SF Transit Riders Union tells SFMTA “Do your job!”

In a superb opinion piece, Rachel Hyden, Executive Director of the SF Transit Riders, documents the political cowardice of San Francisco’s Municipal Transportation Agency in implementing the City’s longstanding Transit First policy. She forcefully argues that Transit First is critical to making the City more livable, by speeding up transit and making it an attractive mode of travel for large numbers of residents. Transit professionals and transit advocates know what’s needed to improve transit. What’s missing is the political will to make policy decisions on behalf of the greater good, when objections are raised by those that insist on driving.…

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Testimony on Central Subway

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…

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Save Muni.com Getting Great Press

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…

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Central Subway–Vigorous Radio Debate

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…

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