Muni Diaries

Mission hangers-about are familiar with those hard-to-miss red bus lanes on Mission Street. Some of those people, including local business owners and Supervisor David Campos, say they’re annoying and are looking to walk back their implementation.

The lanes were part of the Mission Street Improvement Project, which established bus-only lanes on Mission Street from 14th Street to 30th Street.

Small business owners and Supervisor Campos claim that the bus-only lanes are hurting the bottom line, but can anyone really accurately estimate how much businesses were hurt by transit options? As Streetsblog points out:

Studies show that businesses tend to get it wrong about how many customers arrive by car. Regardless, figuring how it impacts bottom lines on Mission would be difficult. A sampling of businesses would have to offer their books for an audit. And then if sales receipts really went down from this time last year, it would have to be compared to businesses a few blocks away, to make sure it’s not a reflection of the regional economy.

Business owners interviewed by Streetsblog, however, point to the bus lanes as the reason for decline. In terms of estimating how much business comes from car-drivers versus Muni riders, SFMTA says that Mission street carries  over 65,000 Muni riders each day, and about 8,000 cars travel along Mission street. In addition to looking like our very own Muni red carpet — “14! 14, what are you wearing!?” — an SFMTA press release says the bus-only lanes have, thus far, improved travel-time reliability and reduced collisions.

But as Campos said in the release, “I want to make sure that the project works for everyone and takes into account the unique aspects of the Mission.”

To be fair, governing by 100-percent consensus is San Francisco’s favorite tune, and you will not take that away from those elected to govern, by god!

Bus-only lanes: Hot or not?

Photo by Burrito Justice

In a surprisingly quirky move, the SFMTA released a transit safety coloring book for young people (or just adult hipsters in need of some Zen). The coloring book also has other games, like a word finder, fun facts, and safety tips for kids.

From the SFMTA:

This is an activity book for young people created by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, also called the SFMTA. The SFMTA oversees the City’s entire land-based transportation system including walking, bicycling, Muni buses, Muni Metro light rail, cable cars, historic streetcars, Paratransit cabs and vans, taxis, parking and traffic. This activity book will show you how to be safe when you are moving through San Francisco’s lively urban landscape. Safety starts with all of us: Slow down, be alert and share the road.

It’d be pretty meta to do this while riding the bus, no? You can download the SFMTA coloring book here.