Muni

A ballot measure that would change the way Muni operator wages and benefits are set now has an official name and summary from the City Attorney's Office.

It will soon be a lot easier for any Muni rider with a cellphone to find out when the bus will arrive.

Some of the most important changes for Muni are also the simplest ones and there are a number of relatively basic adjustments the MTA could make that would improve service and speed up the city's buses.

The City Attorney's office has determined that the short first terms of MTA Board members Shirley Breyer Black and James McCray do count towards the three-term limit for directors, meaning both are termed out as of May 1. That answers an open question about the seats that Streetsblog first raised last month.

As if the lure of playing in the street wasn't enough, city leaders and organizers gathered at City Hall yesterday afternoon to promote the first of nine Sunday Streets events this year, which will run along the Embarcadero up to Fisherman's Wharf [route map PDF] this Sunday.

Could rounds of Muni service cuts and fare hikes push more people to start cycling in San Francisco?

A ten-percent increase in the commercial off-street parking tax, from 25 percent to 35 percent of gross receipts, could bring in $20 million for Muni and reduce congestion by nudging downtown commuters towards transit, all without requiring any statewide legislative changes. But the proposal faces an uphill battle: A recent poll showed just 38 percent of respondents support even a 5 percent increase in the tax, and a similar measure gained even less support in 2006.

One lesson from Saturday's Save Muni Summit and from MTA Board hearings jam-packed with Muni supporters in the past two weeks is that Muni riders are not an apathetic bunch. But if riders are willing to go to City Hall and to grassroots meetings, why isn't there already a politically powerful transit constituency in San Francisco?