February 4, 2008
Oh, Look, a Government Agency that Actually Does a Pretty Smart Job of Spending Our Money
It's going to be a far busier-than-normal meeting of the SF County Transportation Authority tomorrow. There's huge stuff on the agenda: updates on the bike plan; millions of dollars being thrown around for the Transbay Terminal; $160,000 for reducing graffiti on street signs; potential changes for Geneva Ave and McAllister Street, including a possible permanent re-route of the 5-Fulton; safety upgrades at 9th and Irving; and some forward momentum for restoring mass transit on Geary to pre-WWII levels. Whew!
The SFCTA is like Muni's successful younger sibling: they may be smaller, but they're lean and quick and very efficient. These folks get stuff done. In addition to fixing all the broken transit in SF, they're also president of the Rushmore Beekeepers Club, founder of the Astronomy Society, and alternate for the wrestling team. And we DARE the mayor just TRY to raid their budget like he did to Muni. Just try! Actually, wait, please don't try.
The meeting's Feb 5, at 10:30 a.m., in Room 263 at City Hall. More info available here, on what we must say is one of the most attractive government websites we've ever seen. Kisses, SFCTA!
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excellent catch - I missed that - looks like we'll finally see some action on Irving and 9th!
...followed by six years of backhoes and traffic.
This is great news to improve an incredibly dangerous area of the Inner Sunset. The Chronicle reports that the pedestrian signal improvement proposal is also for 9th and Judah.
PS: Looks like your hard work is finally paying off, Greg.
here are two thoughts about how to improve the 5:
1. create a 5ax and 5bx for the am and pm rush. make the first stop at market between 7th and 8th, the next at 4th, and then down to the transbay and then embarcadero.
2. run morning "locals" starting at fillmore and going downtown. don't screw over those living east of fillmore by filling up the bus from the beach to the not-so-hoody hood.
Those both sound like great ideas. If you want to catch a 5 downtown in the morning, you basically have to catch one going the other way, and just keep riding as it turns around at the beach and heads back inbound.
i used to ride the 5 downtown every day and finally switched to the 21 b/c by the time the 5 got to masonic, it stopped picking up passengers. now our 21 overfills at broderick and people try cramming in through the backdoor. another express option would be a lifesaver! i've written to sfmta, though, and gotten no response. maybe if the idea catches on, they give the idea more consideration!
actually they chose an option for irving and9th and Judah and 9th that won't require digging up the tracks, according to the report...