#transit effectiveness project

[sfmuniverse]

A Plan for Muni Metro Rail Expansion in San Francisco

For a city less than 7 miles square, we have a lot of streetcar, light-rail, and commuter rail service. But it’s not enough and a lot of the city is left underserved by and system nearly at capacity.

Muni Forward is already solving of todays problems, but it won’t carry us forever. The City is growing and our transit infrastructure will need to grow as well to handle more than a million residents, workers, and tourists.

Last year, Board of Supervisors passed legislation requiring the City to develop a subway master plan. We ran through list of projects we knew were in the works at the time, but it turns out we only scratched the surface.

The SFTMA has now released a Draft Rail Capacity Strategy (PDF) which details the situation we're going to find ourselves in before too long, and how we can address it with a series of propsed new and upgraded lines. The strategic plan calls for 30+ miles of new track along key corridors, putting rail service within a half mile's reach of 95% of the City. With grade separations and speed improvements, Embarcadero will be be no more than 30 minutes from most Muni Metro stations.

Some are very long term projects, but there are a series of short term improvements and low hanging fruit the SFMTA has identified that can be done within just a few years. The major projects fall into three tiers, and it’s noted in the document that sooner is better (and cheeper) than later.

Tier 1

The first tier of major projects would be slated for implementation around 2025. The document avareges all construction times at 5 years, but that will be sorted out as planning gets into the details. The first four big projects total of 12.3 miles of new track and are all pretty obvious choices:

Geary Light-Rail (surface/subway line)

Geneva Light-Rail (surface line already being considered for rail and directly connecting Muni's rail yards)

Central Subway to North Beach & Fisherman’s Wharf (with a Marina Branch shown as well)

M-line / 19th Ave Grade Separation (The four-car M-line subway project)

Tier 2

Second set are targeted a 2040 implementation and focussed more on capacity. There are only 4.3 miles of new track, but these projects will enable three and four-car trains.

Four-car train Capacity at West Portal & Forest Hill (the Market Street stations can hold four-car trains, expanding these two allows four-car service all the way from Park Merced to Embarcadero)

N-Judah three-car Operations and Underground from 9th Ave (still connecting into the Market Street Subway, just staying under ground)

East West LRT from Market & Church to Mission Bay/4th & King (the 16th Street will be is getting dedicated transit lanes soon as part of the recently approved 22-Fillmore transit priority project)

Tier 3

The third tier is aiming for 2050 and will fill out the rail network with 13.8 miles of new track:

Evans Avenue T-Line spur (bringing T service directly into the redeveloped Shipyard district)

Fort Mason Historic Streetcar Extension

2nd & Sansome Streetcar (we’re assuming modern low-floor streetcars, shown here going all the way to Broadway & Fillmore)

19th Ave Light-Rail (a significant upgrade to the 28/28R)

Non-revenue track between the N-Judah and the L-Taraval (a utility track for moving trains around for more efficient service or route around disrutptions)

Marina to Upper Market Light Rail (the Fillmore leg of the 22-Fillmore)

The strategic plan discussed in SFMTA's blog is still in draft form, but even once finalized the projects will continue to evolve and change as the proposals move strategy and corridors to detailed planning. It also remains to work out how there projects will play with BART's existing system and any future Geary BART line.

[bobgunderson]

SFMTA: One Last TEP Meeting With Citizens to Render it Useless

The Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP) is a comprehensive overhaul of San Francisco's transit network.  It has been developed over several years of data collection, intensive planning and public outreach efforts.  It's also been sitting on the shelves collecting dust for the past 6 years, working through the guts of city bureaucracy. Finally, the SFMTA is ready to have it completely ruined by a selfish public that is vehemently opposed to participating in an activity commonly known as "walking".

Suggested improvements will benefit all transit users, but it will undoubtedly piss off one or two people and likely get scrapped. Image via SFMTA.

The TEP aims to accomplish the following: • Improve Reliability – Make service more predictable to build customer confidence before implementing proposed route changes • Reduce Travel Times – Develop small- and large-scale strategies to reduce delay, enhance pedestrian safety, and get more service from existing resources • Update Muni Routes – Redesign routes and adjust service to benefit the maximum number of Muni customers

SFMTA explaining to a group of angry car storage loving people, looking at "sheets of colored paper on sticks". Image via Streetsblog

Feedback from the city residents aims to: • Don't Make us Walk and Don't Remove a Bus Line - Make the lines more reliable and faster, but keep stops on every block, or even 2 on every block.  Walking three blocks to a bus that goes faster than 8 miles an hour?  Are you insane? • Streamline and Enhance the Lines, but only inconvenience other people -  61 percent of Muni riders in a 2010 survey said they would consider walking a longer distance to their stop if they knew it would reduce their overall travel time, and only inconvenience someone else. • Complain About the Change to Anything - Do it or don't, but don't expect any less anger of confusion from us.  And you better not get rid of one parking spot to enhance a bus route or there will be hell to pay. SFMTA spokesman said, "We were very meticulous and careful in this planning, and now we're ready to have micro-democracy and politics completely dismantle all the good work we've done so far.  Think of us as the San Francisco Mini Democracy Agency.  Your opinion matters no matter how ruinous it is to our bus system."  Similar proposals like the Gearty BRT, Van Ness BRT, Polk Street, Market Street have gone through similar channels and will be completed in 2000sometimemaybenever.  Once the final TEP meeting is finished, they'll go door to door to make sure that every citizen in San Francisco has had their say.  Meeting will be held on Friday, March 28th at 8 am.

With the help of community input, we can make sure the TEP keeps the lines like the 21 Hayes Bus Line, with 1-2 stops every block and take twice as long as simply walking! image found here.  

[sfmuniverse]

As the SFMTA, which operates Muni, rolls out its Muni Forward plan to speed up bus and train service across San Francisco, 136 out of about 3,600 total bus stops will be removed or shifted. The agency sees the consolidation as vital to speeding up the consistently underperforming Muni, yet the decisions are rarely straightforward.

Following the recently halted proposed removal of one bus stop on Hayes Street last month, ...

It actually is pretty straightforward: two of the 136 stops were along the 21-Hayes line where the busses stop at each end of that particular block, a little closer than Muni's 400' minimum. But every stop has a constituancy, and the stop is located conveniently in front of one particular merchant.

Central Coffee Tea and Spices worried the removal of a bus stop would send its customers packing. Flowercraft Garden Center believes a bus stop that may be moved close to its driveway will create a parking problem for its green-thumbed customers, along with truck loading problems.

Whether the SFMTA takes a bus stop out, or moves one a block away, someone feels the effects.

If the SFMTA is going to be damned if they do, and damned if they don't, then why not do the right thing?

[sfmuniverse]

Does anyone believe rebranding Muni "rapid" will actually fix anything? SFMTA keeps wasting our tax dollars on project after project and nothing ever changes. "Muni Rapid" is just the latest TEP.

You're likely just venting because your bus is late and your staring at one of those "Muni Forward" signs and wondering what the fuck?We've been there. We're also not Muni, so if you are just looking to bitch about it we recommend visiting tellmuni.com or tweet @SF311 and have at them directly. Let's clear a few things up about how we got here and what's actually going on:In 1999 voters created the SFMTA by merging the city agencies and deparments which deal with transpotation, including Muni. The idea was a single agency could better coordinate and manage transportation in San Francisco. It's a sound concept which has worked across the US and the world, but the newly created SFMTA now had the costs of the merger to contend with in addition to keeping all of it's service up and running. The initial changes were mundane things behind the scenes: moving offices, getting everyone on the same payroll system.By 2006 the SFMTA was making good progress and with the T-Third Street line about to open and the last comprehensive look at Muni service was in the 1970s, it was time. That was the TEP (Transit Effectiveness Project) and overhauling Muni isn’t a quick and easy job. There were years of research, study, and the most extensive outreach in City history. The environmental impact study was about to start when the Great Recession hit and Muni was hit with a mandatory 10% cut in service and staff. The TEP was put on hold, but the work that had been done helped minimize the damage. In a few cases, consolidating service even increased service. The SFMTA has been working it’s way out of that whole ever since and the TEP was only finalized and certified last spring. A few months later the Board of Supervisors approved a budget including a 10% service increase over two years and the construction of several dozen priority projects. Muni Forward is the TEP implementation plan combined with related projects like the complete fleet replacement now underway. Rebranding is another piece of the puzzle. we do believe re-branding will improve Muni service because it’s not simply renaming the “limited" lines as “rapid” to make them sound faster. Lines are being re-organized into a color-coded network with a much improved matching map that easier to read and indicates how frequently a line runs by it’s color alone. The rebranding and more consistant use of signs and information will make Muni easier to use and understand, making it more accessible to the public. We think this all this is worth wasting money on, but we'd call it investment because not fixing Muni has already left us with a $10.1 billion maintaince bill to pay off.

[sfmuniverse]

Transit Explained: Far Side Boarding

Busses stop at green lights, which is annoying for everyone involved. If there isn’t enough room for a bus to pull over it blocks traffic, if there is room to pull over then the bus blocks up traffic pulling in and out of the stop. In cases where there’s a lot of turning traffic the bus stop might be taking up what would be a good turn lane. Or drivers who use it as a turn lane prevent busses from pulling over and the circle of traffic continues...

Moving the bus stop to the far side of the intersection – after the signal light or stop sign – means busses are going on the green light as well, with the length of the intersection giving them room to slide over to the side and out of way for through-moving traffic. Pulling back into the traffic lane is easier because a red light or stop sign just behind the bus provides a window between cars.

It seems pretty obvious and simple now, but like of other innovations, it took a lot of time and work to get to a simple solution.

Far side boarding is not always the right solution and there are a lot of reasons to locate a stop before an intersection, such as a transfer point or a major destination where passengers would all just be crossing the street anyway. The change up in thinking is to look at far side boarding as the default, unless you come up against one of those cases which justify making busses stop a green light.

Here in San Francisco, far side boarding was a adopted as the default standard last year and is being implimented as part of the Muni Forward program starting with designated priority corridors. In a lot of cases it isn't as simple as picking up the shelter and moving it across the street because there's wiring and signal changes involved.

Illustration: SFMTA / Transit Effectiveness Project

Got a question about Muni or how transit works? Ask Muniverse, we might just have an answer for you.

[sfmuniverse]

Transit Explained: Red Lanes

A few years ago the SFMTA installed San Francisco's first transit-only red lanes along three blocks of Church Street as a pilot project. Transit-only lanes painted in various colors have proven their worth around the world, but the City first needed test and measure their performance before and after. That gave the City a way to make sure they worked, even at the six-way intersection at Market & Church & 14th, and make any tweaks before committing to them further.

The result was a 20% improvement in reliability and a 5% drop in travel times. With that, red lanes were approved for use citywide as part of the Transit Effectiveness Project, which is now being implimented under the Muni Forward name.

The project built up a toolkit of repeatable design patterns that can be applied in different situations depending on the issues. These design patterns are the building blocks of the Muni service overhaul getting underway and for the folk who don’t make it a habit of reading obscure planning documents we’re a starting a series of "Transit Explained" posts running starting here with the red lanes.

A transit-only lane is a travel lane that is dedicated for the exclusive use of transit vehicles. Transit-only lanes are typically identified with signs and pavement markings. Transit-only lanes can reduce transit travel times by allowing transit vehicles to bypass traffic congestion and avoid conflicts with other vehicles in mixed travel lanes.

Non-transit vehicles are generally permitted to enter transit-only lanes to access curbside parking or to complete a turn, unless specifically prohibited. Emergency vehicles may use transit-only lanes at all times, and often taxis may also use these lanes. Transit-only lanes can be created by removing an existing travel lane or by removing a parking lane.

Source: SFMTA / Transit Effectiveness Project

Got a question about Muni or how transit works? Ask Muniverse, we might have an answer.

[sfmuniverse]

Muni seeks fix for sinking on-time performance

On-time performance had been steady around 60 percent last year, but stumbled to 54 percent from October to December, a report from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency said.

The City’s goal for the transit agency is 85 percent. The SFMTA has never met the goal since voters approved the mandate in 1999.

On-time performance is remains abysmal, but the reasons are getting better. Where five years ago the Great Recession and ensuing funding cuts lead to a 10% reduction in Muni service, the SFMTA is now struggling to add vehicles and operators fast enough to keep up with a growing ridership.

The Muni system will need more drivers as the transit agency plans to add more service in April on the 5L-Fulton, 8X-Bayshore, 22-Fillmore 30X-Stockton and 38L-Geary bus routes.

The transit agency is also getting an additional 121 new buses by the spring, which include 60 articulated coaches and 61 articulated hybrid motor coaches.

[sfmuniverse]

Muni Forward: 16th Street Transit Lanes

Last night the SFMTA held an open house to explain plans to make over and speed up service on 16th Street. The 33 and 55 will also benefit from the improvements where they share the 16th Street corridor.

Proposed improvements on 16th Street between Church and 3rd streets are designed to reduce transit travel time along the length of the corridor by 25%.

Proposed changes will:

Establish transit-only lanes to allow transit vehicles to efficiently move transit service and minimize delays.

Improve the pedestrian environment with new or wider sidewalks and streetscape amenities

Create a comfortable and attractive bicycle route along 17th Street Expand the current overhead wire system to allow for zero-emission transit service into Mission Bay

Left turn restrictions and transit-priority signals will also be installed. Some of the details have yet to be decided on and the SFMTA has posted an online survey to gather community feedback.