lot of good stuff here. three comments: 1) "triple fines for driving infractions while talking on a cell phone". can this be amended to also include infractions while driving an SUV. the higher risk associated with these vechicles should come with more responsibility and, therefore, more penalty 2) did i miss it or do we not specifically call out the idea of refocusing "level of service" to priortize safety over planning 3) the fire department routinely opposes attempts at traffic calming because they have some bizarre calculation about how many seconds this would add to the average trip of an emergency vehicle. what they leave out of the equation is how many deaths the unsafe streets cause. accurate math would show that the firedepartments opposition to safe streets is killing people --- John-Marc Chandonia <jmc@sfgreens.org> wrote:
Here's the 2nd draft. I'm only missing the Streets & Cars section, from Sue. I've given every section a letter and number: if you have a concern or suggestion, please refer to the section (e.g., A.4) and give me specific language. We only have a few days to edit this thing before presentation to the GM, and concerns will take a lot more time to fix if you don't give revised language or aren't clear on what section you're talking about.
Also, let me know if sections should be moved around; I've just put them in the order I got them. If things get moved around, they may get a new letter or number in the next draft. When we start sending out drafts more quickly over the next few days, please say which one you're correcting, if it's moved. Each will be given a number at the top.
Thanks, everybody, for your help editing this!
JMC
Transportation Plank Draft 2, 6/11/04
The San Francisco Green Party believes good transit policy is an essential part of creating a safe, healthy, and attractive city. Public transit should be an efficient, reliable and attractive option for all citizens, not just those who have no other choice. Walking and bicycling should be promoted as healthy and safe options for the able-bodied. Taxi service must be improved, without compromising safety or drivers' livelihoods. Cars should be accommodated gracefully in planning, but not given priority over other forms of transit. In particular, we advocate that drivers should pay more of the true costs of automobile operation and parking, which are currently subsidized at the expense of other means of transit. The Southeast neighborhoods of our city, which bear a relatively high share of transit costs in the form of air pollution from our freeways, should be compensated by focusing other transit improvements in these neighborhoods.
Several of our proposals would require changes in state law; we ask that our local legislators and representatives attempt to change CA law to enable SF to control these aspects of our transit policy.
A. Transit Justice
Many of our current ways of funding transit are regressive: poor people pay a much higher share of sales taxes and fixed fees. We advocate moving to more progressive forms of funding. We also support efforts to relieve the air pollution in Southeast neighborhoods of the city, which is partly caused by freeways with diesel trucks, and advocate for special attention to be given to improving transit in these neighborhoods.
The SFGP advocates:
1) Ensuring that neighborhood residents get a major share of the new jobs created by transit projects which impact those neighborhoods, such as the 3rd St Light Rail.
2) Muni should hire more local people for jobs at all levels, so income from these jobs stays in the City.
3) Muni buses in the Southeast neighborhoods should all be converted to electric or less-polluting technology such as CNG, to mitigate air quality problems caused by the highways and other sources such as power plants.
4) We call for creation of local car registration fee, based on the engine size, weight, fuel efficiency, and value of the car. This fee should be offset by a transportation tax credit to reward drivers of cheaper, less polluting, and more efficient cars.
5) More of the cost of transit should be paid by commuters: in particular, parking spaces used primarily by commuters should be extremely expensive. These costs could be lowered on weekends to encourage people to come to town to patronize local businesses.
6) An increased share of transit costs should be paid by downtown businesses, which benefit tremendously by the ease of accessing downtown on transit.
B. Muni and Regional transit
In order to encourage ridership, public transit needs to be efficient, affordable, and reliable. Muni's performance and reliability should be increased to the point where it's an attractive option for most people going about their daily business, not just commuting to and from work. We should increase funding for Muni and work to shift the operating costs to other sources than the riders: public transit should eventually be free to riders, funded by all citizens just as public parks, public schools, and public libraries are. Increased Muni ridership benefits everybody: businesses get the added benefit of more mobile customers, drivers will benefit from less congestion, and everybody would get better air quality.
The San Francisco Green Party advocates:
1. Creation of a citywide bus rapid transit network to ensure that people can reliably travel between any neighborhoods of the city in under half an hour.
2. Gradually replace bus rapid transit on the heaviest lines (such as along the Geary and Mission corridors with light rail to enable moving more people quickly and decrease boarding times. Build the "G line" by running historic streetcars from Market Street up Church, out to 9th Ave via the N-Judah tracks, to a new branch up 9th Ave into Golden Gate Park.
3. Immediately roll fares back to $1 ($35 Fastpass) and make Muni free to youth, seniors, and the disabled. Continue to roll back fares towards zero as new funding sources become available.
4. Ensure that as long as riders have to pay fares, frequent riders receive a substantial discount for use of the Fastpass, which speeds boarding time and encourages casual ridership.
5. Maintain infrastructure in good repair, so less money is spent on breakdowns and other emergencies.
6. Eliminate redundant Muni stops on the same line that are only one block apart.
7. Ensure faster service by allowing Muni buses and trains to change
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