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July 25 San Francisco MUNI is sloooooowOne of the headlines in yesterday's San Francisco Examiner was that MUNI had slowed down to an average of 8 mph. An op-ed in today's Examiner mentions that Boston's transit system averages 18 mph and New York City's goes at 14 mph. Urf.
The estimate comes from the "San Francisco Transit Effectiveness Project", which also says that MUNI ridership has gone down 12 percent in 20 years. San Francisco Planning and Urban Research estimates that between now and 2015, MUNI will need to find between $284 million and $949 million to pay for itself. The Examiner's answer is a free-market system (including taxis, jitneys, doorstep vans, limos, maybe even motorized rickshaws).
"As The City entertains the capping of taxi medallions, another question intrudes: Where is it written, in a free society, that any responsible citizen, properly insured, must be barred from offering any other citizen, for an agreed fare, a lift from here to there?"
It's a worthwhile question, though my knee-jerk reaction is that public transportation needs to be publically funded so it can go to poor/dangerous neighborhoods. But MUNI properly is broken. Give buses their own lanes? Make them easier to board?
More reliable? Not sure what all will make a difference.
Gus points out that if peak oil is true then the problem will solve itself: people won't be able to afford to drive their cars. They'll flock to public transportation. |
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