Safe and Secure Restroom Access Helps Muni Run On Time

Safe and Secure Restroom Access Helps Muni Run On Time
By Adrienne Heim

For those working in the field and delivering transit service, restroom access is not as easy as you may think. Bathroom breaks are a human necessity and require advanced planning for our thousands of transit operators. This is particularly true during the pandemic, as the shelter in place guidelines closed many restaurants and offices that were previously available to our transit staff.

Photo of muni operator behind the wheel, wearing a mask

Muni operators provide essential transit service in San Francisco

As the city looks forward to reopening, the SFMTA wants to ensure that all San Franciscans will be able get around the city safely and quickly. This means continuing to invest in maintaining the infrastructure that makes it possible for transit operations to be carried out. And that includes ensuring our Muni bus operators have safe and secure restroom access at the beginning and end of their routes.

Seven years ago, SFMTA’s Operator Restroom Taskforce was formed with a single mission – to overcome obstacles and provide safe, clean and reliable restroom access for staff working in the field throughout the city. And that is exactly what the team members represented by nearly every agency division, including members of Transport Workers Union Local 250A have been doing.

Since 2012, the group has been successful in delivering additional access at key locations, bringing the total number of available restrooms location to 151. This includes securing licenses and free restroom agreements with businesses, buildings, and organizations, portable units and permanent SFMTA dedicated operator restroom facilities.

Completing A Refresh of Older Operator Restrooms

Between 1990 and 2005, 17 standalone restrooms were constructed to kickstart supporting operators out in the field.

Geneva Avenue and Munich Street Operator Restroom built in 1990

Geneva Avenue and Munich Street Operator Restroom built in 1990

Throughout 2020, the Operator Restroom Taskforce sought out additional restroom facilities to compensate for those that had been closed. They also procured and located portable restrooms. Additionally, the group’s maintenance team members began updating 21 restroom facilities, which include the first set of operator restrooms that were built, as well as more recently-built facilities.

This refresh consisted primarily of replacing worn or rusted electrical conduit and plumbing fixtures. Repairing or replacing the Instahot Instant Water Heater was also a top priority because handwashing is essential to safety and hygiene. Paper towel dispensers are also being replaced with electric hand dryers in all of our operator restrooms.

Main and Mission Restroom Refresh October 2020

Main and Mission Restroom Refresh October 2020

Powell Station Staff Restroom Refresh August 2020

Powell Station Staff Restroom Refresh August 2020

The team also built a restroom trailer to support the 30 Stockton bus route to Crissy Field.

Restroom Trailer at the Sports Basement-Crissy Field

Restroom Trailer at the Sports Basement-Crissy Field

By providing reliable restroom access, the SFMTA is working to meet the health and safety needs of our transit operators and other agency field staff, an often-overlooked aspect of improving Muni’s reliability.

Learn more about the project and subscribe to project updates by visiting SFMTA.com/OperatorRestrooms.

Published February 26, 2021 at 11:32PM
https://ift.tt/2ZS4yht

Comments

Enhancing Safety on Franklin Street

Enhancing Safety on Franklin Street By Mark Dreger We're excited to share an update on the Franklin Street Quick-Build Project, an effort to enhance traffic safety on Franklin Street between Broadway and Lombard Streets. This roadway stretch was the site of 38 collisions between 2017 and 2021, including the tragic loss of a Sherman Elementary School paraeducator in November 2021. Our data-driven approach focuses on several key safety improvements, and we are ready to share the evaluation results and the next steps to bring further safety changes to Franklin Street. The project includes the implementation of a suite of safety measures focused on the intersections where neighborhood stakeholders expressed most concerns during the outreach process. Painted safety zones (PSZs) have been installed to increase pedestrian visibility at crosswalks by keeping the corners of intersections clear. Slow-turn wedges have been added to encourage drivers to turn at safer speeds...

New top story from Time: China Sentences a Former Lawyer Who Reported on the Coronavirus Outbreak to Four Years

https://ift.tt/3nVF2lP BEIJING — A Chinese court on Monday sentenced a former lawyer who reported on the early stage of the coronavirus outbreak to four years in prison on charges of “picking fights and provoking trouble,” one of her lawyers said. The Pudong New Area People’s Court in the financial hub of Shanghai gave the sentence to Zhang Zhan following accusations she spread false information, gave interviews to foreign media, disrupted public order and “maliciously manipulated” the outbreak. Lawyer Zhang Keke confirmed the sentence but said it was “inconvenient” to provide details — usually an indication that the court has issued a partial gag order. He said the court did not ask Zhang whether she would appeal, nor did she indicate whether she would. Zhang, 37, traveled to Wuhan in February and posted on various social media platforms about the outbreak that is believed to have emerged in the central Chinese city late last year. She was arrested in May amid tough n...

New top story from Time: Want Unity For Real? Then America Needs to Get Back to Facts

https://ift.tt/3pZWgj1 Philadelphia had never seen such a spectacle. On Friday, July 4, 1788—a dozen years since the Declaration of Independence—the city celebrated the narrow ratification of the Constitution with parades, fireworks, and speeches. The patriot-physician Benjamin Rush appreciatively noted the “pleasant and cooling breeze” and took satisfaction in the evidence of unity after the divisive debates to replace the Articles of Confederation with a more coherent and lasting form of government. “The Rabbi of the Jews, locked in the arms of two ministers of the gospel, was a most delightful sight,” Rush wrote. “I do not believe that the Constitution was the offspring of inspiration, but I am as perfectly satisfied that the union of the states … is as much the work of divine providence as any of the miracles recorded in the old and new testament were the effects of a divine power.” Rush’s happy conclusion: “’Tis done! We are become a nation.” That nation, however, was...

Traffic Collisions have Decreased on San Francisco’s Slow Streets

Traffic Collisions have Decreased on San Francisco’s Slow Streets By Julia Malmo As a whole, Slow Streets are safer than they were before being designated Slow Streets Streets that are part of the SFMTA’s Slow Streets Program have become measurably safer since the program began in 2020, with the number of traffic crashes falling by almost half. On average, these corridors have seen a 48% drop in collisions following their designation as Slow Streets, compared with a 14% drop in collisions citywide over the same period. Slow Streets also are more welcoming for people who walk, bike and roll. Fewer than 1,000 vehicles per day use all but four of the current Slow Streets (20th Street, Minnesota Street, Noe Street, and Page Street). The goal of the program is to create safe, shared streets that are comfortable and enjoyable for people of all ages and abilities, using any mode of transportation. We now can see how it’s doing in a new evaluation report . When t...

FOX NEWS: California couple gets married at 'most beautiful' Taco Bell: 'It was the best of both worlds' Analicia Garcia, 24, and Kyle Howser, 25, from Sacramento, California, got married on Tuesday, Oct. 26 and had their reception at the famous Pacifica, California, Taco Bell.

California couple gets married at 'most beautiful' Taco Bell: 'It was the best of both worlds' Analicia Garcia, 24, and Kyle Howser, 25, from Sacramento, California, got married on Tuesday, Oct. 26 and had their reception at the famous Pacifica, California, Taco Bell. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/3BKWsrb

New top story from Time: Judge: U.S. Must Free Migrant Children Detained With Parents

https://ift.tt/2Vn00hg (HOUSTON) — A federal judge on Friday ordered the release of children held with their parents in U.S. immigration jails and denounced the Trump administration’s prolonged detention of families during the coronavirus pandemic. U.S. District Judge Dolly Gee’s order applies to children held for more than 20 days at three family detention centers in Texas and Pennsylvania operated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement. Some have been detained since last year. Citing the recent spread of the virus in two of the three facilities, Gee set a deadline of July 17 for children to either be released with their parents or sent to family sponsors. The family detention centers “are ‘on fire’ and there is no more time for half measures,” she wrote. Read more: If You’re Shocked by Reports on Children at the Border, You Haven’t Paid Attention to American History In May, ICE said it was detaining 184 children at the three detention centers, which are separa...

New top story from Time: 8 People Involved in Tokyo Olympic Torch Relay Infected With COVID-19

https://ift.tt/3vATfb8 Eight people who were involved in the the torch relay for the Tokyo Olympics have tested positive for COVID-19—the latest sign of trouble for Japan as it both struggles with a spike in infections and prepares for the Games this summer. More than 70% of people in Japan want the Olympics, which begin July 23, to be canceled or postponed, according to an April poll by Kyodo News . Runners of the relay, which began its journey to Tokyo on March 25 in Fukushima , have faced heckling and protests . The Japanese government, however, insists that the Games will go ahead following their delay in 2020 due to the pandemic. COVID-19 protocols released last month rely on frequent testing and isolation bubbles for athletes and coaches, but not strict quarantines or vaccinations. Fans from abroad have been banned, and organizers are weighing whether to bar Japanese spectators, as well . On Sunday, the country reported 5,900 new infections, and the number of COVI...

New top story from Time: In a Break with Washington’s Usual Posture, the CDC Director Makes an Emotional Plea

https://ift.tt/39vQIX0 This article is part of the The DC Brief, TIME’s politics newsletter. Sign up here to get stories like this sent to your inbox every weekday. It’s sometimes easy to forget that the leaders who guide this country through its toughest moments aren’t steely caricatures. We take comfort in the hardened hagiography of FDR responding to Pearl Harbor, Ronald Reagan’s reflection on the Challenger’s crew that “slipped the surly bonds of earth to touch the face of God,” or George W. Bush’s return to the White House after a harrowing day of cat-and-mouse on Sept. 11, 2001. So it was a bit of a jolt when Dr. Rochelle Walensky, the head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, experienced an emotional hiccup at a press briefing yesterday when she warned the public that COVID-19 still presents a real danger. We are approaching 10 weeks of Joe Biden’s team laying out facts and science to the public about the COVID-19 pandemic and his Administrati...

New top story from Time: Protests Against an Abortion Ban Continue for a Fifth Day in Poland

https://ift.tt/2HDCNDx WARSAW, Poland — Women’s rights activists and many thousands of supporters held a fifth day of protests across Poland on Monday, defying pandemic restrictions to express their fury at a top court decision that tightens the predominantly Catholic nation’s already strict abortion law. In Warsaw, mostly young demonstrators — women and men — with drums, horns and firecrackers blocked rush-hour traffic for hours at a number of major roundabouts. Some of them took off their shirts and stood topless on top of cars. Many held banners with an obscenity calling on the right-wing government to step down. A group of far-right supporters held a counter-protest in front of a church and police in riot gear kept the two groups apart, using pepper spray at one point. Some of the people protesting the court ruling were detained and others sat down in the street to stop the police van taking away the detainees. A protesting woman was taken to hospital with slight in...

New top story from Time: Our Eyes on the Virus: Why We Still Need Widespread Rapid Testing Even With Vaccines

https://ift.tt/3i5MoTN The vaccines are here. Why do we still need testing? Testing is our eye on the virus. Without testing, we can’t see where it is or where it is going. As fall and winter set in, outbreaks will again occur, sparked by the unvaccinated. And most people become infectious before they know they are infected. Frequent and accessible rapid testing is a tool that if deployed last summer and fall would have saved 100,000 lives. The U.S. missed the opportunity to use frequent rapid testing to stop individuals from unintentionally spreading the lethal SARS-CoV-2 virus to our most vulnerable and avert the horrific winter surge. By rapid tests, I mean the tests that an individual can conduct without a laboratory (ideally in the privacy of their own home) with results given in real-time. There are two types: rapid antigen tests, which look for the virus’s proteins and detect infectious levels of virus. The other lets you know you’ve been infected: rapid molecular...

My precise view

Search This Blog