Muni

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.

The SFMTA and the SF Bicycle Coalition recently teamed up to produce a training video that teaches Muni operators about safe practices when sharing the road with bicycle riders.

Every time a Muni train breaks down or a bus is stuck in car traffic, San Francisco pays big time.

Muni will test out a method to improve metro operations this July, letting two trains load passengers on the same platform simultaneously, according to SFMTA spokesperson Paul Rose.

The final plan for wider sidewalks and other pedestrian improvements on Castro Street between Market and 19th Streets was presented at an open house by the Planning Department this week. Overall, the pedestrian environment on Castro will be vastly improved after the skinny sidewalks are widened to as much as 22 feet, and the narrowed traffic lanes should also calm motor traffic.