----- Forwarded message from Jeremy Nelson <nelson.jeremy@comcast.net> ----- Subject: Reminder: Geary TPS hearing Tues. (12/14) at 11am Date: Mon, 13 Dec 2004 16:54:24 -0800 Dear Geary/O'Farrell TPS supporters- Just a reminder that the TA hearing on Prop K funding for the Geary TPS project is TOMORROW (12/14), at 11 am in Room 250 of City Hall. The vote could go either way, so please be sure to attend this hearing and express your support of the project, which is a baby step towards a city-wide Bus Rapid Transit network. Since the respacing of bus stops to every other block (800 feet) instead of every single block (400 feet) has been controversial, TLC prepared the attached fact sheet to address many of the concerns raised by opponents of respacing these 5 bus stops. Please feel free to use this fact sheet during your testimony, as well as the talking points below. More info is at http://www.livablecity.org/campaigns/Geary.html Best- Jeremy -------------------------------------- TALKING POINTS: 1) Respacing the bus stops is the core of the proposal, delivering 73% of the estimated time savings on Inner Geary and 38% of the estimated reliability gains for the entire corridor. 2) This is not a "take away" from the Tenderloin, nor is it a "service cut" for riders of the Local 38-Geary. The Tenderloin will disproportionately benefit from the travel time savings and from improved schedule reliability, and local riders will disproportionately benefit from improved schedule reliability, since wait times are a larger proportion of overall travel time on shorter trips. 3) The proposed bus stop spacing is to citywide and national standards and is being done throughout San Francisco. For example, MTA has removed 35 bus stops on 10 Muni lines in the just the past year. 4) We need more robust BRT, not less. The right "compromise" isn't to water down the time savings and reliability gains of this project by having the bus stop every single block. 5) Instead, a good compromise would be to first implement many of the streetscape and urban design improvements that should be part of a BRT project anyway (such as ped-scaled lighting, enhanced crosswalk treatments, traffic calming, street trees, enhanced bus shelters, facade improvements, etc). Once these neighborhood improvements are implemented, then these 5 bus stops should be eliminated. 6) Watering down the proposal sets a bad precedent. In implementing BRT in other corridors, there will be parochial battles over parking, bus stops, and the removal of traffic lanes. If we cave in now, others will insist that we give in to their demands, and San Francisco will end up with BRT in name only. 7) The Tenderloin does not have a higher percentage of seniors (14%) than the rest of the City (15%). The Tenderloin does have a slightly higher percentage of disabled residents than the City average, but it also has high levels of existing paratransit ridership. There may be a small number of folks for whom ambulating an additional 400 feet on a flat street is a burden, but these folks are likely already eligible for paratransit and Muni is federally-required to provide this door-to-door service to them. 8) Geary and O?Farrell are not steep. Grades on Geary and O?Farrell are under 3-3.5%, except the block of Geary between Jones and Leavenworth, where it is slightly over 5%. The ADA standard for permissible grade of wheelchair ramps is 10%. 9) Adding more Limited service retaining stops on every single block for the Local is not the answer. Adding more limited buses to this corridor would lead to more frequent bus bunching as buses wait to pull in and out of the shared local/limited bus stops. This bunching will increase travel times and reduce schedule reliability for both Local and Limited service. Also, if Local service were reduced to add more Limited buses, the remaining Locals would be less frequent and thereby overcrowded, resulting in longer waits and more pass-ups for Local riders. 10) I urge you to approve the project as proposed, require MTA to monitor impacts, and evaluate the impacts of the project in 6 months. The MTA Board has already required the Agency to do a 6-month evaluation of this project, and the TA Board can also hold hearings on that 6-month evaluation and can address any significant impacts if necessary. -----Original Message----- From: Jeremy Nelson [mailto:nelson.jeremy@comcast.net] Sent: Tuesday, December 07, 2004 7:50 AM To: Amber Crabbe; Andrew Sullivan; apname-gov@yahoo.com; Bob Plantold; Bruce Livingston; Casey Hildreth; Cheryl Brinkman; chpederson@yahoo.com; Dan Krause; Daniel Murphy; Dave Snyder; David Baker; Elmer Tosta; ericrescue@yahoo.com; foster_marshall@yahoo.com; FTaylor@cmp.com; Gabriel Metcalf; Howard Strassner; Jason Henderson; Jay Primus; jenn@energy-solution.com; Joe Speaks; John-Marc Chandonia; jsfraser@aol.com; jswitzky@hotmail.com; Kate White; Keith Saggers; Leah Shahum; lene@teahousehome.com; Michael Alexander; Norm Rolfe; Peggy da Silva; Ron Miguel; Shannon Dodge; shuckkw@sbcglobal.net; Steve Boland; Suany Chough; Sue Vaughan; Tom Radulovich Subject: Geary TPS supporters: Take action today! Dear Geary/O'Farrell TPS supporters- You are receiving this e-mail because you have testified in support of the Geary/O'Farrell TPS project at prior hearings or sent e-mails of support in response to action alerts from TLC. At this busy time of year, we're asking you to please take action one more time in order to help ensure that this important transit project- which is the first step towards a city-wide Bus Rapid Transit Network- receives the funding it needs to move forward. WHAT'S AT STAKE: As you may already know, after several months of delay, the Transportation Authority (composed of the Board of Supervisors) will decide whether to approve Prop K funding for the Geary/O'Farrell TPS project at it's hearing next Tuesday, the 14th at 11am, in Room 250 of City Hall. TAKE ACTION: Here's how you can help: 1) Mark your calendar now to attend the hearing. A large turnout from supporters will be critical, and at this time a year, please don't count on someone else being there. 2) Send out an action alert to your organizations' membership. As an individual, send a reminder to like-minded friends and coworkers, especially if they live or work along the Geary corridor or are regular 38-Geary riders. Feel free to cut-n-paste language from our campaign website (http://www.livablecity.org/campaigns/Geary.html), or just forward the link and tell them why it's important they take action. 3) Contact the Board of Supervisors personally and let them know that you and/or your organization supports this project. Even if you've already called or sent a letter, fax, or e-mail on this issue, please do so again: - E-mail the Supervisors at board.of.supervisors@sfgov.org or send a fax to 554-5163. - Even more helpful is to call each of the following Supervisors directly: Tom Ammiano (554-5144); Chris Daly (554-7970); Bevan Dufty (554-6968); Matt Gonzalez (554-7630); Sophie Maxwell (554-7670); Aaron Peskin (554-7450); Gerardo Sandoval (554-6975). 4) Print out the attached "pro-Geary TPS" flyers to distribute to passengers riding on the 38-Geary or waiting at the bus stops. If you are an organization, please recruit some of your members to volunteer to distribute flyers. If you are an individual who would like to distribute flyers, TLC will provide you with as many copies as you want, just call me at 425-9848 to arrange a time to pick some up. (Attached are Microsoft Word versions of a NEW outreach flyer and Matt Smith's SF Weekly article, formatted for reading on the bus - fits onto one double-sided 8.5" x 14" page). ----- End forwarded message ----- -- John-Marc Chandonia (jmc@sfgreens.org) http://www.dolorespark.org/