Board of Supervisors

Letting down their transit-riding constituents once again, the Board of Supervisors rejected a measure to increase Muni funding by ending a fee exemption for large non-profit developers, following an intense opposition campaign that sowed misconceptions about which organizations would have to pay the fee. The policy change, proposed as part of a regular update to the Transit Impact Development Fee, was opposed by all supervisors except Scott Wiener and Carmen Chu.

With any increase in the number of people living and working in San Francisco comes an added strain on the city's streets and transit system. To account for that, San Francisco collects fees on new development -- with an exception carved out for just about any non-profit organization. That means that even massive developments like hospitals, university campuses, or museums -- which generate thousands of daily trips -- may pay nothing to help the city's transportation agencies accommodate them.

With backing from the Board of Supervisors yesterday, free Muni for low-income youth may finally come to fruition if approved by the SF Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors on December 4.

The Better Market Street project, a multi-agency effort to overhaul San Francisco's main thoroughfare for walking, bicycling and transit, may have trouble staying on schedule, to the frustration of some city supervisors.

San Francisco may be on course to receive significant new revenue for transit and street improvements in the coming years following the passage of SB 1492, which specifically permits the city to vote on restoring its local vehicle license fee to historic levels.

A bill allowing many residential parking spaces to be rented to residents citywide was passed unanimously by the SF Board of Supervisors yesterday despite criticisms that it could encourage car commuting and discourage property owners from converting garages to housing units.

A proposal to allow residential car parking spaces to be rented out to anyone living in San Francisco has drawn fire from livable streets advocates who say it would encourage more car commuting and discourage property owners from converting parking spaces to housing units.

Parking meters in San Francisco will be enforced on Sundays starting January 6, 2013, confirms SF Municipal Transportation Agency spokesperson Paul Rose.

Renowned disability advocate and attorney Cristina Rubke was confirmed by the Board of Supervisors today as the newest member of the SFMTA Board of Directors.