The third-annual Transit Week in San Francisco did not start so smoothly, as some city supervisors had problems with Muni.
This week marks the third annual Transit Week in San Francisco where riders celebrate all things public transit, including Muni and BART.
The event did not kick off so smoothly, as some city supervisors had problems with Muni on Monday morning while trying to meetup with members of the San Francisco Transit Riders, a nonprofit public transit advocacy organization, at City Hall.
Supervisors met up with constituents at bus stops and ride Muni to City Hall early Monday morning.
Supervisor Katy Tang, who attempted to hop on the L-Taraval at Taraval Street and 22nd Avenue around 8:30 a.m. Instead, she ended up taking the K-Ingleside. The SFMTA reported a propulsion issue with one of its older trains at Taraval Street and 30th Avenue at 8:17 a.m.
Tang said:
“We do have a long way to go to make sure that things like what happened this morning with our ride in the Sunset.”
Tang also said that delays like the one this morning on the L-Taraval can have severe effects to riders’ livelihoods:
“I’ve actually had in the last couple of months heard from a couple of residents who said they did lose their jobs sadly because they were late so frequently due to Muni.”
The J-Church was also experiencing delays this morning as state Sen. Scott Wiener ended up taking BART.
The SFMTA reported there were two opened runs on the J-Church and a door issue at Church and Market streets.
Wiener said:
“I’m sorry to be blunt and direct, but I think we need to own the challenges we face in The City.”
He did give praise to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency for improving bus service citywide and replacing Muni’s olde fleet of buses with newer buses:
“I’m a bus person and I think it’s great that bus service has improved.”
Other supervisors like Sandra Lee Fewer, Aaron Peskin, Vallie Brown, Hillary Ronen and Ahsha Safai reported no problems with Muni and some even arrived earlier than expected.
Rachel Hyden, executive director of the San Francisco Transit Riders, said this week to celebrate the ups and downs of riding transit:
“We use this week to share our stories to talk about the good and the bad of riding transit.”
The organization has planned a number of events throughout the week and the public can find more information about Transit Week at www.sftransitriders.org/transitweek.
Public transit riders and city officials are encouraged to use the hashtag #WeRideSF each time they ride public transit this week.
Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.
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