SFMTA

San Franciscans don't drive nearly as much as previously thought, according to new SFMTA survey data. But the needle hasn't moved much in recent years either.

Residential parking permits in San Francisco are a steal. At just $110 a year, or about 30 cents a day, the costs come nowhere near the market value for use of prime SF real estate. The fee is especially favorable compared to the single-day permit rate, which is 40 times higher. That means people who only occasionally need to park a car in their neighborhood pay a lot more per hour than people who take up street space every day for personal car storage.

The SFMTA recently made some upgrades to bike lanes and pedestrian crossings around Valencia Street and Market Street.

The SFMTA wants to legalize life-saving speed enforcement cameras, and plans to campaign for a state law that would enable San Francisco to install them, the agency's director of government affairs, Kate Breen, said today.

Tom Maguire, the SFMTA's new Sustainable Streets Director, said he's working on reforms that will fast-track implementation of numerous street safety fixes that will help SF accomplish Vision Zero.

Mayor Ed Lee, along with the heads of the SFPD and SFMTA, vowed yesterday to crack down on double parking and "box blocking" as part of broader "Congestion Management Strategy to improve traffic flow and safety."

Muni could launch "double berthing," or boarding two trains simultaneously in its Metro stations, as early as next weekend -- if all goes well in a live test this Saturday, SFMTA Director Ed Reiskin told an agency board meeting today.

Muni's notoriously sluggish 30-Stockton line is finally set to get some upgrades that will give buses higher priority on streets through the dense neighborhoods of Union Square, Chinatown, North Beach, and near Fisherman's Wharf.

Muni has once again pushed back its launch of "double berthing" -- simultaneous loading of two trains in its Metro stations -- until December. SFMTA spokesperson Paul Rose said that plans for a live test and launch in November were thwarted by recent weekend construction on the Sunset Tunnel.