And then we’ll be devoured like a bucket of KFC or a ham and cheese croissant. Muni is insatiable these days, and even with unfair fare increases (see what I did there?) and service being cut all over the city, its new director will make $225,039!!! And despite all that, it’s still a self-admitted sinking ship.
So, how does everyone feel about the proposed March Against Muni boycott? It’s not a “march” in the classical sense but instead a rather clever pun which asks participants to “pledge not to buy a March Fast Pass and stop or reduce riding Muni for the month of March 2010.” Some of their demands are reasonable (no more rude drivers), some are pure fantasy (no more delays–sure dudes, whatev), and some are completely contradictory (no more paper fast passes AND no more exploiting seniors–make up your minds!).
Jeff over at Muni Diaries thinks that since Muni’s problems resulted primarily from Governator-imposed budget slashes, a boycott will only worsen Muni’s monetary outlook and ability to serve the city. He makes a good point.
So what do you think? Will this lead to cleaner, on-time buses? Over-crowded bike lanes? Or will it just push Muni past the event horizon into the swirling vortex of bankruptcy and deterioration?
 and service being cut all over the city, its new director will make $225,039!!! And despite all that, it’s still a self-admitted sinking ship. So, how does […]</p>
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Motivation: A+
Execution: FAIL
Seriously though, we just need to amend the MTA charter to say the following:
“If Muni can’t get the funding it needs without cutting service or raising fares, then all the management gets fired.”
We shouldn’t even need to say this. It’s the management’s JOB to get funding for Muni, and if they can’t do it then just what the hell are they getting paid for?
what a lot of people don’t realize is that a lot of muni profits go to BART. they collect a large percentage of the fares paid at muni stops that are shared with BART stops… something to keep in mind when you want your money to go towards sf muni while you’re getting on the a train at powell st station.
I don’t think that’s a major stumbling block for Muni. Despite a lot of people I know’s perception, most Muni riders are on buses, not the underground Metro. Fare revenue systemwide accounts for around 20% of the SFMTA budget, IIRC, so I imagine that the rent Muni pays to BART is at worst a straw among many on Muni’s heavily-burdened back.
As MrEricSir said, the real problem is that despite it being obligated under the City Charter to ‘diligently seek new revenue sources for Muni,’ the SFMTA Board of Directors has ignored opportunities to balance the budget in any way other than raising fares and cutting service.
first off, a muni boycott won’t work for the same reason gas boycotts don’t work: people need transportation. people need to get to work, they aren’t going to boycott their livelihoods.
i truly wish the city/state would send someone in to clean up the management, for such a terribly organized unit, MUNI has waaaay too many managers warming chairs for huge salaries. gauging seniors and the disabled is despicable, and MUNI should cost $1; people should have an incentive to take public transportation rather than use private vehicles, public transportation should NEVER be a luxury.
but at the end of the day, this is a city/state government issue. Arnie seems determined to keep cutting things like education and public transportation in a recession (even many right-wing economists will tell you this is a bad idea) until California turns into some kind of third-world country of a state.
And we have Prop 13 to thank for choking city and county budgets statewide.
And so glad to see Muni management gets it.
i agree w/ almost everything you said, but unless we decide to put a premium on public transpo and subsidize it more heavily, Muni will never cost a buck – should not cost a buck.
the problem though is that if we shifted more resources to muni, they would mismanage it (even though, all things considered it is not a horrible bus system, just not a good one either).
so between muni and its unions, and the fare evaders, and the people who want the bus to wait for them, but not others, need to figure this shit out. like the rest of CA our problems are basically our own fault.
This boycott will be the best thing ever! With less riders, I look forward to empty, clean, on-time buses.
Pretty please boycott the 14 Mission and the 38 Geary. I will finally be able to get a seat.
Word didn’t get out in time for a substantial protest–I & many others just heard about it.
Regarding the list of demands, why “no more paper fast passes”? I’m certainly not going with the Transit Link–I see someone tell the driver they’ve been overcharged near daily.
To add to the list of demands, add accurate NextMUNI arrival times. Over the past three days, three out of four buses due to arrive have completely “disappeared” off of the arrival times: two 21-Hayes, and one 22-Fillmore. The count-down to the arrival time would get as low as 7, 5 minutes, and then it’d never show. The one that was listed 25 minutes behind that would continue to count down as usual.
I don’t want to see MUNI fall apart any further, but I need a reliable way to get around, and MUNI is becoming even less and less reliable. I can’t afford 40, 60, 80 minute wait times, each way. If management won’t cut its bloated executive budget, then we will, one Fast Pass at a time.