Testimony on Central Subway
Testimony Before the S. F. Supes
Audit Comm.
10/27/11 Hearing on Civil Grand Jury Report on
Central Subway
Supervisors,
We are transit advocates, working primarily at the
regional and statewide level. We have opposed the
Central Subway for years, because instead of being a
well- designed cost-effective transportation project,
it is primarily a political payoff.
The Grand Jury deserves the thanks of all San
Franciscans for their willingness to dive into an
incredibly dense thicket of details and their courage
to call a spade a spade. Their report is a proud
addition to the long tradition of speaking truth to
power.
The fundamental project design problems raised in the
report are so serious that they necessitate a
response from the Board on recommendations 16 - 20,
even though you weren't specifically asked to. If the
Board ignores these recommendations, it will send a
strong message of “hear no evil, see no evil, speak
no evil.”
As Mr. Reskin, the MTA head said, the questions about
this project were asked and answered. However, the
answers were so steeped in politics as to be
worthless. The Grand Jury is telling your Board that
the Emperor has no clothes. Future generations will
remember you as the Board members that ignored their
message and put Muni into an extended fiscal
crisis.
Save Muni.com Getting Great Press
Here are a series of articles instigated by the great work of Save Muni.com. They are campaigning to inform the public about the folly of Muni’s Central Subway. Amazingly, this $1.5 billion boondoggle will lead to reduced bus service and even longer travel times. Check out these articles:
Read More...
Central Subway--Vigorous Radio Debate
David argued that the subway is so deep that the time it will take to access it will eliminate the travel time savings over the current bus. Also, the route is so badly designed that a transfer to BART and Muni lines will require over a 1000 ft. walk. Residents of Bayview/Hunters Point, who now have a convenient transfer to all the Market Street trains, will lose that connection when the Third Street Line goes direct to Chinatown.