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City partners with sharing-economy firms for disaster response; Muni unveils new buses
Summary
Mayor Ed Lee, the Department of Emergency Management and BayShare companies announced a partnership to harness peer-to-peer platforms (including Airbnb) for disaster response; SFMTA and the mayor also unveiled a new fleet of hybrid/biodiesel buses to improve transit reliability.
San Francisco officials announced two separate initiatives at the June 26 Budget and Finance Committee session: a formal partnership with BayShare and sharing-economy companies to support disaster preparedness and a rollout of new Muni buses.
Department of Emergency Management Director Anne Cronenberg said the city is recruiting sharing-economy platforms to augment disaster response and recovery, citing a recent 7.8 earthquake drill that fed thousands in the Tenderloin. Cronenberg presented a plan to create a single portal with BayShare members to allow residents to offer resources—space, vehicles or services—quickly after an incident.
Nate Bleikjarczyk, identified in the transcript as a co-founder of Airbnb, described the company—s experience in Hurricane Sandy, when Airbnb temporarily removed payments and made more than 1,400 homes available free of charge. He said Airbnb is making those tools deployable in 30 minutes so they can be used for future emergencies in San Francisco and elsewhere.
"Users of the Airbnb platform were updating their profile to say, if you're a New Yorker and you need a place to stay tonight, I'll take you into my home," Bleikjarczyk said, describing the rapid, volunteer-driven response in 2012.
Separately, the SFMTA and Mayor Ed Lee unveiled new buses—the first in a multi-year fleet replacement—that officials described as hybrid and biodiesel designs with enhanced safety and accessibility features. SFMTA Director Ed Ryskin and Mayor Lee framed the buses as investments in service reliability and the city—s transportation backbone ahead of a busy summer of events.
John Haley and other SFMTA officials said the buses will improve passenger comfort, include state-of-the-art cameras and better ergonomics for operators, and reduce vehicle-related delays that contribute to Muni service disruptions. The mayor highlighted the public-safety and quality-of-life rationale for keeping the new vehicles well maintained and visually presentable.
City leaders said both initiatives reflect a push to combine civic planning and private innovation to improve resilience and everyday services.
