Comments on: Where is the Transit Voice?

By: dto510

dto510 — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 19:08:57 +0000

I agree that transit advocacy is almost non-existent in SF, and that’s almost as true in the rest of the Bay Area. I found it striking that every single person speaking against the MTC’s allocations of funds to the Oakland Airport Connector instead of agency operations urged the MTC to give the money to AC Transit – ie, they were all from the East Bay. Chris Daly voted to keep the money for the OAC and not give any to MUNI – where are his constituents on this? Newsom’s representative, who I believe was from MUNI, also voted not give money to her agency. The only person to vote against the OAC’s allocation was the representative from East Bay cities, Tom Bates.

By: lyqwyd

lyqwyd — Fri, 10 Apr 2009 01:04:39 +0000

@richard

I don’t think the point of a Muni organized grassroot organization would be to go to bat for Muni and associated unions, but rather to put a voice to the riders and work for the types of changes that are needed to improve Muni for the riders.

By: Richard Mlynarik

Richard Mlynarik — Thu, 09 Apr 2009 04:08:31 +0000

Muni hates you.

Why would anybody waste their time going to bat for an organization whose top priority is the Central Subway and whose public face is the welfare program/political enforcement brigade of TWU Local 250-A?

Anybody who has lived in San Francisco for more than a year and anybody who cares about the urban environment learns that there is simply no way to improve the organization: if is perfectly designed to perpetuate itself.

Muni hates you. Why should you try to love it or even lift a finger for it?

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:30:13 +0000

David: As I wrote in this subsequent post, the MTA directors are also opposed to charging for transfers, which is encouraging.

By: david vartanoff

david vartanoff — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 20:20:21 +0000

First as a Rescue Muni member for over a decade,NO I don’t always agree w/ other members. That said, the proposals are a DISASTER. Charging for transfers really means a much steeper fare increase becausae Muni, like most transit agencies, often requires two buses/trolleys to get many places. Apart from redlining neighborhoods, charging for transfers completely torpedoes POP. So who is going to reimburse riders for the rear door TL readers which will then be even more useless than now?

By: Tweets from April 7 SMFTA Budget Hearing « Transbay Blog

Tweets from April 7 SMFTA Budget Hearing « Transbay Blog — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 04:39:37 +0000

[...] Transbay Blog « Where is the Transit Voice? [...]

By: Eric

Eric — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 03:10:53 +0000

Livable City is an excellent organization (one of my favorites), and it certainly takes the right approach on many key issues, under Radulovich’s leadership. I think, though, that consistency of message is only one part of the story. What’s needed is a group that’s wholly dedicated to preserving and expanding service for riders, and a group that executes the multiple levels of advocacy needed to pull that off. It’s at least as much about time, resources, and political strings as it is about the message. I don’t know whether such a group should be drawn from existing organizations, or if it should be a new group altogether. But it strikes me as a notable lack.

By: heather

heather — Wed, 08 Apr 2009 02:59:38 +0000

Could the group Livable City take on this role? After all, their motto is “less car, more life.”

By: Josh

Josh — Tue, 07 Apr 2009 20:08:07 +0000

Word! I’ve been puzzling over this since the doomsday news came down.

Rescue Muni would have a long way to go to become a voice of the average Muni rider. I, for one, often find myself disagreeing with them, and I’ve been car-free for life.