Muni Just Killed the 18-46th Avenue: 30 Minute Waits

I'm watching the SFMTA Board of Directors meeting live at sfgovtv.org and I'm really pissed-off at Muni's planned announcement to change bus frequencies for the 18-46th Avenue.

The SFMTA representative on the microphone specifically mentioned the 18-46th Avenue bus line on their PowerPoint presentation and clearly said that midday service on the 18 will be going to 30 minute frequencies.

WHAT?

The 18-46th Avenue is the only north-south service on the far western edge of San Francisco. It's like Muni just ruined the great reputation of one of the best bus lines in the city. Why do I consider it the best bus line in the city? Before all this re-route bullshit through Balboa, the best and most senior bus drivers had first choices on what bus lines they can drive, and they always chose the 18-46th Avenue. When the drivers say the 18 is the best, the passengers can totally agree.

Midday service has always operated on the 18-46th Avenue runs on 20 minute frequencies, which is totally appropriate for a bus line where the nearest other bus line is over a dozen blocks away at Sunset Blvd (the 29-Sunset).

If Muni moves the frequency to 30 minutes, that means literally destroying the bus line. Assuming a bus goes out of service on the 18, your wait can be up to ONE HOUR. That's like waiting for the Owl bus late at night. Would you like to wait up to an hour with buses that have so much deferred maintenance?

And how about the SF State students, staff, and faculty? How about the Lowell High School students? How about the people who do grocery shopping at the Safeway "at the beach" (LaPlaya and Fulton) and the folks who shop at Stonestown? Will you disenfranchise service to the young, the adults who don't want to pay the $5 parking fee at SF State, and the elderly?

Hey Muni, here's an answer for all of your problems. FIRE NAT FORD. Hell, why not just kick off the Board of Directors.

Next Fiscal Year for Muni: $53 Million in the Hole or could even be $103 Million

Muni is a total failure. Word from the City Insider is that Muni will be $53 million in the hole starting the next fiscal year, and could even become $103 million if they don't take any action right now.

Yeah, I've heard this all before. Scare the crap out of the public that their beloved transit agency (cough! Bullshit! Excuse me, a bad coughing spell) that the agency will go broke, so we can bend over backwards to pay more and get less service than the cuts we got on December 5th, 2009.

Who in their right mind would pay more for less service? That's what's going to happen if Muni gets their way.

$5 F-Market fares are totally absurd, especially just yesterday there was a massive MELTDOWN with the Muni Metro for the N-Judah and J-Church lines when they forced passengers to walk to the Church station or find an alternate way to get to work. Many packed themselves on the F-Market line, the only other service other than the metro serving above ground on Market from Van Ness to Castro. If the $5 fare was in effect during this meltdown, the metro would be even more crowded, or people would illegally board the F-Market to at least get a shot at arriving at work slightly late.

How about denying boarding the express buses with the "M" pass? Another stupid idea by the transit agency.

• The 8X-Bayshore express is heavily used by the folks in Chinatown for the short hop to Market street and if the folks need the premium pass, they will have to ride the always crowded 30 and 45 lines.
• And how about the Richmond district express buses? Would anyone pay an extra $120 a year to Muni just to ride it? My answer is a big fat NO. The 1AX, 1BX, 31AX, 31BX, 38AX, and 38BX helps to relieve the crushing capacity on the other Richmond district lines, especially the 38L that gets packed when it reaches Presidio Avenue and the people trying to save money would ride the local and limited lines to save dough in exchange for arriving to their destination about 10 minutes later than the express.

Cable Cars for a premium pass too? WTF? Are the folks at SFMTA so nearsighted that they think the Cable Cars are always for tourists?

• Locals who work or live near the California Cable Car line depend on that line to go grocery shopping and get to their job. The California line may be a moneymaker for the agency as a tourist attraction, but it's for the LOCALS.

Muni needs to think smarter and not raise prices or put restrictions on our passes.

What does it take for Muni to consider TransLink to be a permanent part of the agency?

• They keep saying "well it's still beta" or "we are still testing it" is a bunch of crap. Get the Cable Cars in motion and you have the system fully ready to go.
• This means no waiting to pay the fare box, no more wasting money printing transfers, less mass production of fast passes, less mechanical breakdown of fare boxes and fare gates, and less time spent counting the change and dollar bills collected.

How about more timed transfer points? It works perfectly for BART when you need to go to Richmond or Pittsburg/Bay Point.

• A perfect example of a timed point is at SF State where the 28-19th Avenue passengers can transfer at SF State (19th/Holloway) and quickly transfer to the 29-Sunset for the ride to City College.
• They used to tell you about the timed transfer on the published time schedules Muni did back in the day, but the time schedules on 511 don't even tell you if the stop is a timed transfer point anymore.

I'm ticked at Muni. You can do a better job without giving the royal screwjob to the public.

The Death of Casual Carpool: $2.50 on the Bay Bridge

The free rides across the Bay Bridge during rush hours for those who have three or more passengers in their vehicle ends on July 1, 2010.

The Bay Area Toll Authority approved a hike on the Bay Area bridges for all regular can go up to $6, and carpools now will pay $2.50. Really? $2.50?

Here's why charging carpools is so stupid:

1. The need for tolltakers in the booths, and why should the tolltakers handle quarters? It will also slow down the smooth traffic.
   
2. Requiring Fastrak? That'll be a pain in the ass to regulate. Not every commuter uses Fastrak and waits in line at the plaza to pay their toll.
   
3. The death of casual carpool is the worst problem because it's been tradition that carpooling is always FREE and slugs are NEVER supposed to give money to the driver for a faster commute.

I thought San Francisco was going to hell with the bad Muni service, but toll hikes? Screw you BATA.

The San Francisco Restaurant Health Surcharge - It's Confusing

You might have noticed it on your restaurant bill, and maybe not at another place you visited... it's that 2-5% fee tacked-on to your meal. Restaurants call it a "health fee," others call it a "health surcharge" and others call it a "health tax."

It's really confusing, ain't it?

Since the City and County of San Francisco requires all employees to have some form of health insurance, some city restaurants decided to get all whiny about it by charging a percentage surcharge to every bill. Others have decided to obey the law by not offering a percentage surcharge and may simply just absorb that cost or just revise the prices on their menus.

Today, I'm going to target those pesky restaurants who sneak in that little surcharge.

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Here's the rules I do understand if a restaurant wants to do a health fee/surcharge/tax:

1. It must be clearly noted on every single restaurant menu (even if it's in small print). That's called informed consent; you have a right to know of any additional surcharges being tacked on, other than the sales tax. This is similar to the 18% gratuity charge for parties larger than 6 people and must be clearly noted on the menu.
   
2. The restaurant must clearly note this charge on their receipts.

Here's what I don't understand:

1. Can it legally be called a "tax" on the receipts and/or menu? For the consumer, it's pointless which phrase/word(s) used because you pay the same. But in a legal standpoint, it can be risky to call it a "tax" as it is only used for a government collection purpose.
2. How is the health percentage charge applied? Here's three possible examples of potential problems: (1) Using the subtotal, calculate the health percentage and the sales tax separately; add them together for the grand total. (2) Using the subtotal, calculate the health percentage, add the two together, and calculate the sales tax. (3) Using the subtotal, calculate the sales tax, add the two together, and using the new total, calculate the health percentage.

To understand the difference between taxes and surcharge/fee, here's a great example:

• California State University students pay "fees" but not "tuition" since California residents get their education tuition-free; legally, CSU campuses cannot use the word "tuition" unless the student is not a legal resident of California.

Here's an example of a restaurant that calls their health percentage charge a "tax:"

• McCormick and Schmicks in San Francisco charged my gift card a "SF Health Tax" of 62 cents, and this was calculated by using the subtotal of my food and beverage cost (pre-sales tax) and adding 3.5%. The sales tax was calculated using the food and beverage total (not including the health percentage charge) at 9.5%.

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I don't like these health percentage charges. It pisses me off when I'm being charged extra when I get my bill and they could have easily sneaked it into their menu by just charging a couple of dimes to the prices (or using cheaper ingredients). It's like the airlines advertising great fares, but not including the $20-$35 fees until you start booking it online.

Legal note: I am not a lawyer or attorney. This is not legal advice. Consult with a lawyer, city attorney, district attorney, or someone with a law degree for help. I may sound like some kind of lawyer, but I'm not one... I'm an Administrative Assistant.

Pro Wrestling Back at the Cow Palace?

It's a gloomy Thursday around here with the pouring rain, and I got an interesting e-mail from Ticketmaster late last night.

They told me that WWE's Smackdown and ECW crews will be wrestling at the Cow Palace on Sunday, March 14th at 5PM (sorry, it's not January) and tickets will be sold starting this Saturday at 10AM. From the looks of the ticketing website, it's going to be a non-televised event based on the seating arrangements within the Cow Palace. Tickets range from $15 to $75 and parking will be $15.

Save money on parking by taking Muni's 8X-Bayshore Express.

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Pro wrestling is back at the Cow Palace? The last time I recall the Cow Palace hosting a major wrestling organization is when the WWE hosted a pay-per-view event known as "No Way Out" in 2004 and I believe the late Eddie Guerrero won the title belt. WCW also hosted a pay-per-view event as well.

Just an odd question: I remember there's this old lady in the front row of the wrestling events at the Cow Palace, will she be back again?

For the past few years, I've been noticing a lot of national event touring companies like "Disney on Ice," and the "Harlem Globetrotters" avoiding the Cow Palace and always hosting their events in venues like the Oakland Arena and San Jose HP Pavilion. It used to be all three venues at once.

I've always wondered why a lot of the national entertainment touring organizations are avoiding the Cow Palace. Surely bringing big events can help the local economy (ok, not SF's because it is technically on Daly City's land), plus no hassling with driving across the Bay Bridge and paying both toll and parking at Oakland Arena, taking the torture walk from BART to Oakland Arena, or driving a huge distance to San Jose.

Maybe this is a comeback for the Cow Palace to host big events.

Tell the SFMTA Muni board to Shove It on Tuesday

Tomorrow (Tuesday, January 19th) at 2PM in City Hall room 400 will be the SFMTA Board of Directors meeting, and things will not be very happy...

Two very special items will either be discussed or be mentioned during public comment:

1. Muni's budget is allegedly bleeding so badly that more cuts and changes in policies would be necessary; and it could come as soon as May.
2. SFMTA Board will decide if they want to renew SFMTA Chief Nathaniel Ford's contract for another four years. This is brand new news straight from the "City Insider" of the SFgate.

These two items are going to cause some major problems. The public is already angry at Muni for the pass hikes, service cuts, and fare hikes. Also, nobody likes Nathaniel Ford for having such an enormous salary and turning our transit agency into the worst piece of trash in the country.

The SFMTA Board represents the people of the City and County of San Francisco, DO YOUR JOB AND FIRE NAT FORD IMMEDIATELY.

If you are pissed-off at everything about SFMTA/Muni, tell them!

• Go to the meeting tomorrow and note your planned attendance on this Facebook page.
  
• If you can't attend, get contact information here: http://tinyurl.com/SCREWmuni
• Sign an online petition to show your anger.
  

$5 ride on the F-Market and Premium Charge on Express Buses - IS MUNI NUTS?

Our city's public transit agency is a complete insult. With SFMTA/Muni trying to fill-in their massive budget gap of $16.9 million, the problem gets worse and worse every single time the agency opens their mouth.

Streetsblog San Francisco reports that as soon as May, Muni could be doing the following:

1. Fare on the F-Market line would increase to $5.
2. Cable Car service would require use of their "A" pass and the brand new "M" pass would be rejected.
3. Express buses would also only allow the "A" pass and refuse the "M" pass.
4. Discount passes would increase to $30/month.
5. New service fees for SFMTA services online and at their customer service center on Van Ness.
6. An extra $1.50 fee per citation issued by the SFMTA.
7. Neighborhood parking permits would be raised to $96 ($20 hike).
8. Reduction in service on all Muni lines (means less buses and trains on the road).

All these ideas are terrible. Muni should not be screwing with their loyal (and sometimes not loyal) customers. The city should be investing more into our public transportation system.

Muni tried some of these tactics before during the Frank Jordan era, and it FAILED so badly that Muni retracted their premium fare for express buses, gave back bus transfers, and issued a single pass for all adults.

Who in their right mind would ever ride the F-Market if the fee is $5? People could just wait at bus stops, gather four people and get to Fisherman's Wharf in a taxicab in faster time, and the taxi fee per person would be definitely less than $5 a head. What next, charge $5 for the 47-Van Ness and 49-Van Ness Mission because it gets to the tourist spots at the Wharf?

Express buses for a premium fee? I can understand charging a higher price for the Candlestick and Bay to Breakers express buses, but not the peak hour express buses. Those buses help reduce the passenger congestion on the local routes, especially the 1, 38, 38L, and 31 in the Richmond district. If pass prices stay the same and you can only use your premium "A" pass on the peak hour expresses, you would be spending an extra $120 a year just for that feature; for those penny pinchers, that means buying the "M" pass and riding the local bus lines just to save money.

And less frequency on bus lines? Some bus lines only operate every 20 minutes, so adding another 10 minutes would be terrible and ruin the good reputation of some of our best bus lines. Plus, if a bus breaks down, have a nice time waiting up to an hour.

Gavin Newsom promised that our city would be a "transit first city," but more of these bullshit price hikes and transit cuts makes us look more like a "car first city."

The citizens are fed-up with everything about Muni. Muni is the WORST managed agency in the entire city. If the SFMTA Board can't do the job, we the people must start yelling at the top of our lungs and demand change, starting with the IMMEDIATE RESIGNATION OF SFMTA CHIEF NATHANIEL FORD.

The next board meeting is: Tuesday, January 19th at 2PM in City Hall room 400. If you cannot be there, e-mail them. More info at: http://tinyurl.com/SCREWmuni