Muni

In no uncertain terms, Muni operators rejected a proposal yesterday for a package of concessions that would have saved the MTA nearly $15 million over the next two years, while reducing operator layoffs by a third. But the conclusiveness of the vote - 857 in favor, 575 against - masks a murkier truth: Many of the operators didn't feel the union adequately informed members about the details of the proposal.

On the heals of yesterday's vote by Transit Workers Union (TWU) Local 250 rank-and-file to reject the contract concessions negotiated by their President, Irwin Lum, and Mayor Gavin Newsom and senior management at the San Francisco MTA, Mayor Newsom expressed dismay and said he would support a November ballot initiative to force the issue with the union.

With the Muni operators union rejecting a concessions proposal last night that would have helped the MTA balance its budget deficit, Supervisor Sean Elsbernd said he now plans to bring back a ballot measure that would end the practice of setting Muni operator wages at the average of the two highest-paying transit agencies in the country.

Muni drivers rejected a concessions proposal today that would have saved dozens of operator jobs while reducing Muni service cuts and fare increases.

Heads up, concerned Muni riders: the MTA Board has rescheduled a key meeting from February 16 to Friday, February 26 at 9 a.m. The Board will vote on service cuts and various fare increases at the meeting, so it could be the last chance to speak your mind on Muni service before the MTA moves on to dealing with its fiscal years 2011-2012 budget deficits.

Consolidating Muni stops that are too close to meet the MTA's own spacing standards could speed up travel times for riders and save the cash-strapped agency millions of dollars annually. But in a twisted development that typifies the MTA's current budget crisis, the agency says its staff is too busy cutting service to finish a proposal that could lessen those service cuts.

In San Francisco it's almost as cliche to kvetch about Muni as it is to misquote Mark Twain about chilly summers, but what can possibly be done to fix a transit system that seems to have so many problems and almost no solutions that everyone can agree upon?

Supervisor David Campos will find himself front and center this month in a multiple-front struggle to answer an age-old conundrum: Why doesn’t Muni work better and how can we fix it?

Dozens of local elected officials and community leaders donned their novelty hard hats today for a Central Subway groundbreaking ceremony under the I-80 freeway overpass. Tunneling for the subway won't start for at least another two years, so a utility relocation project at the future site of the tunnel's SoMa portal had to suffice.