Muni riders, bus drivers, bikers, people who walk beg SFMTA Commission to do its job

More than a dozen people appeared before the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency Board today to urge the members to do their jobs.

The speakers, including transit, bicycle, and union activists, said that mayor should not have the authority to unilaterally allow Uber, Lyft, and Waymo vehicles on a part of Market Street that the MTA has long closed to private cars.

Director Julie Kirschbaum told the commissioners that the mayor wanted to offer “more transportation options,” for the mid-Market area. She said that the decision was “very deliberate” and that “as new transportation services are added, we don’t want to lose Muni efficiency and safety.”

But speakers noted that having private vehicles on the street would do exactly that: Uber, Lyft, and Waymo often stop right in the middle of the road to pick up passengers when there is no curb space (and there isn’t and won’t be much on mid-Market). That forces Muni buses to stop and wait.

Sue Vaughn, who wrote about this here, said that Lurie was allowing “vehicles that have as their goal the extinction of Muni” to take over Market Street.

That’s absolutely true: Uber, at least, has made it clear that it wants to replace public transit as part of its business plan, and data shows that is exactly what is happening.

Mc Allen, a bus driver and union activist, said that “this policy slows down transit, and makes Market Street less safe.”

Marta Lindsey, communications director for Walk SF, said that mid-Market was “chaotic, loud, and dangerous” when private cars were allowed, and that the city saw about two crashes a week in the area, with pedestrians generally taking the brunt.

Several others repeated that concern: The decision to close mid-Market to private cars, adopted by the SFMTA as the Better Market St. plan, has saved lives.

Lurie says more options are needed to bring businesses back, but the owner of a bike store on Market said that’s wrong: More cars mean fewer pedestrians, and fewer customers.

Besides, the Lurie program so far only applies to “black” Uber and Lyft cars—the most expensive service the rideshares offer. So it’s convenience for the rich, at the expense of transit riders.

But for most speakers, the main point was simple: The SFMTA, not the mayor, controls traffic on Market Street.

Kirschbaum put the issue in her director’s report, which mean it wasn’t an action item and the commission didn’t have to vote on it. None of the commissioners asked her any questions about it.

Under the City Charter, the commission, and only the commission, can change Muni routes, and the commission approved, and only the commission can alter, the Better Market Street plan.

So the commission has essentially allowed the mayor to usurp its authority.

We have seen this kind of action before: When the late Ed Lee was mayor, he in effect ordered the SFMTA and the Taxi Commission not to interfere with Uber and Lyft, despite the clear evidence that they were operating illegal taxis.

Now the SFMTA is again allowing a mayor to usurp its authority—and pedestrians, bicyclists, and Muni are paying the price.