Get Full Government Meeting Transcripts, Videos, & Alerts Forever!
Get email alerts on the Transit Effectiveness topic
No spam. Unsubscribe anytime.
SFMTA updates Planning Commission on Transit Effectiveness Project; stop consolidation and transit-only lanes spotlighted
Summary
SFMTA briefed the commission on the Transit Effectiveness Project and draft EIR approach, explaining service-policy changes, a toolkit of travel-time treatments and project-level vs programmatic corridor analysis. Commissioners emphasized safety, stop consolidation impacts on seniors, and coordination with longer-range projects.
SFMTA staff presented an update on the Transit Effectiveness Project, the citywide program to improve Muni speed, reliability and capacity. The presentation described four components of the TEP: a service policy framework, specific service improvements (including a proposed 10% increase in service overall), service-related capital projects (terminals, overhead wires, infrastructure), and travel-time reduction proposals (TTRPs) that rely on an 18-item toolkit including transit-only lanes, lane-width modifications and stop consolidation.
Sean Kennedy, the TTRP manager, described a two-tiered alternatives approach (expanded versus moderate) and said roughly half the project-level corridors have intersection-specific proposals while others will be handled programmatically. He cited pilot results — notably the Church Street center-running pilot — that showed up to 20% improvement in on-time performance in peak periods.
Commissioners probed equity and safety implications: they asked how stop consolidation will account for older riders, hill grades, and access to shops and institutions; Kennedy said the proposals will account for grade and land use and that stop-spacing will vary by corridor. Commissioners also asked about how the TEP prioritizes project corridors and how the MTA will decide which expanded elements to implement; staff said the EIR analyzes both tiers and implementation will be resource- and outreach-driven.
Public commenters and commissioners suggested close coordination with the Central Corridor Plan, emphasized pedestrian and bicycle safety with narrowed rights-of-way, and encouraged careful attention to how stop removals affect transit-dependent populations. SFMTA noted the draft EIR will be published in July with a hearing before the Planning Commission in August.
