[Carfreeliving] stop consolidation and higher fares

[Brinkman, Cheryl]

 When discussing stop consolidation it's also important to remind people
that hopefully within a year we will have a functioning NextBus system -
which to my mind is a huge service improvement.  We are lucky enough to have
a Next Bus enabled streetcar stop at Carl and Cole, which I use - and it has
a sign at the stop.  I tell people about NextBus all the time - it's amazing
that even regular Muni riders have never heard of it being expanded to the
entire system.

Even service cuts, as much as I don't want them, will be less painful if you
can access arrival info.

I would like residential parking permits to be based on car length and
weight - space taken up and damage caused.  How about $30 per foot, and 10
cents per pound?

A 15.7 foot Ford Exploder weighing 4,159 pounds would cost $886 per year for
a residential permit.

A Volkswagen beetle at 13.4 feet weighing 2,743 pounds (I'm using curb
weight, not sure what the difference is between that and Gross weight
rating) would be $673....

Ok, maybe the per foot needs to go down and the per pound up to make SUVs
even more expensive to park.



See you tomorrow,

Cheryl




-----Original Message-----
From: Dave Snyder [mailto:dave at livablecity.org] 
Sent: Tuesday, March 01, 2005 1:00 PM
To: carfreeliving at livablecity.org
Subject: [Carfreeliving] stop consolidation and higher fares

I'm glad there's such support for stop consolidation -- Mike 
Sallaberry, Andrew Sullivan, John-Marc Chandonia. We're going to need 
your help, Steve, in promoting these politically difficult changes 
because right now many, but not all, members of the Transit Justice 
coalition equate stop consolidation with service cuts. Their 
effective opposition to the stop consolidation on Geary cost Muni 
several hundred thousand dollars a year while preserving slower 
service. Since I think that the Transit Justice coalition has more 
credibility on the Board of Supervisors than Rescue Muni, the role of 
the Bay Guardian to educate the left and support stop consolidation 
is critical. I hope we can count on you for that, Steve.

I think that Andrew is wrong about the impossibility of balancing the 
budget without a fare increase or service cuts. MTA's scenario 2 
would have accomplished that, albeit with a near doubling in parking 
fees. Even those increases could have been lessened through the 
inclusion of stop consolidation, increasing the hours of operation of 
meters and operating meters on Sundays, "block your driveway" 
permits, etc.

Dave
President, Transportation for a Livable City

P.S. I have a title again. (Got elected president of the board last 
night). My office is still at Zeitgeist, however.

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