À la carte Muni Passes when Moved to TransLink (Clipper)?

Now that Muni is confirming a tiered system of passes (for all ages) where the cheap passes disallows passengers to ride peak express buses and cable cars, while the premium pass gives those privileges (plus BART for adults), maybe it's time for the SFMTA to restructure their pass system.

Since Muni will be converting paper passes to TransLink/Clipper on the following dates:

• August 1, 2010 (tentative) for "A" [premium] fast pass.
• February 1, 2011 for all disabled, senior, and youth passes.
• No known date for the "M" adult pass.

I believe it may be worthwhile for Muni to take advantage of an à la carte program where passengers can choose based on their needs. Instead of Muni making eight types of passes, TransLink/Clipper makes it easy for someone to choose what they need with a push of a button or a click of a mouse.


Here's how I would run the program:

1. Anyone who wants to buy a pass must buy the "core" portion. This allows unlimited access to all basic Muni lines (regular, limited, and metro).
2. Add express bus service for $5 (adults) and $2.50 for discount.
3. Add Cable Car service for an additional $5 and $2.50 for discount.
   
4. Add BART service for an additional $5. (That is, if BART & Muni can deal out something since the current agreement only covers adults)
   

This gives some flexibility on what the passenger needs. Why pay the $10 premium fee when you don't use certain services? Just pay a little more and get the privilege to ride what you need. I still support a need for a fare credit when a pass without a particular feature can just pay a small additional fee to cover that premium portion the passenger needs (e.g., 25 cent additional cost for the express if you don't have that feature on your pass).

If Caltrain passengers can decide on which zones their pass can cover, pay extra if they want a Muni sticker, and pay a small fee each time they want to go beyond their zone, why can't Muni play along? VTA also does this by giving a $2 credit for pass holders who don't have express bus privileges, and the passengers just pay an extra $2 per ride.

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Why am I writing about this?
I don't think the SFMTA will go back to the simple style where one pass covers everything. But it could be possible that we may return to the time of the [Mayor] Frank Jordan era where the tiered pass system failed so badly that they turned back in less than a year.

BREAKING: Muni Proposes $5 Monthly Fee for Premium Services for Youth, Disabled, & Seniors

Director Beach of the SFMTA Board asked the agency's representative if the discount passes for seniors, youth, and disabled will be allowed to ride the express buses and cable cars. The representative has verified there will be an expanded variety of passes for this category (if the board approves):

• Youth, senior, and disabled "basic" pass only valid on local, limited, and metro.
• Youth, senior, and disabled "premium" pass also valid on Cable Cars and express buses.
  

The SFMTA Board has mentioned that the SF Board of Supervisors has already approved a pass hike for these three groups to be $20 a month starting May 1st, 2010.

But... a SFMTA employee on the microphone during the hearing stated there will be an additional $5 fee for access to Cable Cars and "peak hour" express lines. That gets my stomach churning. Ouch. An extra $60 a year for the right to ride express and cable cars.

Great, our vendors will have to now sell more types of passes. An "A" pass, "M" pass, three basic discount passes, and three premium discount passes. We'll be hearing the excuse more often: "I'm sorry, we don't have any more cheap passes."

In other news:

• The SFMTA Board repealed the increases to the discounted passes for $30 month.
• SFMTA representative verified all passengers who have the "M" pass who wants to ride an express will pay FULL $2 FARE.
  

Muni Rejecting "Muni Only" Pass for Express Buses: Unfair to 8X Riders

UPDATE: SFMTA Board states the 8X, 8AX, and 8BX are not considered part of the "premium pass" option. So basically, it's the so-called "peak hour" express lines such as the 38AX, 38BX, 31AX, 31BX, etc.

It doesn't make a lot of sense to me of why the SFMTA Board of Directors wants to vote on denying passengers the right to use their "M" pass on express lines and only allowing the premium "A" pass be the only sole pass allowed for adults.

From a recent article from SF Appeal, Eve Batey asked some more in depth questions about the proposal, and the answers she received showed just how messed-up Muni is. Instead of allowing passengers to use their "M" pass and pay an additional surcharge (e.g., 25 cents), Muni's interpretation is that "M" pass holders will pay the full $2 price.

I don't support any surcharge or restrictions to a "Muni Only" pass, but if there needs to be some fair middle ground, do a surcharge like they do for VTA. VTA gives passengers a fare credit if they have a non-express monthly pass or a non-express day pass, and they pay only an extra $2 for the privilege (instead of paying the full fare of $4).

In Muni's case, any cash paying customer won't be affected, but a "M" pass user is cheated out of an extra $2, or will have to suffer with paying for an "A" pass that will add $120 a year.

But even worse is the 8X-Bayshore Express line. That line is more than an express, it makes a lot of local stops along its route.

• It is heavily utilized by the folks in Chinatown getting to Market street, but if Muni rejects the "M" pass, you can expect more passengers to load-up on the 30 and 45 lines, or try to cheat their way onto the bus through the back doors.
• The route also enters the lower income portions of the city including some of the city's housing projects and Vis Valley. Can the adults afford to pay the extra $10/month or $120/year additional charge so they can get to their jobs in downtown, get their education at City College's Ocean campus, or do their grocery shopping in Chinatown?

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One item to note:

It's a little odd that the SFMTA wants to actually screw up the adult pass system Take a look...

The SFMTA is going to be voting on this topic this Friday, but the PDF document provided (page 50) shows that they may consider having Muni selling more types of passes:

1. "Express Route Premium Monthly Pass (excluding the 8AX and 8BX express routes)" which will give passengers to ride the regular, limited, metro, and expresses (except Candlestick).
2. "Cable Cars Premium Monthly Pass" will allow passengers to ride regular, limited, metro, and Cable Cars.

Why would Muni even sell more passes to complicate the system? Why FOUR PASSES? Can't they just simplify with the current two pass structure? A basic pass and a premium pass?

The Muni Nightmare Starts Tomorrow - The SFMTA Board Votes

My favorite personal quote about Muni: "We are not digging a tunnel [Central Subway], just a grave for Muni."

And the grave is going to get much deeper and filled with cement if the SFMTA Board does the wrong thing at tomorrow's hearing.

The SFMTA Board will be voting on two major items that will make a major impact on our city.

Item 11 is to consider any changes to the 2010 fiscal year budget for Muni and our worse fears could come to light including:

1. More reductions in service (e.g., 30 minute frequencies on the 18-46th Avenue).
2. Paying $4 a ride on Muni.

Item 12 covers the pass issues:

1. Increasing the price of youth, senior, and disabled passes.
2. Establishing a "Express Route Premium Monthly Pass" and "Cable Car Premium Monthly Pass."

This has gone way too far.  Nobody will ride a bus line that comes every 30 minutes when school children, elderly, and university students depend to get to where they are going.  Are they nuts to raise the pass price for the young, old, and disabled?

How about us adults?  Do they really expect to now force vendors to sell four passes?  You'll be hearing this more often at your vendor: "Sorry, we ran out of the $60 "M" pass, would you like a premium cable car pass for $100?"  It also doesn't make a lot of sense to penalize citizens who ride an express route just on the local portion, for example, I would sometimes take the 38AX in the evening at 33rd & Geary for a short hop to get home (that's because those idiots at Muni eliminated the 18-46th Avenue's route along Geary Blvd. and Point Lobos Avenue.

I'm starting to lose my patience over this agency.  Does anyone remember the controversial redevelopment project in this city?  It got to such a boiling point that at a hearing, an audience member so upset at the destruction of his community ran up to Justin Herman and grabbed him by the throat.

The SFMTA board better do the right thing for the people, or us citizens will start demanding the resignations of ALL SFMTA BOARD MEMBERS AND NATHANIEL FORD.

TransLink Add Value Machines Unable to Purchase "Muni Only" Pass for March

You would think after all these years, TransLink would have been shaking out the bugs out of their system, but the answer seems to be no.

On Monday morning (my furlough day), I went to downtown for a little walking tour and went to the add value machines at Montgomery station so I can purchase the March "Muni only" $60 pass (aka "M" pass) for the month of March. Strangely, the options on the machine only allowed me to purchase the higher priced $70 pass (aka "A" pass).

I removed my card and used the second machine to find out if it's just a machine problem, and I got the same options. So I gave TransLink a call to tell them about the issue and they suggested I go to another station.

At Powell station, I tried again and got the same problem. I gave another courtesy call to TransLink and explained that this is the third machine in two stations I've used and it didn't give me the "M" pass option. They even accessed the machine remotely to see what steps I'm doing to purchase a pass and they saw it for themselves that there was a big problem.

After they admitted that it was a problem, they took my phone number so they can call me back on updates. They have called me back a couple of times to inform me they are still experiencing problems.

Just about 10 minutes ago, I called TransLink for some answers, and they continue to have issues with the automated add value machines and encouraged me to visit a retailer. I told them I have a commuter benefits debit card and I can only use it at automated machines or on the TL website. I prefer the automated machines because it's an instant purchase and my information is updated instantly.

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This is a really strange issue that the "M" pass is not showing-up as an option to purchase. There's less than a week remaining and people want to buy their passes at the automated machines. I haven't experienced an issue to buy the "M" pass for January and February; but now there's a problem?

Just to make people wonder: TransLink was at the Montgomery station not long ago giving away free cards because SFMTA decided to remove the pass sales booth, and it was to encourage people to use the cards and automated machines to buy their next pass. Well... um... not showing the "M" option on the machines, shines a bad light on the universal transit card.

Update - TransLink updated their tweets:

1. "These passes will be available on AVMs as of the first of the month for those who have an existing Muni-only pass on their card."
2. "Customers without a Muni-only pass on their card can purchse one now from an AVM. We're working on syncing up the timing for both"

No More Muni Paper Transfers Starting September 2011 - Fare Inspectors Worried

With the progression of the TransLink/Clipper program to take over all paper media including passes, tickets, and transfers within the next couple of years, there will be some serious changes to the atmosphere of public transit. Muni is going to be one big target.

The MTC mentions on page 25 of resolution #3866 (PDF document) that bus and metro transfers is tentatively scheduled to be eliminated by September 30, 2011 (as long as the SFMTA Board approves this transition date). After this date, the only form of free transfers would be only on the TransLink/Clipper card. This is similar to Washington D.C.'s rail and bus service where as of January 4, 2009, paper transfers are no longer issued, and an RFID fare card was required to do all transferring.

For Muni, eliminating paper transfers means a huge cost savings on printing the thousands of transfers for every single day of the year, and will stop the litter at terminal stops where in some places, are just all over the ground and the trash can is just a few steps away.

Surely, no more paper transfers will help save money for the suffering agency, but Muni will have to fix some serious problems and issues with their current "Proof of Payment" system:

• People who pay cash won't be issued a transfer or payment receipt. What do they show when demanded to provide proof? An empty wallet? I asked a similar question last April about what to do if Muni charged all passengers if they wanted a transfer.
  
• Without the paper transfers as proof to show the fare inspectors, this means the inspectors are much less useful to enforce the fare evasion laws/codes that governs the transit agency. A passenger can easily claim to the inspector that he/she paid in cash, when in reality, boarded the back door and didn't pay a cent.
• Fare inspectors would be only able to do one thing since they can't check for "proof" anymore, just write tickets for gate jumping and back door boarding.
  

For the fare inspector force, get ready for some fat trimming. The amount of tickets they write doesn't make-up for their salaries (simple math shows each inspector only writes an average of $9,800 worth of tickets per year vs. a $50K+ salary), and by killing paper transfers, at least expect a pay cut (minimum).

Fare inspectors, I suggest: You have one year and seven months to start looking for another job. I'm sure Muni won't need your services anymore while their budget is hemorrhaging like crazy.

Akit's Furlough Adventure #8 - All Around San Francisco

Today was another day on furlough, and what better way to spend my morning and afternoon but walking all around the city. Let's take a tour, shall we?

First stop was at the Folsom platform for the N-Judah/T-Third line for a walk along the public shore towards AT&T Park. Here's a great view facing Northwest from the platform.


The legendary Herb Caen, oh how he is missed around our great city. I hope the city fixes this sign. How does it get bent like that when it's up so high?


It's off to the legendary Coit Tower where the views are outstanding and you hear the wild parrots of Nob Hill. You can pay to head to the top, or just get your camera and just walk around the surrounding area for wonderful shots.


With at least a 10X optical zoom, taking photos from Coit Tower is wonderful. This shot is of the Alcatraz Cruises terminal. I've never been to Alcatraz (sad, ain't it?).


This is what happens when Muni is piss poor and people fare evade... they can't afford the push bars!


Off to the California Academy of Sciences! Ever been in the Osher Rainforest? It's really humid in there, but the butterflies and birds makes it really special. Here's a great shot of a butterfly.


Here's another great photo of a butterfly!

To view the entire album, watch this slideshow: