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“How refreshing to hear someone say she changed her opinion after studying the facts.”
– Fran Taylor In response to "Advocates for the Disabled Say Free Parking for Placard Holders Must End"
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Karen Lynn Allen
My laugh for the day. A stand up comic could do a whole routine about Polk Street.
in response to SFMTA to Designate Hundreds of Curbside Parking Spots for Car-Sharing
mikesonn
Put them all on Polk.
in response to SFMTA to Designate Hundreds of Curbside Parking Spots for Car-Sharing
Mario Tanev
Frankly, I don’t see what 3 car N trains would solve. If Muni has a shortage of operational train cars (which it does), 3 car trains would simply mean lower frequency, and thus won’t solve overcrowding and will generally worsen the experience (although, labor may be cheaper). Longer trains however may make sense once the frequency is very high already, and smaller trains tend to interfere with each other – so I can see that working on a shuttle-like service in the subway.
in response to Muni to Test Double-Train Loading in Metro Stations This July
Mario Tanev
One possible solution to the confusion that could be caused by double-berthing is to make the rear train offload-only, and have it stop again to board passengers (some will cunningly run to board, though, and others will freak out, afraid of missing their train, so confusion won’t be completely eliminated).
It would at the very least, however, solve the frustrating experience of waiting for minutes on end just to exit the stopped train.
in response to Muni to Test Double-Train Loading in Metro Stations This July
Ted King
Something to remember – SFMuni Metro’s platforms were designed for BART trains. When they gave them to SFMuni they made a HUGE mistake by NOT lowering them to a low-floor standard. That gave us the headaches of dual-mode stairs and expensive ramps and platforms outside of the tunnels.
in response to Muni to Test Double-Train Loading in Metro Stations This July
Andy Chow
For it to work effectively there should be designated boarding zones for certain lines (like boarding area A for J and N and area B for K, L, and M.) That way people don’t need to always check the sign for boarding location or having to rush to the location when the train comes, which is a problem for disabled riders.
Of course it would make double berthing less effective but still better than the current set up.
The Downtown Seattle tunnel has this set up for buses (light rail only stop when there are no buses and use the whole platform).
in response to Muni to Test Double-Train Loading in Metro Stations This July
Anonymous
And after this… how about 3 car N-Judah’s or at least S-Shuttle’s for Ballpark service!
in response to Muni to Test Double-Train Loading in Metro Stations This July
MrEricSir
That assumes you can even see the blinking letters. From where most people wait at Powell, for example, it would be damn hard to see that a second train was boarding.
in response to Muni to Test Double-Train Loading in Metro Stations This July
Anonymous
Confusion? I imagine there may be some scrambling to get into the proper position, but when trains arrive, those blinking letters on the sign should attract a lot of attention! (I hope!)
in response to Muni to Test Double-Train Loading in Metro Stations This July
Anonymous
Don’t forget Embarcadero! That’s where it’s needed most.
in response to Muni to Test Double-Train Loading in Metro Stations This July
Anonymous
I don’t think they need new signs. There should be enough there already to make it work. I hope they were just referring to software upgrades.
in response to Muni to Test Double-Train Loading in Metro Stations This July
Chris Phipps
They used to do this around 15 years ago. My question is why did they ever stop?
in response to Muni to Test Double-Train Loading in Metro Stations This July
Henry
From what I understand, double-berthing will only occur at Civic Center, Powell, and Montgomery Stations, right?
in response to Muni to Test Double-Train Loading in Metro Stations This July
ywhynot
Wow! Satan must have his uggs and pea-coat on right now!
in response to Muni to Test Double-Train Loading in Metro Stations This July
Evan Goldin
Yes! I always thought it so strange that the platforms so incredibly long, but yet you have to be at the front of the line for the doors to open.
in response to Muni to Test Double-Train Loading in Metro Stations This July
Anonymous
Exploring what it would take to allow double-berthing is long overdue; it seems like such a simple way to speed up Metro service.
in response to Muni to Test Double-Train Loading in Metro Stations This July
MrEricSir
Nice! But I hope they test this long enough for riders to get over the initial confusion.
in response to Muni to Test Double-Train Loading in Metro Stations This July
Mark Dreger
Any ETA of when those new destination signs are coming thru? July perhaps?
Also – I would hope the recently-refurbished automatic train control system would be able to handle this change in operation.
in response to Muni to Test Double-Train Loading in Metro Stations This July
Admittedly a transit nerd
About time! So excited!
in response to Muni to Test Double-Train Loading in Metro Stations This July
Nick Perry
Public Hearing on AC Transit Fremont & Newark Service Changes at 5 pm on Wednesday in Fremont
http://www.actransit.org/2013/05/20/publichearing/
in response to This Week: Bikes on BART, Second Street, Muni Love
Joel
Planning published the draft plan only a month ago and now SPUR is responding to that draft (which they had some influence over, but didn’t write themselves.) City Planning is being pulled in two different directions: the vision of SPUR (taller, denser, walkable, etc.) and the demands of local residents (leave us alone.) The result is a bipolar plan with a patchwork of height zones that attempt to please both sides.
in response to Today's Headlines
mikesonn
Guess this is how we will pay for the Central Subway. http://blogs.sfweekly.com/thesnitch/2013/05/scott_wiener_muni_surcharge.php
in response to Today's Headlines
Forthright
And the delivery would be with what sort of vehicle?!?!
in response to Tonight: Tell the SFMTA to Put Protected Bike Lanes on the Table for Polk
Forthright
Sorry, the anger is for ALL the wheeled riders who are inattentive, two- or four-wheeled.
in response to Planning Department Unveils Final Castro Streetscape Design
mikesonn
SPUR has been pushing the Central Corridor plan for years, now it isn’t good enough? Did I miss something?
in response to Today's Headlines
Anonymous
I get that, but as the commenters of the article pointed out, driving while distracted is much more dangerous for everyone than walking while using a phone and the two are being conflated by the SFPD.
Both pedestrian deaths and the high theft rate are symptoms of bigger problems that are not being dealt with on any substantial level. I’m not saying people walking shouldn’t be aware of their surroundings but there’s a level of victim blaming insinuated into the way SFPD is presenting this “education” campaign.
in response to Today's Headlines
JB
The bigger issue is that the distraction from the phone makes people unaware of their surroundings and makes them easier targets for crimes such as theft.
in response to Today's Headlines
94103er
No, you are incorrect. To move forward in any meaningful way, this blog and other sensible bike advocates believe that, first, all roads must be made *at the very least* accommodating for bikes. Then comes the really hard part, which is changing the road design. Cyclists’ needs really do coincide with pedestrians’ needs–needs regarding protection from cars.
You seem to be trying to make a point via the ped vs bike fatality here last year or whenever it was. There isn’t a point to be made. Some cyclists are going to behave like they’re driving a car. Some cyclists make terrible decisions. All we can do is design our roads better in hopes that a cyclist (or driver) can never reach that kind of ludicrous speed through an intersection again.
in response to Planning Department Unveils Final Castro Streetscape Design
Anonymous
People who challenge popular opinions are frequently labeled as “trolls” simply for challenging the status quo, and on Streetsblog that is all bikes all the time. I am tired of pedestrians’ issues being subsumed by by the bicycle lobby. Yes, our issues may coincide more often than not. But not always, and this is one them.
in response to Planning Department Unveils Final Castro Streetscape Design
mikesonn
Kudos indeed to Lorenz for hearing out the facts.
in response to Advocates for the Disabled Say Free Parking for Placard Holders Must End
Fran Taylor
Jessie Lorenz is a gem. Readers may remember her from Lighthouse for the Blind’s campaign against sidewalk parking. How refreshing to hear someone say she changed her opinion after studying the facts.
in response to Advocates for the Disabled Say Free Parking for Placard Holders Must End
Anonymous
Finally, we get to see what free parking is doing to the disabled – taking away their parking and by extension, their mobility. Sad to see how selfish people are, but I guess placard abuse seems like a victimless crime to individuals who think they are beating “the system”. I hear that 1 in 8 persons in SF have these blue placards. Policing this has been impossible. Let’s make the placards valuable only in the sense that they help disabled persons park near their destination. Free parking will otherwise doom the very people it was meant to help.
in response to Advocates for the Disabled Say Free Parking for Placard Holders Must End
Anonymous
Thanks, Todd.
in response to Planning Commission Approves Higher Bike Parking Requirements
M.
A point we’ve made many, many times tho’ a pod located proximate to the CA cable car and CA 1 bus would be a very good thing.
in response to Tonight: Tell the SFMTA to Put Protected Bike Lanes on the Table for Polk
M.
re. numbers:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12966648/Mayor's%20Budget%20Town%20Hall%2018_5%20FINAL%20PDF.pdf
What I presented to Chiu, Lee and Farrell at the Mayor’s Budget Town Hall on May 18.
Nice that you’ve changed your spending habits. We’ve received letters from others who changed merchants’ minds. Why not share where you go now where they are open-minded? folks@folksforpolk.org
in response to Tonight: Tell the SFMTA to Put Protected Bike Lanes on the Table for Polk
M.
What I presented to Chiu, Lee and Farrell at the Mayor’s Budget Town Hall on May 18:
https://dl.dropboxusercontent.com/u/12966648/Mayor's%20Budget%20Town%20Hall%2018_5%20FINAL%20PDF.pdf
We have the numbers and now they heard we have them. We’ve also made great progress in a very short time. There are several hidden players in this game and we’re working on that level, too.
- FFP
in response to Tonight: Tell the SFMTA to Put Protected Bike Lanes on the Table for Polk
mikesonn
If s/samTrans/Caltrain were a well run operation…
Now Caltrain is saying it will try to squeeze funding out of the JPB members for wifi at a time they are going to barely be able to get money from them for running trains. I guess “why doesn’t Caltrain have wifi?” is the most common complaint they hear. After they waste money to get it, I predict the most common complaint will be “why is Caltrain wifi soooooo slow?!”
in response to Today's Headlines
Andy Chow
When I was on the SamTrans CAC I asked the same question about KX back in January 2008 (http://smctd.org/pdf/CAC_minutes/020608_SamTrans_CAC_Agenda.pdf), but the answer I got was no (http://smctd.org/pdf/CAC_minutes/090308_SamTrans_CAC_Agenda.pdf). I guess that the new staff they brought on for the SSP saw the issue differently hence a different outcome. Back in 2008, KX was running every 30 minutes daily. Now it runs hourly and probably as early as later this summer KX will be running to SF during weekday peak hours only. KX would be far more useful if it was open to people with luggage at that time.
in response to Today's Headlines
Henry
Nob Hill Neighbors is hosting the MTA regarding the Polk project on Wednesday 5/22 at St. Luke’s Episcopal, Van Ness and Clay, starting at 7pm.
in response to This Week: Bikes on BART, Second Street, Muni Love
MrEricSir
Stereotypes aren’t relevant to this discussion.
in response to Planning Department Unveils Final Castro Streetscape Design
murphstahoe
At any given moment on Castro Street, there are 50 pedestrians, 0-4 cyclists, and a couple of dozen cars that sit there for hours producing nothing. Over the course of an hour, several dozen cyclists come through, several hundred pedestrians, and the same dozen or so cars.
What we don’t need on that street is the parking.
in response to Planning Department Unveils Final Castro Streetscape Design
murphstahoe
“Peds are demonized as badly as the car drivers” – and this demonization is coming from … you guessed it … car drivers.
Well, car drivers and Greg Suhr…
in response to Planning Department Unveils Final Castro Streetscape Design
murphstahoe
This summarizes the frustration we have with public transit. Every improvement, no matter how simple, seems to start with something obvious to the riders that we complain about to each other, over and over and over.
If Samtrans were a well run operation, they would have seen this when it happened and been jumping at the bit to deliver the improvement (which costs *nothing*)
in response to Today's Headlines
Todd Edelman
No obligation.
in response to Planning Commission Approves Higher Bike Parking Requirements
Forthright
Mark you are a lone voice of sanity and reason
in response to KTVU Reporter Documents Own Harassment of Cyclists
Forthright
LOL @ “1 in 5″
in response to Intrepid KTVU Reporters Expose the Shocking Story of Bike-Share!
Forthright
When the bikies become as interested in peds’ safety as their own, I will say they share the same interests. Until then, the bikies are on a vendetta against the pedestrians. Peds are demonized as badly as the car drivers
in response to Planning Department Unveils Final Castro Streetscape Design
94103er
“On June 1, seven years after the disappearance of direct private competition, SamTrans will lift the long-standing baggage ban [on the KX]….[T]he agency finally sought to lift the ban after receiving an inquiry from a passenger.”
‘Oh, uh…wait, this incredibly unfair, revenue killing legal action has been obsolete for seven years? Guess we’d better do something about it!’ You get the golden Facepalm award, SamTrans.
in response to Today's Headlines
Jason
At any given moment on Castro Street, between Market and 19th, there may be something around 0-4 cyclists and 50 pedestrians. We need the wider sidewalks. We do not need a bike lane (that is already there, it is called the road).
in response to Planning Department Unveils Final Castro Streetscape Design
Rob Edwards
Take a walk down Univ Ave in Palo Alto to remind your senses what is most important here = the right trees. The same kind, the same age/heights, and electricity at the base to enable wrapping with lights. Nothing says to visitors that you are in a great, safe place like good trees wrapped in lights at night. And get rid of all the newspaper boxes that only serve as trash cans or as a place to stash narcotics. Use interchangeable and replaceable flags or banners to indicate the mood du jour. Please. No rainbow crosswalks please. Dont skimp on the sidewalk surfacing; it matters. You’ll regret it later if you do. Sidewalk width for mobile outdoor restaurant seating IS definitely more important than space for fixed benches. Insisting on fixed benches prevents some storefronts from becoming restaurants w/ outdoor seating. Dont hamstring those properties. And finally, all of this upgrading wont change Castro Street unless theres a new set of signage/window guidelines for storefronts. We’ll have the nicest sidewalks in the city but the least appealing storefront signage in the city. You cannot improve one without the other. And enforce those rules. Ive implemented both for ~ten cities now. Ask me if you want more advice.
in response to Planning Department Unveils Final Castro Streetscape Design