Controller's Office highlights government barometer and benchmarking reports; MTA benchmarking shows high route density and low fares

Peg Stevenson and Celeste Berg of the Controller's Office presented the Government Barometer quarterly report, a curated set of performance measures and interactive charts aimed at improving transparency and public access to city performance data.

Highlights included analysis of Healthy San Francisco enrollment changes tied to Affordable Care Act implementation, a cover-page focus on pedestrian safety after several fatalities, and a quarter focused on historically dry conditions and water conservation (Hetch Hetchy precipitation at about 50 percent of average). Berg emphasized interactive, web‑based charts allow users to visualize trends and compare current period averages with prior periods and year‑over‑year changes.

Joe Lapka presented benchmarking of MTA services against peer systems on measures of route density, fares, boardings and vehicle speed. The report found San Francisco has a high number of route miles per square mile — partly due to topography — and relatively low fares compared with peers, which accompanies high boarding counts. Lapka noted average vehicle speeds are slower in San Francisco and correlated with high boarding rates; vehicle reliability measures (revenue miles between failures) for light rail were lower than peer systems, suggesting further study could identify best practices to improve reliability.

Committee members asked about next steps and public outreach; staff said they will present the benchmarking report to the MTA board and continue to work with supervisors on outreach and possible community workshops to teach the public how to use the barometer tools.

The committee took public comment (none) and continued the item to the call of the chair for follow-up.