The hubbub surrounding a proposal to limit the number of tech shuttle stops, which have proliferated to more than 100 and whose maximum allowed number is 125 , to a system of 17 or fewer "hubs" about town, can die down completely. The Examiner reports that the still provisional Commuter Shuttle Permit Program will be reviewed at the SFMTA's Board of Directors meeting tomorrow, Tuesday, and the hub model is off the table.

The Commuter Shuttle program was in a pilot phase from 2014 to 2016 and is still in a one-year evaluation phase that extends to March 31. Commuter shuttles weren't regulated at all before 2014. Evaluating a switch to a hub system, the SFMTA solicited survey responses which ran the gamut but pointed to a clear resistance from those who currently avail themselves of the commuter shuttles. In a report issued in November, a major concern was that that group would abandon the shuttles and start driving, putting more cars on crowded roads. They predicted a 24 percent to 54 percent decrease in shuttle ridership, depending on how hubs were implemented. Now, SFMTA staff write that the alternative hub system "was not pursued for several reasons," citing that survey and ridership concerns.

“In our view, the proposed ongoing Commuter Shuttle Program thoughtfully incorporates lessons learned over the past 2.5 years to ensure the continued mobility of San Franciscans,” Jim Lazarus, senior vice president at the SF Chamber of Commerce writes, celebrating the program.

But at least one member of the SFMTA Citizen Advisory Committee, Sue Vaughan, disagrees, pointing to “serious deficiencies” into the SFMTA's consideration of the hub model. No city agency "conducted the agreed upon plan to study housing impacts of the availability of the shuttle buses — the impacts to evictions, displacement, increased suburban sprawl, and associated decreased air quality and exacerbated greenhouse gas emissions,” she claims.

Related: 34,000 Passengers Per Day: Bay Area Shuttle Buses, By The Numbers