San Francisco’s Transit-First Policy Turns 50

San Francisco’s Transit-First Policy Turns 50
By Michael Delia

Two buses, a bicyclist, a pedestrian and person riding a scooter all on Market Street.

Transit on Market Street in downtown San Francisco, 2018

It’s been a half-century since the San Francisco Board of Supervisors put transit needs above all other traffic initiatives, and now, the city’s Transit-First policy is celebrating its golden anniversary. The policy guides the city’s work on major infrastructure projects and planning efforts. Its principles drive San Francisco officials to promote incentives that reduce traffic congestion and solo vehicle trips, support transit investments including the purchase of Muni buses and light rail vehicles, and regularly evaluate how well our transportation network functions.

Adopted on March 19, 1973, the original Transit-First policy was born out of an effort to reshape the Municipal Railway so it could serve San Franciscans' needs more effectively. The goals were very specific:

Create exclusive bus lanes and prohibit automobiles from streetcar and cable car tracks.
Restrict turning movements of automobiles that conflicted with transit vehicles.
Extend sidewalks at transit stops to allow boarding from the travel lane.
Strictly enforce parking codes and tow-away regulations along major transit corridors.
Consider the use of preemptive traffic signals for transit vehicles.

By the early 70s, San Francisco streets had become increasingly crowded. The Freeway Revolt just over a decade earlier led to the cancellation of planned highway construction in the city, and an office boom downtown was bringing in thousands of commuters. Meanwhile, the San Francisco Bay Area Urban Renewal Association (SPUR) began a comprehensive review of Muni’s operations in 1972. The organization interviewed operators and management, conducted line checks and reviewed company properties and processes to identify areas for improvement.

“The recurring theme was most Muni vehicles were operating in traffic. This was the source of many problems — schedule bunching, accidents, unhappy operators and riders,” said Jim Chappell, executive director of SPUR from 1994-2009.

The recommendations in SPUR’s report, “Building a New Muni,” were well-received by the mayor and city supervisors, and the Transit-First policy was passed not long after its release. Transit-First also addressed concerns about increased air pollution and environmental damage by effectively putting the personal automobile on notice.

Cable car tracks with the words “keep out” painted over the street.

Transit-only lane along the Powell Street cable car tracks from California to Pine Street | November 27, 1973

New equipment, transit priority and a focus on complete funding for Muni were initial hallmarks of the policy. The passage of Proposition E, a city charter amendment, in 1999 further enhanced Transit-First by including protections in the landmark legislation for people walking and bicycling.

“San Francisco’s Board of Supervisors showed remarkable foresight in adopting the Transit-First resolution, and it no doubt helped San Francisco remain one of the strongest public transit cities in the nation,” said Jason Henderson, San Francisco State University Geography and Environment professor and author of Street Fight: The Politics of Mobility in San Francisco.

In addition to making transit, walking and biking more attractive, Transit-First also promotes equity. When residents have options beyond cars, employment and economic opportunity can grow, as does the opportunity to reduce greenhouse gases.

Professor Henderson believes San Francisco was the first city in the country to adopt a policy to prioritize public transit, but that doesn’t mean the work is done. “Transit-First must no longer be advisory,” he said. “[New policies are] needed so that public transit, cycling and walking are more than aspirational.” 

In recent years, the “Muni Forward” program has reflected the Transit-First policy with 80 miles of transit priority street improvements. Among those improvements, diamond-marked transit lanes have evolved to become the present-day “Red Carpet” lanes reserved exclusively for buses and taxis to reduce travel times and the impact of traffic congestion on Muni schedules. Meanwhile, Market Street has gone through various redesigns in the downtown area over the years. Following boarding island and lane improvements, San Francisco’s busiest thoroughfare received its first red transit lanes in 2014 and was declared “Car Free” in a monumental celebration on January 29, 2020.

Three people board a Muni bus on Van Ness Avenue in front of City Hall.

Riders board a 49 Van Ness/Mission bus near City Hall

Today we can see the Transit-First policy in action in the now open Central Subway and projects such as the Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) corridor and the Muni Forward L Taraval Improvement Project that is now under construction to add transit lanes, make the route more accessible and improve pedestrian safety and visibility. With Transit-First entering its 51st year, there are new challenges as the COVID-19 pandemic has driven many people back into private cars. However, the SFMTA’s improvement projects continue with a focus on proven strategies that make transit, walking and bicycling the city’s preferred modes of travel.

Published March 17, 2023 at 11:42PM
https://ift.tt/w7vTIit

Comments

As the city gradually reopens, mechanical street sweeping enforcement is set to resume

As the city gradually reopens, mechanical street sweeping enforcement is set to resume By Mayor London N. Breed and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) today announced that the City will resume enforcement for parking violations related to street sweeping beginning on Monday, June 15. Mayor Breed had announced on March 17 that SFMTA would not ticket for street sweeping following the Stay Home Order for COVID-19 in order to allow people to stay home without worrying about receiving a parking ticket. While the City had still encouraged people to move their vehicles if they could, street sweeping crews from San Francisco Public Works continue to see a large number of vehicles failing to do so, as many as 18,000 per day. Resuming enforcement for mechanical street sweeping is necessary to ensure that streets remain clean as the City begins to allow more businesses and activities to resume. “At the beginning of the Stay Home Order we wanted to ensure that people wh...

New top story from Time: Sunisa Lee’s Incredible Journey to a Historic Olympic Gymnastics All-Around Gold Medal

https://ift.tt/3zRsjGq The women’s gymnastics all-around final at the Tokyo Olympics was the coronation everyone expected it to be. Only the star was different. After Simone Biles withdrew from the competition to prioritize her mental well-being, American Sunisa Lee stepped into the gaping void left by her iconic teammate and stepped up to win her first gold medal and Team USA’s fifth straight in the event. With a steely calm, the 18-year-old Minnesotan leaned on her consistent execution and a spectacular uneven bars routine—the hardest of any gymnast competing—to triumph in a competition that until days before had seemed a foregone conclusion. [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] The absence of the defending gold medalist opened the door for the rest of the field, including Americans Lee and Jade Carey, who replaced Biles . “We were all coming in to compete for second place,” said Lee. “I just had to switch gears. I feel like the whole season I was second to her, so when th...

Gene Henderson: Honoring Muni’s First Black Division Manager

Gene Henderson: Honoring Muni’s First Black Division Manager By Jeremy Menzies In recognition of Black History Month, we bring you the story of Gene Henderson, the first Black man to become the head of a Muni bus division, Muni’s Kirkland Division. Henderson’s Background Gene Henderson was born in Houston, Texas, in 1916. He married his wife Naomi in 1939 and then served in the U.S. Army during World War II. Following the war, Gene and his family moved to San Francisco where he began his career at the San Francisco Municipal Railway. Early Career On February 1, 1946, Henderson was hired as a streetcar motorman out of Sutro Division, which was located on the corner of 32nd Ave. and Clement St. He was hired just five years after Muni’s first Black transit operator, Audley Cole, had successfully fought to integrate the carmen’s union in 1941. In his early days at Muni, Gene worked one of the three lines running out of Sutro Division from the Ferry Building to the Richmond District o...

New top story from Time: Militarized Feds Will Stay in Portland Until Attacks on the Federal Courthouse End, U.S. Attorney Says

https://ift.tt/305Lo8I (PORTLAND, Ore.) — U.S. militarized officers will remain in Portland until attacks on a federal courthouse cease, a top official said Monday after another night of violence. And more officers may soon be on the way. “It is not a solution to tell federal officers to leave when there continues to be attacks on federal property and personnel,” U.S. Attorney Billy Williams said. ”We are not leaving the building unprotected to be destroyed by people intent on doing so.” Local and state officials said the federal officers are unwelcome. Meanwhile, the mayors of Portland and five other major U.S. cities appealed Monday to Congress to make it illegal for the federal government to deploy militarized agents to cities that don’t want them. “This administration’s egregious use of federal force on cities over the objections of local authorities should never happen,” the mayors of Portland, Seattle, Chicago, Kansas City, Albuquerque, New Mexico, and Washington ...

New top story from Time: Who’s Ariarne Titmus? The Australian Swimmer’s Rivalry With Katie Ledecky Has Captivated Olympics Fans

https://ift.tt/3fdGe1v Before this week, many people knew Katie Ledecky as one of the most dominant names in swimming for the last decade. So they might have been surprised by the success of Australia’s 20-year-old Ariarne Titmus during the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, who has now bested Ledecky twice to snatch gold medals. In Tokyo, Titmus’ rivalry with Ledecky has been one of the most captivating parts of the Tokyo swimming program. The rivalry between the two star swimmers dates back to the 2019 world championship, when Titmus became the first woman to beat Ledecky at the international level. They’ll have one more chance to race in Tokyo, this time in the 800-m freestyle on July 31. She isn’t the favorite this time, however. Ledecky is undefeated in the 800 m, holding the fastest 24 times in the event’s history as well as the world and Olympic records, which she set during her winning race at the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics . [time-brightcove not-tgx=”true”] Titmus, who gre...

New top story from Time: ‘If This Task Was Urgent Before, It’s Crucial Now.’ U.N. Says World Has 10 Months to Get Serious on Climate Goals

https://ift.tt/2ZUXNvk The language of diplomacy rarely allows for a true sense of emotion or urgency. But reading between the lines of the latest report commissioned by the United Nations Framework Convention on Climate Change (UNFCCC)—the body representing the 197 member nations of the Paris Agreement to minimize a global average temperature rise this century—the message is clear. The world has precisely ten months to get our act together if there is to be any hope of staving off a climate catastrophe by the end of the century. If member nations are to achieve the Paris Agreement target of limiting global temperature rise above preindustrial levels by 2°C—ideally 1.5°C—by 2100, they must redouble efforts and submit stronger, more ambitious goals to reduce carbon emissions, according to the report. The document tabulates the national climate action plans [NDCs], of each member nation. The NDCs, which were due at the end of 2020, are essentially blueprints laying out emis...

New top story from Time: U.S. Agents to Pull Back in Portland But Will Remain on Standby

https://ift.tt/3gclOEH (PORTLAND, Ore.) — The Trump administration and Oregon leaders declared victory after it was announced that U.S. agents guarding a federal courthouse during violent demonstrations in Portland will pull back, but it wasn’t clear the agreement will reduce tensions that have led to more than two months of protests. Oregon Gov. Kate Brown said Wednesday agents with U.S. Customs and Border Protection and Immigration and Customs Enforcement will begin leaving the city’s downtown area on Thursday, but Acting Secretary for the Department of Homeland Security Chad Wolf wouldn’t specify where they would go. He insisted a federal presence would remain in Portland until the Trump administration was assured the agreement was working and the Oregon State Police was sufficiently protecting federal property. Many demonstrators are peaceful, but smaller numbers have thrown fireworks, flares, rocks and ball bearings at federal agents, used green lasers to blind them ...

New top story from Time: The U.S. Women’s Gymnastics Team Is Still the Favorite in Tokyo. But There’s Little Room for Error

https://ift.tt/3zx2o6o Coming into the Tokyo Olympics , most of the gymnastics community agreed about one thing—Team USA’s women were the ones to beat. As the reigning Olympic champions, the U.S. is returning to defend its title with one of the greatest gymnasts in the sport, Simone Biles . The team also builds off a legacy of Olympic titles that dates back to 1996. Couple that with funding and organizational struggles in former powerhouse countries like Romania and China in recent years—this is the second Olympics at which Romania failed to qualify a team—and the U.S. is practically a shoo-in. But as the qualification round at the Ariake Gymnastics Center in Tokyo made abundantly clear on July 25, much of the strength of the Team USA women’s gymnastics squad rests squarely on Biles’ shoulders. She stepped out of bounds in two of her best events—floor and vault. Other teammates struggled as well, which put the U.S. more than a point behind the Russian athletes (competing as ...

How Muni is Tackling the 10 Worst Delay Hot Spots Across SF

How Muni is Tackling the 10 Worst Delay Hot Spots Across SF By Cassie Halls The SFMTA has had its fair share of ribbon-cutting ceremonies over the last two years. These celebrations draw attention to some of our biggest projects. Also attention-worthy are some of the more incremental efforts happening at the agency. One such effort led by the Muni Forward team is the Transit Delay Hot Spots Program , launched in February 2020 . Muni Forward is known for corridor projects such as the L Taraval Improvement Project , 16 th Street Improvement Project , and M Oceanview Transit and Safety Project . These efforts are increasing the already sizeable 80 miles of transit reliability upgrades since 2014. There are also other ways we’re working to slash travel times and improve reliability across the Muni network. The Transit Delay Hot Spots Program aims to tackle the 10 worst “delay hot spots” each year, where buses crawl between stops at four miles an hour or less. We’re looking cl...

New top story from Time: Immigration, Guns and the Filibuster: Joe Biden Confronts Challenges in First Press Conference

https://ift.tt/2PrZX3B Joe Biden held his first formal news conference as president 65 days into this presidency, after making a series of consequential moves in the early weeks of his Administration to help curb the COVID-19 pandemic and ease the economic pain in the country. But he didn’t get asked any questions about the coronavirus. Instead, reporters pressed Biden on things his Administration hasn’t done— like taking a position against the Senate filibuster rule, implementing executive action on gun control in the wake of two mass shootings, and stopping the flow of unaccompanied children coming to the U.S. southern border. The focus on Biden’s problems rather than his victories was a reminder that, in the highest office in the land, reality intrudes on even the best laid plans. The Biden Administration has so far been a model of coordinated message discipline. But once Biden formally faced reporters, he was forced to answer questions with responses that stretched ...

My precise view

Search This Blog