Muni

With the recent addition of fully separated bright green bike lanes and a set of traffic changes that have improved conditions for Muni and people on bikes, Market's midsection has become a place to watch for innovative transportation trial projects. Seven months after a pilot program launched, local drivers seem to be catching on to the required right turns at 6th and 10th Streets on Market, even without anyone standing around to enforce the rule.

For the first time in its 10 year history, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board is officially pushing for a ballot measure that could bring a revenue infusion to Muni -- to the tune of over $16 million annually in the form of a 10-percent increase to the commercial off-street parking tax.

Muni unveiled the first pair of its refurbished buses today, thanks to federal stimulus funds, marking the start of a 66-week, 62-vehicle program the agency hopes will help turn around a trend towards increased breakdowns and reduce de facto cuts to service.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has reached a tentative agreement with six of its employee unions, including the Muni operators union, that would save the agency $18.7 million over two years and allow it, by September 4, to restore over half the service it cut earlier this month.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board has been down by two directors since May 1, but according to Mayor Newsom, his choice for the two replacement appointments should come in the next day or two.

Depending on how you count it, the sweeping Muni ballot measure that four members of the Board of Supervisors introduced earlier this week has at least six major components, ranging from the governance of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency to how Muni operator wages are set.

The war of words between the Board of Supervisors and the Mayor's office -- with the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency in the middle -- intensified today, even as the parties appear to be inching towards similar solutions for restoring half of the Muni service that was slashed earlier this month.

The ink has barely dried on the first public draft of a charter amendment that could bring sweeping changes to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), but supporters and critics are already digging in for a battle that could once again redefine the city's transit system.

Four members of the Board of Supervisors introduced a ballot measure [PDF] today that would bring sweeping changes to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which operates Muni.