Our driver begins: Before I start on a new topic, I’d like to add an addendum to last week’s post. When I was talking about schedules, I was referring only to bus schedules, not train schedules. Train schedules are a whole ‘nother kettle of fish, trust me.

We can talk about those fish and how fast or slow they swim in their too-small pond at a future date.

Question: “what do you think of the Transit Effectiveness Project?”

What do I think of the 18-month “study” known as the Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP)? Well, for starters TEP is a classic example of a bureaucratic make-fake-work, fail-to-address-the-actual-problem approach. It’s being completed as a partnership between the Municipal Transit Authority (MTA) and the San Francisco Controller’s Office. The stated goal is to discover what’s currently working for MUNI, what needs to be changed to satisfy as many riders as possible, and how to lower transit costs. It’s the last bit that’s the tip-off. Let me put it this way: If the final TEP report doesn’t contain a strong recommendation for adding service, it’s garbage. A big, fat, time-killing, bean-counting exercise in futility.