viable.

NEXT SPEAKER: Should have zero parking, great location for housing, should be more housing, but what's done is done. MTA should look at the south/southwest side of SF. You can do all the TDM you want, but this campus is an island in a sea of cars.

SPEAKER: My students and I have done bike field trips, it's really frustrating to navigate this area by bike. But there is huge pent-up demand for cycling. City College in the Mission is only 2.8 miles away, there's a good flat route, but there are death traps along the way

NEXT SPEAKER: I live nearby, am in strong support. Re transportation, build for the future rather than for the past. Access to housing and transit is more important to future students than access to parking. Even when I attended City College I mostly biked, never drove.

SPEAKER: Already, the amount of parking is threatening the viability of the College by choking the area in cars. We need more housing and less parking. Holloway was proposed as a Slow Street but vetoed by the Fire Dept.

NEXT SPEAKER: I live nearby. Ask for fewer parking spaces, should be zero. Need housing and transportation improvements here as soon as possible, support the project.

NEXT SPEAKER: Applaud and support this transit-oriented development. Appalled that some other commenters...

...can't conceive of getting around the city without a car. The costs of a car are enormous. SF is one of the few places in the US where you can live without a car.

NEXT SPEAKER: Live across the street. Super excited for this project. CAC got a lot of community input.

SPEAKER: Would love to see less parking, encourage non-car travel. Make Ocean Ave a mass transit only street like Market Street.

NEXT SPEAKER: Supposed to be 150 units of educator housing, but they're only for full-time faculty. Part-time faculty don't make enough money

SPEAKER: Design shows a road cutting through City College, that was canceled. Shuttle was excluded because there weren't enough benefits, but I think it hasn't been seriously considered. Skyline College has a successful shuttle. Significant impacts on air quality, noise, traffic

SPEAKER: Parking is an issue [gets cut off]

NEXT SPEAKER: Only so many places in the city with so much unused land, and it's next to BART and light rail. Not well connected to the rest of the neighborhood, MTA should fix that so that residents can take transit, walk or bike

SPEAKER: So excited to have more low-income housing in SF. Adding parking here will only increase demand for driving. Find more ways to encourage transit and active transportation, discourage more driving.

End of public comment

HEMINGER: I believe in not letting the perfect be the enemy of the good. The parking elements aren't good, it's not perfect, but 1100 housing units with half affordable will do a lot of good. Move to approve.

BRINKMAN: Second

EAKEN: Why only 1100 units, why wasn't density further maximized?

STAFF: Have engaged in a 5-year process, first 2.5 years was figuring out the appropriate bulk and height for the site, working with the CAC. The developers proposed these 1100 units 3 years ago

STAFF: We felt it was a good accommodation of what the community felt was appropriate in terms of bulk and height.

TUMLIN: Work on Balboa Park Station Area Plan began in 1998, was supposed to be approved in 2002, actually 2009. It's been 21 years

TUMLIN: This epitomizes what's broken about the SF process. Transit has to clean up what is broken about housing policy.

Motion to approve passes unanimously

Next item (12): making the Valencia bikeway pilot permanent. Presentation: https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/reports-and-documents/2020/06/6-16-20_item_12_traffic_modifications_-_valencia_permanent_project_-_slide_presentation.pdf

STAFF: Valencia from Market to 15th has a quick build parking-protected bike lane. Done as a pilot in 2018.

Collected data before and after. Evaluation found it was successful. 49% more people biking in the PM commute. Commercial vehicles are parking in the loading zones, and cyclists are yielding to pedestrians at the school loading islands.

Added extra pavement markings to clarify things. Learned a lot, and will apply these lessons to the rest of Valencia. Asking MTA Board to approve making this bikeway permanent.

End of staff presentation

EAKEN: I will support, have a systemic question. How can we achieve our goal of a safe bike network citywide when we move 3 blocks at a time? Why aren't we considering the entire Valencia corridor, or a larger segment. This is very micro, we need to move more quickly.

JAIME PARKS ( @transpocrat): The entirety of Valencia is on the list of protected bike lanes we've committed to delivering. 19th to Chavez was approved for quick-build a year ago, we're close to a design for that, wanted to bring it to the board this spring.

PARKS: But due to covid, we put outreach on hold, so that's delayed.

EAKEN: If this was a road or freeway project, we wouldn't bring such a small project forward with so much outreach and process. So look into scaling this up. This pace of change is too slow.

BORDEN: I agree.

Time for public comment

SPEAKER @paulvaldezsf: Support making this permanent. Do you know what it sounds like when a person's body hits a car? I saw a dooring on Valencia. Let's protect the rest of Valencia ASAP.

VALDEZ: Concluding in memory of Devlin O'Connor, who lost his life when he got doored on Frederick Street.

NEXT SPEAKER (Kristen Leckie from @sfbike): Support making this pilot permanent, has dramatically improved safety.

NEXT SPEAKER: I have ridden here on shared bikes and scooters. It's important to close the gap and have consistency along Valencia. I've never been doored, but I don't wish it on anyone, and protected lanes protect cyclists against it.

NEXT SPEAKER ( @desertflyer): Support making these bike lanes permanent. They've made biking safer, but walking is more pleasant too, which less noise from car. Cars still intrude sometimes, and mixing zones are unsafe. Fix this with protected intersections

@desertflyer: Riding here is safe, but only down to 15th, after that you get dumped into a bike lane that serves as a de facto loading zone.

ME: Support this, but fix the rest of Valencia without delay. If 19th-Chavez is a quick-build, why should it come before the board?

NEXT SPEAKER: Echo what previous callers said, approve this, fix the rest of Valencia quickly.

NEXT SPEAKER: Thanks for making these three blocks permanent, but it doesn't go far enough. We're going to get a car apocalypse after SIP. People will feel unsafe riding Muni

SPEAKER: Need alternatives to cars. Need a protected bike lane network across the city by the time SIP is over. We have the technology, no excuse to delay this. Parking spaces are not more important than people's lives. What happens is we don't get safe streets until someone dies

NEXT SPEAKER: Support making these improvements permanent. At the previous meeting, Eaken asked for a map of what a bikeway network might look like, would love for the public to see that. Use the 13 requested street closures as an opportunity for this. Protect the intersections

NEXT SPEAKER: Great project. Would like bike lane connections to the BART stations on 16th and 24th. BART and Muni ambassadors are a great way to reduce police. Let's have a bike lane ambassador riding around with a camera and ticket cars parked in bike lanes.

NEXT SPEAKER: Live in the Mission, support expanding the Valencia bike lane. Implore you to think bigger. Paris is building hundreds of miles of protected bike lanes, no reason SF can't do that. I was hit by a truck in an unprotected bike lane, broke my wrist, lucky I didn't die

NEXT SPEAKER: This part of Valencia is the southwestern border of the Hub and Market/Octavia Plan area. Support this project, but think of passibilty. There are bottlenecks at the schools. To go north from Valencia, either you take Octavia (lousy) or go all the way to Polk

SPEAKER: Need a fully-protected north-south route in this area, using Franklin and Gough, and widen the sidewalks there. We've provided maps and cross-section. Before traffic pours in and cars take every inch, do a quick-build so there's space for people to move.

NEXT SPEAKER: Live in the Excelsior, bike on Valencia to go downtown. State traffic law is hostile to cyclists and requires cyclists to use the bike lane where it exists. I prefer to avoid ped interactions and take the lane when there isn't much car traffic. Need state law change

SPEAKER: As for moving faster, Scott Wiener's bill will streamline CEQA process for bike lanes.

NEXT SPEAKER: Support making this permanent, have been in two bike crashes in the Mission. Weaving in and out of traffic is unsafe.

NEXT SPEAKER: They don't allow you to make a left turn onto Duboce, that's an important turn for us taxi drivers. Having to go up to Guerrero is a problem. A lot of restaurant pickups and deliveries, concerned about not having enough parking for them.

And that's it for public comment!

BORDEN: Staff please talk about outreach, including restaurant deliveries.

STAFF: We introduced dual use zones that allow short term parking after 6pm, and increased loading zones overall to improve turnover

BRINKMAN: Support this. Has worked really well, I used to ride this regularly. Echo Eaken and some of the commenters, need to fix the rest of Valencia. Need to be quick here, Valencia is already a mess again on the weekends. Let's just go ahead and slow street it

or take a lane, make it one-way. The protected bike lanes are challenging in a time of social distancing, people don't want to pass closely. We saw with Slow Streets that giving cyclists more space brings out new cyclists. Move to approve, let's think big and quick

BORDEN: A lot of restaurant workers do bike to work in this area.

Motion passes, it's approved

Next item (13): transit lane and bike lanes on Beale Street. Presentation: https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/reports-and-documents/2020/06/6-16-20_item_13_traffic_modifications_-_beale_street_transit_only_lane_-_slide_presentation.pdf by Mike Sallaberry

SALLABERRY: Original designs for Beale had an unprotected bike lane, but our standards have improved, now proposing a two-way protected bike lane. Also a transit lane from Market to the transit center. Pre-covid, had 50+ buses per hour go through here

SALLABERRY: Will quick-build a bike lane with soft-hit posts, replace with concrete later if successful. South of the transit center, the bus lane goes away, two-way bikeway continues. You also see the two-way bikeway we're planning for Howard

SALLABERRY: Converting what was a bus lane to the temporary transbay terminal into a park and a bike lane, and widening the sidewalk. Moving casual carpool back to Beale Street, we'll see how popular it is.

SALLABERRY: Planning to put in the transit lane right away, just paint it red. The bike lane needs some signal changes, but want to do that soon from Market to Natoma. Phased implementation of the rest, as shown here.

No questions from the Board, going to public comment.

SPEAKER: Support protected bike lanes and transit lanes. Odd that the red lane ends at Natoma when @GoldenGateBus and PresidiGo run to Howard. Extra 1/3 of a block would make a difference.

NEXT SPEAKER: Current route is circuitous via 1st Street, didn't see anything about moving Muni routes onto Beale. [I believe this has already happened]

NEXT SPEAKER: Good proposal, long overdue. I come through here often. 2-way bikeway is good because SoMa is full of 1-ways

ME: Great project, but should extend it south from Folsom to King/Embarcadero. Only flat route from FiDi to Caltrain.

NEXT SPEAKER: Concerned 5-foot bikeway isn't wide enough, would like 9 feet in each direction.

NEXT SPEAKER ( @desertflyer): Strong support, ride here often, currently a highway

NEXT SPEAKER: Where are taxis in this whole thing? Are we able to use this lane as well?

NEXT SPEAKER: Echo comment about widening, favor reducing on-street parking

End of public comment

SALLABERRY: Re moving lines from 1st onto Beale, that has been done. Only the 2 is on 1st Street right now.

Re extending south of Folsom, we'd like to, but that section of Beale is very different (2-way), so outreach process is separate.

SALLABERRY: Width of bikeway: have to strike a balance between bikeway width, sidewalk width, bike share stations, etc. Since this is a quick-build, we can experiment and change it.

Taxis in the transit lane: because this is for the transit center, no, won't be allowed.

EAKEN: 2-way cycletrack is interesting. Since this is rare in SF, do we anticipate conflicts with vehicles not understanding that there might be bikes coming towards them at intersections on a 1-way street?

SALABERRY: Plan to signal separate bikes/peds from left turns. Will also have markings on the streets and signs. We recently put a 2-way bikeway on Terry François Blvd, so we have some experience. Would have signs like on Polk saying the street is 2-way with bikes oncoming

BRINKMAN: Move to approve, this project looks amazing. Downtown SF is gonna look so different, with 2nd, Market, Folsom, Embarcadero. Jealous of future workers going back to offices there.

BORDEN: Agreed. Restaurants want to close Spear Street.

Motion passes unanimously

Next item (14): customer information system, the replacement for NextMuni. Presentation: https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/reports-and-documents/2020/06/6-16-20_item_14_contract_-_customer_info_system_-_slide_presentation.pdf by Jason Lee. Contract for $89M

LEE: We launched NextBus in 1999, nation's first. Now, people have apps. NextBus hasn't fundamentally changed, end of its useful life

LEE: Are doing and will continue outreach. Would like to understand what people want on information signs, and where people want more signs if we can afford them.

LEE: Asked people, if you saw this sign and had to wait 20 mins, what would you do? Income is the strongest factor: higher income people are more likely to not choose Muni, but giving information makes a huge difference. Info signs would mitigate two-tier transportation system

LEE: New signs would also let us respond to covid better, by showing how full buses are, and showing public health advisories in multiple languages.

Signs will show real-time maps, which research shows increases confidence that buses will arrive.

Will offer alternate routes, crowing information, elevator/escalator status, detours. We'll tell riders when BART, Caltrain, and other services are coming. All shelter signs will be replaced (5x larger than the current signs), 1/3 of them double-sided.

LEE: This is an example of what we could show. We'd have a lot of flexibility to change it. Will also install up to 800 new solar-powered signs at some stops where we don't have power, esp in equity neighborhoods and on low-frequency routes

The pilot electric buses we're ordering will have on board signs, and this new system will be able to push to those too. Will also integrate with a new trip planner app, an upgraded MuniMobile app, and the http://sfmta.com  website.

LEE: The $89M cost is over 15 years and includes the options to extend. Compared to the existing system, the extra cost is $567k. If we can grow ridership by even 1%, we'll make that back in fares.

LEE: I'm transit-dependent, have never owned a car, I know what it's like to wait for a bus that never comes because it's been detoured, or having to scramble to take an alternative route. This system will help with that, and make transit an option for more people.

HEMINGER: Commend you for the regional transit connections feature, that's new. That's the kind of regional leadership we need. Staff report said that cost was only 20% of the total score. Cubic won the contract on points, but what was their price?

LEE: A lot lower, the next cheapest one was tens of millions more.

HEMINGER: So they were the best and also the cheapest?

LEE: Correct

EAKEN: How are we future-proofing this system? If someone was waiting for a bus, could we tell them that a bus was coming and that it had space on them for it, now that we have distancing requirements?

LEE: We have a lot of flexibility. We now communication systems will change,

so we have built in budget to adapt to that. As for crowding, you're exactly right, we'll be able to tell riders how crowded the next buses are.

EAKEN: I'm all for these enhancements, but this costs a lot of money, and we're making cuts elsewhere. How do you balance that?

TUMLIN: A lot of internal conversation about that. A lot of it is about where the money comes from and how fungible it is. This is mostly a capital project, not all of its funds are fungible. Also looking at the net effect. The cost is high but over 10 yrs, and replacing Nextbus

Not committing ourselves to high ongoing operation costs, and capital costs can mostly be put off to later years. So we can react to how long the operational crisis lasts. Give customers the info they need in the covid area, and hold off on the expensive elements.

TUMLIN: I applied a lot of skepticism, but became convinced that this is one of the few good investments in the covid era, like hiring more car cleaners.

BRINKMAN: Love the plans for solar-powered signs. Presentation says they're durable, vandal-proof. Are they proven?

LEE: There are many of these in Germany, and VTA has piloted one in the South Bay, we wouldn't be the first using them. The larger signs are standard tech, used in other installations.

BRINKMAN: When will we have ticketing in the app, right now MuniMobile is standalone

LEE: We want an all-in-one app, as you said ticketing is in MuniMobile and everything else is in NextMuni. Would be able to do that merge in 2021.

BRINKMAN: Happy to see solar powered signs focused on transit-dependent areas, will help people come back to riding our buses

BRINKMAN: All of our bus data is available to power other apps like Transit and Swiftly, right?

LEE: Yes. NextBus, being the first, invented their own format, now there's a standard (GTFS), and we'll be using that.

BORDEN: Excited to see this. It makes a big difference to know when the bus is coming, even if it's 10 minutes. You said these would be vandal-proof, can you talk about that?

LEE: Technical rating for these signs, like if you take a bat to it. They meet a certain spec.

LEE: If the signs don't meet the specs and break too easily, the contractor is on the hook to replace them. Also liquidated damages in the contract for if the system goes down or doesn't perform.

Time for public comment

Aaand we're having some technical issues. Chatter between board members about having to wait for the bus and missing the bus. I love that so many of the board members ride Muni.

"Your conference is ending now, as requested by the host. Please hang up. [Beep]" aand I've been kicked off the call

They've reactivated the call, but all members of the public can speak, so something's gone wrong. Now it's being reset again.

Another cycle of hanging up and calling back in, waiting a while, and now we're finally on to public comment!

SPEAKER: Reiterating comments about e-waste and durability. Re costs, wonder what the additional staff costs will be to support this system

And now we're having more technical problems going to the next speaker

While they're working on tech issues, I can still hear the board and staff on the phone. @jeffreytumlin reminisces about biking on Valencia before it had a bike lane, when it was a divided highway. Marvels at how it takes a crisis to address these issues

We're back!

NEXT SPEAKER: In full support of NextMuni 2.0. Current signage is terribly inadequate. Crazy that so many bus stops are just some stripes on a utility pole. Hard to find them even with an app. This system will be a boon to people without smartphones.

SPEAKER: People often come up to me at night and ask me in Spanish when the next bus is, great that this system will provide multilingual information.

NEXT SPEAKER: Would like to see more signs throughout the city. Signs also need to be more accurate.

Missed the next comment because my own connection dropped.

CAT CARTER ( @SFTRU): [missed most of her comment] Thanks to Jason Lee for his great work on this project

NEXT SPEAKER: Was really impressed to see NextMuni signs when I first came to SF.

SPEAKER: This new system will be great even for people with phones, sometimes they die or you don't have reception. Looking forward to the all-in-one app.

NEXT SPEAKER: Former CTO of NextBus, led implementation for SFMTA. Proposed project is unworkable. City doesn't have funds

SPEAKER: Most riders already get info from apps. LA Metro uses the Transit app as their official app, and it's free. MuniMobile won't be used by riders, don't waste money on what won't be used. Transit app doesn't even use unreliable NextMuni data anymore.

NEXT SPEAKER: Curious about what the other scoring criteria were besides cost. Prediction accuracy for example.

Public comment is over

LEE: Re additional staff cost, are looking to improve efficiency so it works well with current transit management. Would not be a burden.

LEE: Differential cost for double-sided signs is $9717 per sign (including capital and operations costs). We had a rigorous evaluation process, criteria weren't just cost, scored a lot of different topics. Evaluation committee consisted of internal stakeholders and MTC

BRINKMAN: The data will go to other apps, but the NextMuni app will be the only one with ticketing in it, right? Worried that we're picking winners between apps.

LEE: We provide data in GTFS formats that 3rd party apps can use however they want.

BRINKMAN: Simplifying payment is a whole different ball of wax, so I won't go into that deeper.

Motion to approve, passes unanimously

Next item (15): transit safety plan. Presentation: https://www.sfmta.com/sites/default/files/reports-and-documents/2020/06/6-16-20_item_15_approval_-_transportation_safety_plan_-_slide_presentation.pdf by Michael Kirchanski and Robin Courtney

KIRCHANSKI: Introduces the Public Transportation Agency Safety Plan (PTASP)

COURTNEY: We're required to maintain documentation on safety plans, and on the outcome of these processes

COURTNEY: Safety management policy establishes senior management's commitment to continually improving safety.

KIRCHANSKI: Safety risk management: processes for identifying hazards, identifying likelihood and impact, then mitigating them.

COURNEY: Safety assurance: monitor changes to the transportation system to ensure they don't introduce new hazards, address safety deficiencies

KIRCHANSKI: Safety promotion: training and communication. Educating employees on safety. Includes covid measures.

KIRCHANSKI: Federal Transit Administration audits us every three years, they'll be looking at our safety plans. CPUC also conducts oversight over our rail system.

Asking Board to approve this document.

No questions from Board members, going to public comment.

SPEAKER: "Safety culture" was mentioned a lot, but SFMTA actually has a "fear culture". When bus operators hear a sound on their bus, they don't report it, they are afraid of getting written up.

NEXT SPEAKER: The cover page on the plan has the wrong ZIP code (). Suggest getting an annual report from safety staff on incidents, incident avoidance, etc, short annual presentation on safety.

End of public comment.

Motion to approve, passes unanimously.

The next and last item is closed session. So the Board members are going to have to slog on for a while longer, but after 5.5 hours my job here is done.

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