It was the best of plans. It was the worst of plans. Muni’s Transit Effectiveness Project offers the most controversial of plans, and riders are grappling with how to support calls for increased core service and speedier boarding but still disapprove of specific suggestions. Fears that too much carping could bring down the whole project have dampened criticism amid worries that benefits are unequal.

TEP beefs up service in some neighborhoods, where riders are ecstatic, like this poster to Rescue Muni: “Wow. I live in the central Sunset, and all the changes I see are for increased service. I’m stunned.”

In contrast, a SOMA rider commented on Transbay Blog, “Service for more affluent commuters will be better, and service for the poor will be worse.”

Opinions are complicated by Mayor Newsom’s grab of Muni funds to pay personal staff, making his boast to “take the heat” for TEP ludicrous. A threatened hike in the Fast Pass would discourage buyers, and fewer passes means slower boarding, contradicting TEP proposals. The Orwellian logic cited, that the $45 price discriminates against low-income riders who can afford only daily fares, brought this response from Dave Kardatzke of the Mission: “The Fast Pass is too expensive for the poor, so we should make it more expensive?”

TEP works off a tremendous base of information. Its website shows numbers for not only total riders of each line but boardings at every stop. Clearly, the job of rejiggering bus routes and schedules is being built on a mountain of data. This is what skeptical transit advocates worry about losing should the project go down in flames.

Some ideas, however, look good on paper but not on the ground. Kardatzke cites the example of combining the #12-Folsom and #27-Bryant through the Mission by running a single line down Harrison. Though neither route is a workhorse, this proposal encapsulates some of the problems with TEP.

“This is a high-density area, and service should not be reduced,” Kardatzke said. “Folsom has two lanes in each direction and is not generally backed up. Bryant has nice bus facilities. These routes would be well utilized if they had Nextbus and reasonably frequent service. Harrison is often backed up. Poor choice for a route.”

Harrison sidewalks are dead north of 20th Street, where large parking lots, lofts, and warehouses line the street. The #12 and #27 now provide direct service to five schools, the proposed new line only one, a shift that seems counterproductive to efforts to reduce traffic around schools. The #12 also goes past Rainbow and Food for Less and a block from the old Cala Foods. Runs may not be crowded, but they often have several people loaded with groceries. Shoppers have a much harder time using the crammed lines on Mission.

Bernal Heights resident Laurel Muñiz noted a similar phenomenon on the #26-Valencia, a route slated to be eliminated. She frequently sees riders in wheelchairs who prefer not to wrestle with the crowds on the Mission buses. The #26 also serves St. Luke’s Hospital, as does the current, but not the rerouted, #27.

To the east, service along Potrero will be cut by the loss of the #33 and reductions on the #9. Also lost will be the rerouted #19, which now provides “backdoor” service to San Francisco General Hospital.

A nurse from the Mission commented to TEP: “I want to consider the whole city and not be self-serving. But you’re going to change #33, #27, and #9, and all those lines directly affect SFGH. Many patients who go to SFGH are disabled or sick. Thought should go into making service more accessible, not less. Many people go to the hospital at night, and I often wait a long time for Muni at night. Please put emphasis on people who have no choice. The #9 is always a cattle car.”

A new #45 extension and rerouted #24 could help hospital service, but riders have a hard time trusting Muni to come through, after years of disappointment. Residents of Bernal Heights, in particular, feel left high and dry. Gabriel Proo lives on Peralta at Bernal’s northeast corner.

“I have been watching these developments with concern,” he said. “It already takes 10 minutes just to walk to the nearest stop, the #27 on Cesar Chavez and Florida. Now I’ll need to walk to Harrison and 24th? My concern, like most people, would be improved service to downtown. I could deal with the wretched #9 if it had more frequency. To catch the #9, I’ve got to walk all the way to Potrero and 25th or Bayshore and Oakdale. On the way back, I have to drag stuff up our hill. So instead of going downtown for shopping, I often drive to Stonestown or go to a movie in Daly City.”

Community workshops to fine-tune the proposals will take place this spring, and the final plan is expected to go into effect in 2009. Information, including maps for specific routes, is available at http://www.sftep.com/docs.html, where you can also send in comments.

Fran Taylor can be contacted at frances.taylor@cmpmedica.com or 415/947-6497.


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