Central Subway Archives

Here’s why MTC is a policy failure

March 14, 2019 March 14, 2019

By a convenient coincidence, The Chronicle published a chart entitled The Bay Area’s 11 biggest transportation projects that provides graphic proof of policy failure. A quick look at the list of projects is enough to show the absence of a coordinated strategy. What stands out instead is the prominence of extremely expensive yet low-public-benefit projects that are being pushed by powerful economic and political interests: Central Subway BART extension to San Jose Caltrain electrification An even bigger push from the Bay Area Council and others is promoting a project many times more expensive than anything that has ever been attempted…

Testimony on Central Subway

October 27, 2011 September 14, 2018

Testimony on Central Subway 10/27/11 Filed in: Transportation Planning 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…

Save Muni.com Getting Great Press

July 4, 2010 January 26, 2019

Save Muni.com Getting Great Press 07/04/10 Filed in: Transportation Planning 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: San Francisco Tomorrow Article Serve the people Feds Imperil Central Subway Funding $147 Million Deal Could Derail Central Subway Project Three letters to the SF Examiner, “Subway project ruinous” “Central Subway a budget draining mistake” and “Subway travel times disputed” are no longer online, and have been lost to time. Tags: Press, Central…

Central Subway–Vigorous Radio Debate

August 20, 2009 September 14, 2018

Central Subway–Vigorous Radio Debate 08/20/09 Filed in: Transportation Planning TRANSDEF’s President David Schonbrunn debated the Central Subway Project Manager on KALW Radio’s City Vision’s program. Check out the podcast. 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…