Fast-Tracking Transit Lanes to Help the City's Recovery

Fast-Tracking Transit Lanes to Help the City's Recovery
By Amy Fowler

Map of proposed temporary emergency transit lanes Map of temporary emergency transit lanes being proposed at the June 30 SFMTA Board of Directors meeting

We don’t have a crystal ball to see into San Francisco’s future, but one thing is clear: a citywide economic recovery is dependent in large part on a transportation recovery. And while we work to come back from one crisis, we’re looking to avert another—traffic gridlock.

With hundreds of thousands of people dependent on transit to get around before COVID-19, our city is uniquely vulnerable to increased congestion. Congestion is already on the rise, and some studies are predicting that people may turn increasingly to private vehicles, turning the streets into a “Carmageddon” for both cars and transit. Our city’s streets simply don’t have room for more vehicles.

At the same time, COVID-19 has impacted our ability to provide Muni service. Service levels depend on the availability of operators, car cleaners, maintenance staff and other personnel to operate the system and support expanded cleaning protocols. To support physical distancing, our buses can only carry one-third of the number of passengers as they could before the pandemic. And, severe revenue cuts are also taking a toll. We estimate that we may only be able to provide 70% of pre-COVID-19 Muni service hours next year. If buses get stuck in traffic, that number could be even lower.

We need to ensure that transportation works for those who don’t have the privilege of working from home or using a private vehicle. Now more than ever, Muni is serving those riders who have no other options and are more likely to be people of color or from low-income households. In order to protect people who rely on transit from increased exposure to COVID-19 on slow or crowded buses, we need to act quickly to move more people with fewer resources.

One of the most effective tools we have to improve Muni travel time and reliability are transit lanes. Dedicated transit lanes allow buses to complete trips in less time and return into service more quickly, increasing vehicle frequency and moving more people with more space to physically distance. Emergency vehicles are also able to use the lanes to bypass traffic congestion.

The benefits these transit lanes bring are critically needed for Muni customers who have no other options during this public health emergency. We recently implemented a new transit lane on 4th Street and on June 16 the SFMTA Board of Directors approved new transit lanes as part of the Active Beale Street Project.

At a special meeting on Tuesday, June 30, the SFMTA Board will consider fast-tracking temporary emergency transit lanes that would benefit five Muni routes:

14 Mission and 14R Mission Rapid: Mission Street in SoMa
19 Polk: 7th and 8th Streets in SoMa
43 Masonic and 44 O’Shaughnessy: Locations on Presidio, Masonic, Laguna Honda, Woodside, and Bosworth streets

If approved, these temporary emergency transit lanes would be installed in late summer and striped only with white paint, “Bus/Taxi Only” stenciling and signage. Lanes will automatically be removed within 120 days after the emergency order is lifted, unless there is a public process to make a lane permanent.

These locations were chosen based on where the benefits are greatest, based on current ridership, travel time data and to prioritize routes that serve neighborhoods with high percentages of people of color and low-income households, including Ingleside, Outer Mission, Excelsior, Visitacion Valley, Bayview, Mission, SoMa and the Tenderloin.

On June 30, the Board will also consider delegating authority to the City Traffic Engineer’s Office to streamline the approval process for any future temporary emergency transit lanes. A public hearing would also be required for each corridor. The SFMTA is using travel time data to evaluate additional locations where adding temporary emergency transit lanes would achieve the biggest time savings and provide the greatest benefit. We will work with the community to evaluate and make any adjustments that are needed to the temporary transit lanes in real time based on public feedback and data monitoring.

Map showing Muni travel time savings on several corridors during shelter-in-place

At the beginning of the shelter-in-place, we saw massive time savings on several streets that don’t currently have transit lanes (see map), including the streets where temporary emergency transit lanes are proposed. Those are gains we’ll need to maintain to protect essential workers and our future economic recovery. Meanwhile, on most streets that already have transit lanes, there was no or very little improvement with the decreased traffic—demonstrating just how effective those lanes have been.

Delivering the city we want in the future, with a transit network that seamlessly connects people to jobs and neighborhoods to neighborhoods won’t come without tradeoffs. Temporary transit lanes will require removing some general-purpose lanes or parking in some places. As lanes are implemented we will be closely evaluating and gathering public feedback, and are prepared to make adjustments as we go—or even remove lanes—to ensure we meet the needs of the community and Muni customers.

Learn more about temporary emergency transit lanes.

Published June 27, 2020 at 05:08AM
https://ift.tt/382yjiP

Comments

POTUS Appoints SFMTA Planner to U.S. Access Board

POTUS Appoints SFMTA Planner to U.S. Access Board By Stephen Chun A big shout out to Maddy Ruvolo, Streets Accessibility Planner in the Taxi, Access and Mobility (TAMS) Division! On Monday, the President of the United States announced his intent to appoint our very own Maddy Ruvolo to serve on the U.S. Access Board as an Architectural and Transportation Barriers Compliance Access Board Member. The U.S. Access Board is an independent federal agency that promotes equality for people with disabilities through leadership in accessible design and the development of accessibility guidelines and standards. This role is a very important, critical and prestigious position and it is no secret that Maddy Ruvolo is the perfect individual to serve on the U.S. Access Board and represent San Francisco. Ruvolo has been widely recognized for her ...

New T Third Route in Central Subway Starting January 7

New T Third Route in Central Subway Starting January 7 By Mariana Maguire New T Third service via Central Subway starts January 7 with service between Sunnydale and Chinatown-Rose Pak Station. On Saturday, January 7, the T Third starts its historic new route, providing a direct Metro connection between Sunnydale and Chinatown-Rose Pak Station. Service runs Mondays through Fridays, 6 a.m. to midnight. every 10 minutes and Saturdays and Sundays, 8 a.m. to midnight every 12 minutes. The new T Third line vastly improves transportation to and from some of San Francisco’s most densely populated areas and major shopping corridors, expanding transit options and new connections. The new T Third route will travel north to the new Central Subway from 4th & King platform. It will no longer turn onto King Street or run along the Embarcadero and the Market Street subway. Also, the K Ingleside will now travel between Balboa Park and Embarcadero Station. New Connections Customers traveling...

The Future of Slow Streets

The Future of Slow Streets By Eillie Anzilotti Over the past two years, Slow Streets have shown how simple designs that prioritize people can transform streets. Suddenly, streets across San Francisco filled with the sounds of kids playing and neighbors chatting. They filled with people on bicycles and people rolling in wheelchairs; with joggers and dog-walkers. The streets came to life. Initially, the SFMTA introduced Slow Streets as an emergency response to COVID-19. People needed space for recreating at a safe distance outdoors. And with Muni service reduced or suspended at the time, people needed ways to travel to essential destinations on foot or bike. To quickly meet these early pandemic needs, we implemented Slow Streets with simple signs and barricades. Over time, it became clear that Slow Streets served an even larger purpose. They became places for communities to come together. Neighbors organized events like scavenger hunts and Trick or Treat parties around their local Sl...

New Interactive “Shared Spaces” Map and Dashboard Launched

New Interactive “Shared Spaces” Map and Dashboard Launched By Phillip Pierce San Francisco’s popular Shared Spaces  program, in which the SFMTA is a participating agency, now has an exciting new tool: an interactive map showing the locations and status of all the proposed Shared Spaces locations. The map is designed to make it easier for people to find Shared Spaces, check on permit status or simply track the progress of the program. Static image of the new “interactive” map showing Shared Spaces locations and stages in the approval process. Click through for a live view and explore in more detail. “We are so excited to see the new Shared Spaces Tracker that lets restaurants, businesses and residents see where the sidewalk and parking lane permit applications are located and details the status of each application,” said Laurie Thomas, Executive Director of the Golden Gate Restaurant A...

Transit Lanes Keep Muni Moving on Mission Street in SoMa

Transit Lanes Keep Muni Moving on Mission Street in SoMa By Erin McMillan The full-time transit lanes on Mission Street downtown installed as a temporary emergency measure during the pandemic will be made permanent. The first of the city’s Temporary Emergency Transit Lanes to get permanent authorization, they were unanimously approved by the SFMTA Board of Directors at their June 15, 2021 meeting. This shows how a quick-build project can be installed, evaluated, and refined in a relatively short amount of time. Thousands of daily riders have already felt the impact of the full-time transit lanes since they were first temporarily installed last summer. Now, riders of the 14 Mission, 14R Mission Rapid, and many SamTrans and Golden Gate Transit customers will continue to benefit from the transit time savings we have seen with the implementation of these lanes. Mission Street in SoMa has been a major transit corridor for years, serving regional commuter...

New top story from Time: After Trump Denies Knowledge of Reported Russian Bounties on U.S. Soldiers, Lawmakers From Both Parties Demand Answers

https://ift.tt/31rSR2S Leaders of both parties pressed on Sunday for answers from the White House about reports that Russian President Vladimir Putin had put bounties on U.S. troops in Afghanistan and that the U.S. had taken no action in response. Democrats called for hearings to be held. In his first comment on the matter, President Donald Trump tweeted Sunday that “nobody briefed or told me” about the “so-called attacks,” a comment that his former national security adviser termed “remarkable.” The New York Times reported Friday on the alleged actions by Russian military intelligence — paying Taliban-linked militias to kill American and British troops — and that Trump and other top White House officials had been briefed on the matter months ago. Major elements were also reported by the Washington Post. In a follow-up story Sunday, the Times wrote that commandos and spies on the ground in Afghanistan had reported their findings to superiors in January and that they had ...

4th Street Transit Lane Offers Muni a Path Forward

4th Street Transit Lane Offers Muni a Path Forward By Bonnie Jean von Krogh A new transit lane was installed last week on 4th Street in SoMA as part of the previously approved 4th Street Transit Improvement Project . As the first transit lane put in place during the COVID-19 pandemic, this change will help protect Muni passengers as congestion returns to city streets. Transit lanes allow buses to complete trips in less time and turn around back into service more quickly. That means with our limited resources, we can provide more Muni service with the same number of buses, reducing crowding and maintaining better physical distancing onboard. The benefits that transit lanes provide – saving time and avoiding congestion – have become critically important during COVID-19 to protect the health of Muni passengers. Physical distancing requirements mean that Muni’s passenger capacity is cut in a third from pre-COVID levels. When buses ...

New Express Service Comes to the 1 California

New Express Service Comes to the 1 California By Melissa Culross Newly painted Muni flag stop indicating the pilot 1X California Express Beginning February 21, 2023, a pilot program will offer express bus service on the new 1X California Express between the Richmond neighborhood and the Financial District. The SFMTA plays a significant role in San Francisco’s economic recovery, and this pilot that serves downtown is part of that. We have been working on improving travel time and reliability over the last several years. Travel times are now 11% quicker on the 1 California thanks to new transit lanes on California, Clay and Sacramento streets. But our work is not done on the corridor! The new 1X California express will provide another option for riders to zoom from the inner Richmond into and out of downtown even faster. We also expect this service to ease crowding on the 1 California as more people head back to the office. Three morning 1X California Express buses will ...

Muni Service Changes Starting June 13

Muni Service Changes Starting June 13 By Mariana Maguire Beginning Saturday, June 13, the SFMTA will increase Muni service and frequency, add select routes into service and extend some current routes to continue to support essential trips. A key goal of these service increases is to support the community’s economic recovery by providing more connections to neighborhood commercial districts as businesses begin to reopen. We are also adding more frequent service on targeted routes to help address crowding and improve onboard physical distancing. These service changes will improve transit access through Chinatown, SoMa and the Excelsior neighborhoods, identified by the Muni’s Service Equity Strategy as neighborhoods that rely on transit service the most based on the percentage of households with low incomes, private vehicle ownership and race and ethnicity demographics. Although Muni continues to be for essential trips only, many people have no choice but to use transit to r...

New top story from Time: Joe Biden Formally Nominated by Democrats to Run Against President Trump

https://ift.tt/31atd1S (NEW YORK) — Democrats formally nominated Joe Biden as their 2020 presidential nominee Tuesday night, as party officials and activists from across the nation gave the former vice president their overwhelming support during his party’s all-virtual national convention. The moment marked a political high point for Biden, who had sought the presidency twice before and is now cemented as the embodiment of Democrats’ desperate desire to defeat President Donald Trump this fall. The roll call of convention delegates formalized what has been clear for months since Biden took the lead in the primary elections’ chase for the nomination. It came as he worked to demonstrate the breadth of his coalition for a second consecutive night, this time blending support from his party’s elders and fresher faces to make the case that he has the experience and energy to repair chaos that Trump has created at home and abroad. Former President Bill Clinton and former Secreta...

My precise view

Search This Blog