Muni

As Muni seeks its next-generation fleet of light-rail vehicles to serve the metro system, the manufacturer of its current, notoriously unreliable train cars has been barred from competing for a new contract. Italy-based AnsaldoBreda, which produced the LRVs that Muni riders use today, was the only one of four prospective manufacturers which didn't meet the new criteria set by the SF Municipal Transportation Agency.

The plan for bus rapid transit on Van Ness Avenue was unanimously approved today by the SF County Transportation Authority Board, which is comprised of the Board of Supervisors. The plan, which includes transit lanes that run along a center median but converge to load at right-side boarding platforms, is generally the same design that received initial approval from the board in June last year, although a stop was added between Broadway and Vallejo Street after protests from members of a nearby senior center against the removal of the existing stop.

The bike station that was supposed to be installed at Civic Center Station in June won't come for at least another year, according to BART Bike Program Manager Steve Beroldo. No word yet on what's caused the delay, but Beroldo said the station hasn't even been fully designed yet (it's at "95 percent"). BART does have full funding to build the station, however.

The 5-Fulton could get less crowded this fall after Muni launches a package of speed improvements [PDF] in a pilot of the Transit Effectiveness Project.

Update: This plan may not be "watered down" after all. See our follow-up report here.

Within a few decades, San Francisco's streets will be even more clogged with cars, more dangerous for walking and biking, and Muni will burst at the seams as more people try to get around. That's the future city officials warned about at a hearing yesterday, painting a grim picture of traffic-choked streets if nothing is done to change the status quo of paltry funding for walking, biking, and transit.

Last month, we asked for photos of public servants parking obnoxiously, and our readers delivered. Here are some select snapshots of city vehicles parked egregiously without an emergency in sight.

Muni shouldn't cut service to save money while school's out for summer, the SF Transit Riders Union said in a statement yesterday. SFTRU is speaking out against what they call the SFMTA's double standard of reducing transit service in "the blink of an eye" while deliberating smart parking policy changes for years.

While waiting at a bus stop on Third Street this weekend, Streetsblog reader Mike Sonn tweeted about his frustration with the nearly non-existent enforcement of bus-only lanes. Watching drivers fill up the few traffic lanes set aside for transit with impunity is an everyday part of riding Muni in San Francisco, where ensuring that marked transit lanes are actually used for transit just doesn't seem to be a priority for police.