New Idea for Fixing the 38 Geary - Fort Miley Shuttle

Since my previous posting about the possible changes approaching in the months ahead for SFMTA/Muni, I was wondering how feasible it would be to modify service on the 38-Geary and save money.

Muni's original proposal (the "TEP") says the agency wants to eliminate service on the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch and force the 18-46th Avenue to take-over that eliminated route.

I argued that changing the two bus lines serving the Outer Richmond was not a good idea mainly because of access issues for disabled passengers on the 18 serving the Cliff House, and regular commuters who depend on the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch being forced to wait up to 20 minutes for an 18-line to take them home. You can read about my arguments on page 19 (PDF document). As expected, Muni didn't give a damn in their response.

--------------------

I just spent my weekend riding the 38-Geary local because the 38-Geary Limited on Saturday was a holiday and Sunday service does not provide limited buses. I thought to myself, is there a better way to cut service on Muni and limiting the frustration and damage to the public?

I knew the solution!

Instead of deleting service to Ocean Beach, why doesn't Muni consider deleting service to Fort Miley (a.k.a. V.A. Hospital) and replace the short segment with a shuttle service?

Here's why taking away the 38-Geary Fort Miley service is a useful idea:

1. 95% of the route covering Transbay Terminal to/from Fort Miley is already being served by the 38-Geary Limited (weekdays and Saturdays to 48th Avenue), and 38-Geary (regular/local to 48th Avenue) on Sundays and holidays.
2. I see many hospital workers exit at 42nd Avenue and walk it to the hospital. This includes the passengers riding the 18-46th Avenue towards Legion of Honor who also exit at 42nd Avenue.
   
3. Ocean Beach passengers can continue to take the local bus directly to their destination.
   
4. 18-46th Avenue passengers who have limited mobility can still access the Cliff House without struggling the steep hill.
5. 18-46th Avenue passengers who work at Fort Miley hospital will not have to transfer at 33rd Avenue/Geary for the Fort Miley bus (assuming if TEP eliminates the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch).
   
6. For disabled passengers and people who cannot make it up the hill to the hospital, Muni should provide one shuttle bus (a mini bus used on the 89-Laguna Honda) that serves the hospital and serves all local stops up to 33rd Avenue. Why 33rd Avenue? See below.
   
7. 33rd Avenue should be a transfer point for all local bus passengers riding the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch so they can cross the street and wait for the Fort Miley shuttle. For 38-Geary Limited passengers, they can exit at any point between 33rd Avenue and 42nd Avenue for the shuttle.
8. If Muni wants to save money by only using the shuttle on days when the limited bus is in use (weekdays and Saturdays)... the regular 38-Geary service (weeknights and Sundays) should revert to their old service that was "48th Avenue via Fort Miley" where outbound passengers can request service to the driver for Fort Miley, and when waiting for the bus at the hospital, they press the signal button that notifies the driver at 48th Avenue/Pt. Lobos to pick them up.

I believe this is a great solution that does not drastically affect an entire neighborhood.

If Muni can run one shuttle bus that serves Laguna Honda hospital from Forest Hill metro station, why can't they do that from 33rd/42nd Avenue to Fort Miley? Why run 60 foot buses every 15 minutes with so few passengers to Fort Miley terminal, when one shuttle bus can just run in circles for the short hop down a hill to ride the super fast 38-Geary Limited or to 33rd Avenue to catch the local 38?

I see plenty of passengers wait for the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch going towards downtown (I shop at Safeway frequently and eat at Kam's), and the 18-46th Avenue can continue to serve the Cliff House where accessibility problems are a big concern. I wonder why the hospital workers who depend on the 18 doesn't complain to Muni of making it a big inconvenience?

Plus, the Ocean Beach terminal has plenty of bus parking spots; if Muni eliminates that segment, extra buses will be forced to crowd-up at 48th Avenue or Fort Miley, and they are usually full during the day hours, and forces buses to park illegally.

--------------------

I would love to hear your comments about my new proposal. Will it work or will it fail? I know that folks from the MTC, Muni, and elected officials read this blog, so what you suggest may work!

It worked for me when Phil Bronstein and Eve Batey helped me out by getting Muni to BART discount coupons accepted for AT&T Park fans, and I'm still thankful for their help.

(Photo from Flickr user: ocu-master using a Creative Commons license)

Promises Broken - Translink on BART

If you are sick of BART taking their sweet time getting Translink on their system, join the angry mob of people who hates getting their BART tickets demagnetized, and wants an easy solution to paying for their fares without hassling with ticketing machines. SF Appeal's Eve Batey has been helping to put on the pressure to BART and my blog as well.


Why isn't BART keeping their promise to start in "early summer?"

Their press release statement on May 8, 2009 from MTC's John Goodwin and BART's Linton Johnson clearly states: "BART expects that TransLink will be accepted on the system early in the summer" (1st paragraph, last sentence).

Now let's progress to June 17, 2009, SF Appeal editor Eve Batey asked a few questions to Linton Johnson about the progress of Translink on BART and got a rude answer from BART's PR guy Linton Johnson: "...we are not going to make a big deal about the fact that anyone can use it. In fact, we aren't really giving out the time and date to anyone about when our soft launch will be. The only people who will know are our preselected EZ Rider users" (paragraph 10). Eve Batey also learned that Translink may not start-up on BART until "June 2010."

(In my own opinion, Linton is a JACKASS)

To make things more interesting, Eve Batey did a follow-up story on July 1st where she asked anyone who rides BART and carries a Translink card to continuously test the card every single day until the damn card readers accept it. As expected, it didn't work, and BART violated their promise to start allowing people to test the program in "early summer" (this is already mid-summer).

I also found out today on the BARTrage forums in a section titled "So f-ing sick of demagnitized tix!!!" (just posted recently) that a station agent by username "commonsense" stated: "BART came out and trained ALL the agents over a 3 week period on Translink as if it was coming out immediately. We have some of the equipment in the booth and we have been trained on it. Now were are told it will be out by the end of the year... MAYBE! Gotta love it!"

I guess with BART, promises are a bunch of bullshit. I have strong ethical convictions, and if I make a promise to someone, I keep that promise; if I am unable to keep that promise, I make a formal apology. BART on the other hand can make promises, but doesn't publicly apologize when they have to delay Translink once again.

There's a reason why people don't trust our public transit agencies, they don't hold-up their end of their bargain.

--------------------

For your information:

As you may know, once BART activates the gates, any person with a Translink card can use it regardless if they have registered with BART to participate. It's the same concept as SFMTA/Muni where they maintain a list of registered people testing the program, but allows people who use their card for AC Transit and Golden Gate Transit/Ferry to use it. (AC Transit and Golden Gate Transit/Ferry are using Translink full-time and not "testing" anymore)

Doesn't BART know... if people use Translink, it will save BART tons of money by wasting less plastic on their magnetic striped cards (some say BART throws away 600 pounds a DAY), and less maintenance is needed to maintain the ticket machines and fare boxes since Translink RFID requires no moving parts (i.e. getting your ticket or money jammed in a machine).

BART has a HUGE deficit, if they used their brains a little bit more, Translink is the perfect solution to saving MILLIONS. If you have trained the station agents, that's enough to say, "let's turn on the switch."

Where's the 2nd SF Muni Translink Survey?

San Francisco Muni/SFMTA is really slacking-off about the Translink program. They were to occasionally send surveys to the people who registered for the trial, but hasn't sent one since last February since I published it on my blog. That's FIVE MONTHS AGO!

While I have your attention, when the hell will BART activate the gates for Translink cards to be accepted? 2010 is a bullshit answer BART PR. Stop slacking off and turn on the damn thing.


If the SFMTA/Muni and/or Translink doesn't want to publish the survey, why not do the survey by copy the questions below and pasting it with your answers in the comments section! As long as you have a Translink card and used it on Muni, you can participate (regardless if you registered with Muni for the testing program).

1: On a 1-5 scale, where 1 is terrible and 5 is excellent, rate your overall satisfaction of using the Translink card (in general).

2: Using the same scale, rate your overall satisfaction of using the Translink card on vehicles (buses, metro, and historic trolleys). Use "N/A" if you have not used it.

3: Using the same scale, rate your overall satisfaction of using Translink on the metro "exit" gates. Use "N/A" if you have not used it.

4: How many times have you used the Translink card in a week?

5: Have you encountered any problems with the card reader? If yes, describe.

6: Have you encountered any problems with Muni employees when using the Translink card? If yes, please describe.

7: Did you encounter a fare inspector while in possession of your proof of payment, the Translink card? If yes, what did they do with the card? (Examples: Flash and it's OK, use their own card reader device, and tag the card to a vehicle reader).

8: Do you have any other comments?

A Summary of Public Transit Changes in SF Bay Area (Starting July 1, 2009)

Public transportation is going to hurt like hell in just a few days. So here's a summary of all the changes you will experience on July 1, 2009.



San Francisco Muni (see all info here):

• Adult cash fare increases to $2.
• Youth and discount cash fare increases to: $0.75.
• Adult monthly fast pass increases to $55.
• Youth, senior, and disabled fast pass increases to $15.
• Adult token ticket (10-ride) book increases to $20.
  
• Adult special event bus service (excludes AT&T Park) increases to $10.
• Youth and discount special event bus service increases to $7.
• Any passenger with a valid pass on special event bus services must pay a surcharge, that increases to $5.
• Route modifications, increases, decreases, and eliminations will happen in the coming months.
  

AC Transit

• Adult cash fare increases to $2.
• Youth and discount cash fare increases to $1.
• 10-ride tickets increases to $20 for adults and $10 for youth/discount.
• Adult local 31-day pass increases to $80.
• What won't change: Youth local 31-day pass stays at $15, and senior/discount monthly pass stays at $20.
• Adult Transbay fare increases to $4.
• Youth/discount Transbay fare increases to $2
• 31-day Transbay pass increases to $132.50.
• Translink will take-over all magnetic media for Transbay bus service in a couple of months.
• Changes in routes, including the 82/82L on July 3, 2009.

Golden Gate Transit & Ferry
There is a 5% fare increase for all services, except Marin Transit.

• For bus services: Depending on the zones you travel, cash fare will increase $0.15 to $0.45 cents, Translink fare will increase from $0.16 to $0.36 cents.
• Adult Larkspur and Sausalito ferry cash one-way service increases to $7.85.
• Adult Larkspur Translink fare increases to $4.90.
• Adult Sausalito Translink fare increases to $4.20.
• Youth and discount cash fare for Larkspur and Sausalito increases to $3.90.
• New route 101 (eff. June 15) and 92.
• Route 10 will not serve Geary Blvd. (eff. June 14th) and will go via Lombard St (92 to substitute with extremely limited service on Geary during rush hour).
• Route 26/27 will leave five minutes earlier (eff. June 15th).
• Route 4 and 93 will have an additional departure.

BART
(All info here)

• 6.1% fare increase for everyone.
• Inter San Francisco fare increases to $1.75 (but cheaper than Muni).
• San Francisco International Airport surcharge increases to $4.
• Eight stations will start participating in $1 per day parking.
• Weekend service wait time to increase to 20 minutes (eff. September).
• Weekend and night service to Colma, San Bruno, South SF, Millbrae, and SFO be reduced to one train line (FAIL coming soon!).

What you can do to reduce the impact of fare hikes and route changes:

1. Plan ahead! Check the agency's website for all route changes and remember to have your revised cash fare ready before you head out for public transit. Nobody likes waiting for you to pay your fare if you forgot the quarter.
2. Use NextBus on your cell phone and bookmark it on your home and work computer. It means less time waiting for your bus and instead spending that few extra minutes doing something else. If your agency doesn't use NextBus, read the bus/ferry schedule carefully.
   
3. If you ride AC Transit, Muni, and/or Golden Gate Transit/Ferry, get a Translink card. Faster payment means less hassle digging in your pocket for cash. Golden Gate gives a generous discount, even if you don't ride frequently.
4. Ask your employer for Commuter Check or a similar program. People can save an average of 20% on public transit, van pooling, and parking.
5. Since the previous BART strike, people like the AC Transit Transbay service and won't ever go back to BART. It's cheaper and you get a free local transfer.
   
6. If all else fails, casual carpool your butt. Just remember the rules of being a "slug," you are getting a free ride, so don't tell the driver to change the radio or give suggestions, always ask permission to open windows, don't pay the driver any money, and always say 'thank you' to the driver when you exit.
   

Translink on Muni Metro Gates - Notoriously Slow

Muni Metro has an infamous reputation, from the classic "Muni Meltdown" (the ATC program that failed), and the train cars that break down often.

Now Muni can add another notorious item to it. Translink.

Unfortunately, Translink card readers that are an add-on accessory to the "exit" fare gates at metro stations and are really weak versus the readers in operation on vehicles and the stationary readers at places like the Golden Gate Ferry terminals (SF and Larkspur).

Here is now I describe the metro station gate readers as slow:

1. Translink cards are RFID, meaning you can place the card in your wallet or purse (as long as it is within an appropriate proximity). On bus readers, you can stick your card in front of several plastic cards and a small bunch of dollar bills in your wallet, and it will read your card. On the metro gates, you would have to pull your card out of your wallet and tag it "bare" or stick it in something with much fewer layers between the reader and card.
2. They don't respond quickly when tagged (even if done "bare"). Vehicle and stationary readers respond quickly when tagged correctly. Proof is shown in this video I did with the "Translink party" (see below). The video shows quick tagging on the vehicle reader, but poor reading on the gate.
   

Conclusion: The readers on the metro gates are way underpowered.

However, while underpowered, they are reliable to open the gates for entry when you get the green light, and there's no more hassling the station agent by tagging the reader in front of the booth. With the stimulus money, Muni plans to replace the gates in the future.

Prepration for BART Strike? Expect the Unexpected

BART strike? If the unions don't work out a deal with BART management, that is what you will expect as early as Wednesday, July 1, 2009 at 12:01AM.

It's always every four years we hear about this. Four years ago, it was headline news with big news articles telling you what you should do. Here we go again...

If BART strikes and doesn't resolve their problems by July 3rd, they'll piss-off more than just the regular commuters, but also the thousands of passengers who will be going to the Giants/Padres series at AT&T Park (it's fireworks night on that Friday).

Also, during a BART strike, all public transit vehicles that serves BART stations will not be allowed to enter the property, so alternate bus stops will be used.


Alternatives to BART during a strike, or you passengers just want to stick your middle finger at management even if they don't go on strike:

East Bay: Your commute is going to really suck since the Bay Bridge is a nightmare.

• AC Transit Transbay service. But you'll get stuck on the bridge.
• Oakland/Alameda and Harbor Bay Ferries to the Ferry Building.
• Golden Gate Transit at El Cerrito Del Norte and Richmond BART. Then transfer to a SF bound bus, or gamble on a space on the Larkspur ferry.
• Casual carpool. Yep, stuck in traffic too.

San Mateo County: Well, nobody gives a damn about BART in that area since there's such low ridership.

• Caltrain (DUH!)
• Samtrans express buses to Transbay Terminal.

San Francisco: Tack on an extra hour on your journey.

• Muni (Cough! Vomit! Puke!)
• Taxi!
  

The People Have Spoken - SF Planning Commission to NOT Vote on Endorsement of Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan

I have received word from my colleague, Paul Osaki, Executive Director of the Japanese Cultural and Community Center of Northern California (JCCCNC) that the San Francisco Planning Commission has decided at this Thursday's meeting to NOT endorse or reject the Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan.

THIS IS A BIG VICTORY FOR THE JAPANTOWN COMMUNITY MEMBERS AND CARING PEOPLE OF JAPANTOWN!

ALSO, IT IS ONE BIG MIDDLE FINGER TO THOSE 'DIRTY' COMMUNITY LEADERS AND SPECIAL INTERESTS TRYING TO GET PREMATURE ENDORSEMENT!

The people have spoken through e-mails, phone calls, petitions, and public hearing comments, and it is clear from the loud banging of our pots and pans that the Japantown Better Neighborhood Plan cannot and will not be endorsed by the Planning Commission "as is" at this Thursday's meeting. Now the community will have more time to review the plan and make improvements.

So what now? The Planning Commission will instead vote on acknowledging the work performed on the Better Neighborhood Plan.

From what I understand, the City has not allocated any funding to the next fiscal year for this Neighborhood Plan, so the Planning Commission is passing a resolution to acknowledge the plan, with this acknowledgment, the Board of Supervisors can approve allocation of funding to continue this project.

If you plan on attending the acknowledgment vote, it will be this Thursday, June 25, 2009 starting at 5:00PM, but it is expected to run late. See agenda here.

To all of my readers who believe in defending and supporting Japantown during difficult times, I personally thank you for your support.

--------------------
Lastly...

Here's a lesson to those so-called powerful leaders and special interests who believes they can make decisions about Japantown's fate:

You may have the money and influential power to sway votes, but your voice is no more powerful than the collective group of community members and concerned citizens.

(One community leader or special interest person EQUALS one community member's voice)

With hundreds (or maybe thousands) of average citizens speaking-up against the Plan, and just several community leaders and special interests trying to get City endorsement, you should put your head down in shame.

You went against the wishes of the J-Town community who believed the Better Neighborhood Plan was not ready for endorsement, and you have LOST. If you admit it, maybe I'll forgive you.