>> city and county of san francisco budget & appropriations committee meeting this afternoon at 1:30 pm., wednesday, may 1, 2024.)

(gavel) good afternoon the melting county of san francisco budget & appropriations committee meeting this afternoon at 1:30 pm., wednesday, may 1, 2024. i'm member chan and joined by member melgar and shortly by member mandelman and member peskin like

to thank junetta my apologies for broadcasting this meeting and mr. clerk any announcements. >> just a friendly reminder anyone in attendance to make sure the silence of all cell phones mother to disturb the meeting and should any should you have any director's announcements. >> to be part of the file submitted to the clerk and public comment on each item will be taken and when your item is called on the west side along the curtains and not necessary to provide petroleum fill out a public speaker card and in the following ways e-mail the budget & appropriations committee

clerk. at sfgov.org and if i submit e-mail forward to the supervisors and part of the official file and send your written comments by u.s. postal service san francisco, california and thank you, ma'am that concludes my announcements. >> with that, please call item number 1. >> our francisco's five-year financial plan; and requesting the controller and the mayor's budget director to report. madam chair. >> and today, we have um, both controller's office carol here and i know that um, and anna in the mayor's office is here to answer questions and the floor is yours. >> great. thank you budget

chair chang we're going to present together this is an update to the report we published the first duration was in december this is update to the projections we really had in december you remember that report shows the next 5 years an unprecedented deficit the first two years $800 million that is the budget we need to balance by june 1st we're going to talk about a few updates and so the report is and the update again those numbers represent willie brown what we are status quo if we didn't make any policy choices, this is the budget gap we'll be looking at. so um, this shows a summary of change in some of of the biggest categories of revenue and

expenditures from that um, december report. the bottom line changed is minimal talking about billions of dollars of general fund and altogether 9 for $10 million from prior projections. for why was there a change of the past modified revenues from the controller's office and there are some higher costs in the expenditures. and with that, i'm going to turn it over to carl to talk about the revenue functions. >> property taxes this is throughout the for another period due to updates around instructions that results in the board of appeals rescues that is decreased the amount of assets available and business tax we

look at cash um, coming in and cash was higher in the current year that was and so typically increase um, the forecast in all the out years. um, that was largely for refunds and litigations. so no change. um, transfer tax we forecasted about the same level as the prior report. um, the update didn't have any exemptions for the march 24th proposition c that was passed by the voters and that is due to the time would take to convert and don't think that will rap has in that the planned period and the executive tax similar to the cash came in higher than we exposed partially

by to additional claims and litigations. >> moving forward fema revenue we have an additional $21.8 million for the winter storm. disasters and winter of 2023 at covid reimbursements were remaining the same and public health the department of public health forecasts additional improvements um, in operating revenue as well as one time improvements from prior year settles and the additionally the report assumed the fund balance reported at the six months report the additional $34.4 million. okay. then on

expenditure the benefits cost is based health and retirement no changes for the employee wage rate but the information from the retirement system those costs are a little bit higher than than previously assumes every march we see how the caseloads are trending any information from the state the cost went up a bit i ask - and up as well as other entitlements programs and costs for the operating subsidy programs or resulted in more costs on the expenditure side and i'm going to turn it over to from carol. >> so the report um, said in

changes in the reserve deposits were adjusted and - that's not shown here otherwise this table is similar to every other table in our report. >> then, of course, as the projection uncertainties. so the forecast is in negotiations ongoing right now. the forecast assumes cpi of 2.65 percent it is um, the - the mous have different worsens the deficit and the second unservants is local employment numbers in marches edd restated the historic numbers due to the

changes around - and before though we know technically off looks like employment employees were finding employment back for the tech segment they were get reemployment but with the restatement of numbers showing overall lose in employment. the third retirement in contribution rate currently our were assuming 7.2 percent but investments come in for below then retirement contributions will increase that - for state budget we're not assuming any changes. um, however, proposals at the state lovely would probably result in um, almost 40 a little bit more

$40 million reductions to that is out there. and there also potential fema reimbursements and then, of course, any policy decisions that have a fiscal impact could be introduced to the deficit. >> so just to wrap up um, though the bottom line is the official report results in a slight improvement for the two year deficit we assumed or draungs to the slide the financial risks with very large and all things actively decided in the next two weeks we are still in labor negotiations that agreement has not been ratified and not in a position to talk about that today. but like carol said any wage agreements above

other than 2.5 percent and other risks that we are tracking with that, we're available to answer questions. >> sorry i thought was it 2 point for the labor negotiations i thought i 450erd maybe i heard it wrong you're saying? 2.5 with the increase for cpi or projections of labor negotiations? >> yeah. so um, every year we have contractors we need to build in some assumption not assuming and flat for across many years we assume the wage rates will increase by cpi and that was around 2.56 in many

range anything over the next two to three years. >> and 2.5 and three percent any agreement above that any wage 0 above that is an additional costs. >> then for your retirement contributions you mentioned right now you're projecting at 7.2 percent are we showing anything different from the retirement board could be what is is projected change? >> yeah. we get monthly updates about year to date returns and trending above 7.2 percent but fluctuate quite a bit from month to month and do the right thing until we get to the end of the year what the final results will be. >> i know you said. >> based on market

performances. >> and the portfolio but the low and high. >> at the beginning of the year we're trind negative below zero percent i don't know we're near the 7 percent. >> i - i don't recall i'm happy to share it with you um, the retirement is published monthly and valuable on the website as well. >> then um, like carol was trying to say if you find that tell me. >> we publish that returns through february 24th were 5.7 percent and fluctuate month to month. >> i this we're talking about potential e rap performed less than by $40 million. >> that's the assumption? >> we've not build that in

this forecast. in the governors proposed budget will take legislative action our result is a loss of $40 million and we're doing doing everything we can at it the state level to protect that. >> yeah >> this coming fiscal year and yeah, and then if i think so the other question talking about and last year was at $18 million. what is our the number lastly number we're hearing 40 i think you mentioned one point - >> like meaning additional two- >> (multiple voices). >> yeah go i don't have the law numbers esprit park my

fingertips last year the rates we negotiated were the highest we're seen in many, many years um, we got those projections the negotiations and they're wrapping up with the healthcare providers they provided the negotiations how they're going and the health segment at large and will be finalized brought to this board if i building in june. >> um, but have to build this go rbo our budget. >> how much will you build in? >> i have it in the report - >> yeah. i don't have the dollars amount but mr. chair, i, put that in context we have

three to four percent a year. >> at the end last year was $18 million this is rather high like when they came in above i'm sorry $18 million above our projections. >> yeah. so that sounds right. >> and they did hey this could be coming in at best another increase of 18 to $20 million. um, so - >> okay. >> um, i think i have a little bit of the math. going here for us. i don't have any other questions at the moment. um, the governor's budget will be announced revised budget may 11th.

>> okay. i don't see any names on the roster i think after all it we're we're not just drilling down the numbers we appreciate your work no surprise but to be honestly honest the risk including labor negotiations and all that we fema reimbursements having the conversation in december and we knew those with factors. um, i think the last one i have is really the downward revision like the local employment numbers um, that we know that um, again, our gross receipts with payroll taxes is part of this calculation and this result when it comes to layoff results in permanent loss, you know, not a short-term

loss but someone is working remote um, we projected i think 2 to three years ago we are surprised were gains in the industries i should say but thinking this is very likely this is a loss but i want to confirm i think that is what the controller's office is saying as we saw some gains early during the pandemic now we see layoff notices even an immediate rehire it is result of is also of employment. >> right that's; correct we had thought that that was an immediate rehire and not in the box but the restatement we realized was a loss- >> (multiple voices). >> what is the percent? >> oh, i have to get back to on that i don't have that off

the top of my head. >> i have a couple of questions about the revenue the first is you talked about the fema reimbursements we assumed as is same level as december um, has they've been any traction in our collaboration with other um, municipalities in - the state and yeah. >> yeah. i think we're working with other municipalities and um, trying to do what we can um, to make sure we are able to be reinforced and forecasting $23 million and have $80 million in and the work is being done. >> my other question about the

property taxes investments and how the staff is doing with wealthy weighing through the appeals do we have a sense of timing a backlog as they come in or any of that projects? projections and i don't have any but in terms of the level of appeals sort of highs. >> yeah. >> yes quite a backlog the board has to go through in 2021 and 2022 all the prior year appeals it worries me. >> (unintelligible). >> capture. >> i'll say that member mandelman a great question and talking about with the board of appeals about, you know, what

projections are we making are tree appropriately staffed how do we manage this? it is key to the city's revenues it is what we're looking at and. okay. >> that worries my question thank you, mr. chair and let's go to public comment on this item. >> thank you, madam chair. members of the public who wish to speak line up to speak along the windows and come forward to the lectern madam chair no speakers. >> seeing none, public comment is closed. (gavel) and colleagues, i would like to make a motion to file the hearing as heard and let's invite member walton for roll call. >> on this be heard and filed protect and seconded by member walton member mandelman, aye. >> member walton, aye.

>> member peskin absent. >> member chan. >> 4 i's and the motion carries. and do we have any other business for today mr. clerk. >> madam chair that concludes our business. >> the meeting is adjourned.

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orgami. i do it because of my grand father and he wrote to the first english in it in the early 50s. he had an import business to import japanese goods and of course we had our line of paper. to go with the books he produced. it is something i have been doing since i was 5 and i'm happy to say i'm a designer now and of course having paper tree. it is grit. >> during the pandemic i wanted do something to make a statement to help combat the asian hate that was prevalent at that time. and so i put a call out to have a thousand hearts. this is a spin on the tradition of holding 1,000 cranes when you have a wish. well, a thousand cranes does not make a statement enough why not change it and a call for a

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>> morning everybody. welcome to it april 23 meeting of the san francisco county transportation authority board. i serve as chair of the board. the vice chair and supervisor melgar. i want to thank megan and the clerk yvette lopez jessop. will you please call the roll? >> yes, commissioner chan, absent. commissioner dorsey, present. commissioner engardio, present. chair mandelman, present.

vice chair melgar, absent. commissioner peskin, present. commissioner preston, absent. ronan absent. commissioner safai, absent. commissioner stefani, present. commissioner walton, present. we have quorum. >> thank you madam clerk. i think you have a public comment announcement. >> yes, i do. thank you. for members of the public interested in participating in the meeting we welcome attendance here in person in the legislative chamber room 250 in city hall. or may watch channel 26 or 99 or stream the meeting at www.sfgovtv.org. to make public comment the best way is dial 415-655-0001.

enter access code 26646110156 then press # and # again. you will be able to listen to the meeting in real time. when public comment is called for the item you wish to speak on press * 3 to be added to the queue. do you not press * 3 or you will be removed from the queue. the operator will advice you have 2 minutes to speak. when the 2 minutes are up we will move to the next caller. calls are taken in the order received. best practice is speak slowly, slowly and . public comment will be taken first from members of the public in attendedance and from the queue on the telephone line. thank you. >> thank you madam clerk. vice chair melgar is not able to be here today and asked to be excused. commissioner preston will be

late and asked to be excused from the items he misses. i will grant both excuses unless anyone has objection. i want to invoke 3.26 from rules of order to limit public comment for 30 minutes. it is intention to give each speaker two minutes unless indicating otherwise at the start of the item. madam clerk, please call the next item. >> item 2, chairs report. information item. >> colleagues, consistent with the connect sf long range program and srk f climate action plan, we are investing year round engreen house gas reducing products. in the transit system. these investments inhadclude caltrain electrification, new bart vehicles and sfmta fleet and facility electrification. every day bart riders save us 1.2 million miles of driving and 52

thousand gallons of gas they would other would use. my office is working with ta staff, mta staff and department of environment on ev charging facility program. the ta is supporting the port of san francisco on waterfront rehab and resilience and br yond the items we continue to support other transit oriented development, bike, pedestrian and tree planting projects. caltrain successfully conducted testing of the new electric trains between san francisco and san jose marking a milestone in the lect rifaigz project. april 14 the new [indiscernible] 52 miles alignment. later this months caltrain will conduct live testing of complete san francisco to san jose corridor with electric trains reaching track speed of

79 miles per hour. the trains will be quieter cleaner and deliver faster and more frequent service including doubling freakancy on weekends. congrat ulations to caltrain and look forward to the start in the fall. the public is inviting to the san mateo electric train celebration in san carlos saturday may 11. thank you again commissioner walton for your service on the caltrain jpa. i want to congratulate the upper market corridor safety improvement project recognized with local street and road comploot streets award by the california state association of counties. the project is located in my district on market street between octavia and castro and features pneumerate upgrades including 31 new curb ramps, cross walks, high visibility traffic signal and new bike ramps.

including widen sidewalks, bulb outs and bording island with special railings. thanks to san francisco public works, sfmta, planning department and our own county transportation authority which provided sales tax funding for the project. i want to thank assembly members ting and haney offering regulatory bills and fire chief darious luttropp and tilly chang testifying at the assembly transportation committee yesterday. also want to thank the committee i believe for forwarding these bills onward. important we update california laws governing the fast growing industry as continuing to join the market in san francisco and across the state. and also of course thanks to commissioner peskin for keeping all of us focused on this isue. with that, i conclude my remarks. i see no questions or comments

from colleagues. is there anybody in the chamber who wants to comment on item 2? don't see anyone. any remote public comment on item 2? >> there is no remote public comment. >> alright. public comment on item 2 is closed. madam clerk, please call the next item. >> item 3, executive director report. information item. >> thank you. good morning chair mandelman, commissioners. pleased to begin my prort with a add-on to chair mention about the av bills proceeding through the legislature this month. we learned this month zukes a av provider owned by amazon.com is authorized by the california dmv to expand the driverless testing operations to parts of san francisco this month. zukes has been testing with safety drivers since 2016 and obtained to test

driverlessly in foster city in 2020. under the new april 2024 permit zukes will be allowed to conduct driverless operations in san francisco initially in the south of market neighborhood with a bidirectional autonomous vehicle with no breaks and no steering wheel. we are seeking additional details about the operational design domain or odd and understanding their permitted operations for all of san francisco. initial media reports indicate the authorization is for weekend day time operations only, stow we'll keep you posted on the developments. turning to senate bill 1031, the connect bay area act, amended by senators wiener and [indiscernible] there is no language released prior to the senate hearing today. the amendments include revised language around transit agency consolidation, new language providing

financial guardrails for transit operators related to regional network management and potentially fare integration and detailed revenue expenditure framework that insures minimum return to source of 70 percent to counties in the bay area funding most or all the region transit operator short-falls depending on the size of the revenue measure. this bill will be considered later today at the senate transportation committee meeting and tomorrow at the senate revenue and taxation committee meeting and we will keep you posted. as you recall, we have a support amendment position on this bill. next turning to the local level, we have a update in the geary boulevard improvement project. earlier this month sfmta held open house to share proposals and seek feedback on community enhancements that foster a sense of identity and

other enhancements in the corridor, community members weighed in on sidewalk pavers and decorative concrete, street trees and neighborhood identity markers to focus on locations where there is a opportunity to coordinate with future construction work for that bus rapid transit project. this is for the 38r and rapid bus stop locations to learn more about the proposals, please provide feedback at sfmta.com/projectupdates and geary boulevard improvement project. next a update of delivery of quick build and muni forward projects. funded by the transportation authority. sfmta continues to make progress on quick builds including lincoln way that reached substantial completion this month. bringing pedestrian safety improvements to 3 miles of roadway alongside

golden gate park. the improvements include cross walks, painted safety zones, left turn safety daylighting and up graded bus stops. on 17th street, along potrero avenue to pennsylvania avenue, the quick build project is scheduled to begin construction at the end of this month and those up grades include protected bikeway daylighting painted safety zones and curb management. last month sfmta board approved also red lane frz the k inglesidelight rail mune route consistent with the mobility action plan last year. this is ocean avenue from [indiscernible] to lee and includes transit lanes markings, pedestrian bulbs and rapid flashing beacons so great progress on those fronts. at the sales force transit

center we see wayfinding advances with phase one replacement work starting which is replacing 200 media players at kiosks throughout the center. this work will greatly enhance the digital way finding at the center improving reliability and functionality of the way finding sishm and community visitor experience by connecting folks to transit connections more easily to the public at the open space at the center roof top park and elsewhere in the facility. finally, pleased to report that last week our staff welcomed middle and high school kudants from san francisco and east bay to the second girls in motion spring 2024 summit and annual event introducing girms to careers in transportation. this was sponsored and organized by the american council engineer ing companies and the california bay area

chapter of women transportation seminar wt is rks, the san francisco bay chapter so we want to thank the organizers allowing us to host and share in the wonderful events. it featured panel discussion programming and planning and other aspects of the field and hands on activity the student designed multimodal intersection with teams and professionm mentors. i want to thank our whole staff lead by cynthia fong, finance administration for working with acec and wts to organize the special event and we look forward participating in many more and grow the next generation of transportation leaders. thank you. >> thank you madam executive drether. i do not see comments or questions. see if there is any public comment on your report? anyone in the chamber wants to talk about the executive director's report,

please come up. let's see if we have remote public comment on item 3. >> there is no remote public comment. >> public comment on item 3 is closed. madam clerk, please call item 4. >>etum 4, approve the minutes of april 16, 2024 meeting. this is action item. >> open the item to public comment. anybody in the chamber with comment on item 4, come up? i dont see anyone. let's see if there is remote public comment on item 4? >> yes, chair, there is. i'm going to the caller right now. >> good morning chair mandelman, commissioners. [indiscernible] i like to brink to your attention the fact the minutes are not posted on the agenda on the west side so wondering if you can delay approval to the next regularly scheduled meeting of the authority. thank you. >> thank you caller.

>> we have anybody else? >> there is no additional comment. >> public comment on item 4 is closed. as i look at the agenda, that looks correct to me. do we typically have the minutes on the website? >> on the website there isn't a separate link for the draft mntsd, but the draft minutes are included in the link on the website. it is possible if we want to post it separately as well. >> do we care? you are saying there are other ways the public could find those minutes if they wanted to, but normally we would have a link under 4 which takes the public to those minutes? >> correct. >> there is a request. do i just to continue this item

to our next -do we need a vote or just do it? >> you can just are do it. >> just do it and move to the next agenda. great. madam clerk, could you please call our consent agenda items 5-7? >> yes. consent agenda items 5-7 comprise the consent agenda. staff is not planning to present but is available for questions. >> thank you. is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? moved by dorsey, seconded by walton. madam clerk, please call the roll. >> commissioner chan, absent. commissioner dorsey, aye. commissioner engardio, aye. chair mandelman, aye. commissioner peskin, aye. commissioner preston, absent. commissioner ronan, aye.

commissioner safai, absent. commissioner stefani, aye. commissioner walton, aye. we have on the motion to approve consent agenda, we have 7 ayes and the motion is approved. >> thank you madam clerk. i received a request from commissioner safai to be excused from votes on the agenda which i'll grant. madam clerk, could you please call our next item? >> item 8, next generation bay area free way update. a information item. >> good morning. just by way of a brief introduction to this item, which is a presentation by mtc, the lead agency for the next generation bay area free way study, which is meant to reimagine the

role of freeway throughout the region in better meeting the climate and mobility goals that we have by looking at all lane tolling. this strategy for all lane tolling was included in plan bay area 2050, because without it the plan was not able to meet the green house gas emission reduction targets it needs to achieve. mtc is asking is there a equitable and effective way to implement this strategy to achieve our goals. they have conducted midway through the study conducted several rounds of outreach, round of analysis, presentation to the mtc committee. they do run an executive and staff level advisory group we sit on to provide feedback. mtc will describe their schedule and what they anticipate to be

their timeframe and what recommendations might look like, including 10 year implementation plan as part of what they bring forward through the study. with that, let me introduce mtc. >> hello, mtc. >> thank you. good morning commissioners and thank you for the opportunity for us to share about our ongoing study. the next generation bay area freeway study. i'm a principle planner in the regional planning team and the project manager for the study as well. we began the study in 2022 in partnership with caltrans. the study is first implementation action of the freeway tolling strategy that is one of the 35 interconnected strategies in plan bay area 205o, the most recently adopted regional plan. we acknowledge that freeway

congestion while rampant and effect many people on every dare day basis is not the most important problem the region is facing today in housing shortage, homelessness, the transit fiscal cliff, recovery down down crime and safety, however we know that it is not a simple policy and starting the groundwork and trying to explore whether pricing as a role to play in the future. we are working closely with two advisory groups, staff and executive level and this is composed of not just government staff and non governmental staff from business, labor, citizen representatives and non profits. i meant to come to this slide now. long-term view is that bay area congestion problem doesn't stand to get better unless we shift gears. one thing our freeways are largely over capacity with drivers responding 100 hours in traffic. there is also a economic cost

to this. workers who travel to multiple job sites spend more time driving between locations and less time to work and earn money. delay freight movement which increase the cost of goods. thecurrent state of freeways is exacerbating inequities due to higher housing cost, drivers are moving farther away creating longer more expensive commutes. all this mounting congestion is deterring from achieving the aggressive climate goals a urgent need for us all. next slide, please. we address congestion over the years with a range of strategies. new lanes, express lanes, transit, commuter parking, transit oriented development and many still continue to be really important strategies in our tool kit to decrease the depenedance on driving but may not address the

elephant in the room which is people want or need to drive alone and do so for a multitude of reasons. the jobs and housing imbalanced, the land use is across the region, transit options are inefficient and all this makes freeways a valuable public good. there is really strong demand for it. the current system is not equitable if those who absolutely need to use the freeway are not able to do so relibly so may need a shift in the uch future to change usage patterns. why are we exploring pricing? first, pricing has the potential to lower overall miles driven and more specifically miles driven in congested conditions thereby helping advance climate goals. second, related, has the power fooshift driving pattern incentivizeing more

efficient hethy sustainable ways to get around. the concept of freeway pricing is similar what utilities companies use. they charge more to use electricity in the peak hours with the hope you run your applianceing later in the night or weekends. capacity is constrained and we cannot build our way out of congestion so a similar concept with freeway pricing. the goal is to not shift everyone out of the cars, it isn't to get everyone into buses and trains, but there is a share of people who have flexibility in their travel patterns during peak hours and so that's who the freeway price is intended to target. finally, pricing could also generate revenue that help enhance the transportation system and we can discuss how we prioritize investments using those avenues. as part of the studies public engagement we identified a set of 5 goals that have been guiding all our analysis in the study. reliable, efficient,

affordable, reparative and safe. you may be wondering how can freeways be more affordable ifee are talking pricing roads? we recognize low income drivers will find it challenges to afford a toll and not oblivious to the fact of the high cost of living in the region. many struggle to make ends meet so no doubt we need to inclut appropriate mitigations. affordable is also cost effective. are we getting time back in our days that is commensurate with the amount of tolled paid? the idea of road pricing is bring value to the users that use them and not just a money grab. the study also acknowledges that many low income communities have born and continue to bear the brunt of freeway barriers in the neighborhoods. the reparative goal is about how freeways begin to address that and support reparative infrastructure investment in light of the historic disinventment in those communities.

next slide, please. as i mentioned, freeway pricing is one of 35 strat agencies in the plan. all work together to advance better access to jobs, better mobility, lower emissions and so that is freeway pricing is no means a silver bullet, it cannot solve the problem of congestion by itself or emissions, so we are not studying in isolation. the pricing is meant for all the strategy to work in tandem. all the major transit project complete street initiatives, clean vehicle initiatives all must work together with pricing and that's what the plan is trying to get at, our goals from different directions. next slide, please. next slide, please. how does pricing fit into the larger picture? looking at the left side of the slide which shows the layer of road pricing in the bay area today.

at the bottom is gas tax our stable foundation of pricing insuring stable revenue to fund transportation system and you be aware the state is exploring the state wide road user charge to potentially substitute the gas tax and revenue neutral ways. above the foundation we have rich tolling infrastructure in the bay area with tolls and express lanes. they may manage demand, they play specific roles. the bridge tolls pay for bridge operation, retrofit and investment in the bridge corridors while express lanes provide a reliable travel lane to car pool and transit. the layer at the top is the focus of the study, pricing to manage demand on the most heavily used facilities in the region and meant to complement any state wide charge. the ground is shifting in the u.s. to more seriously consider pricing of tool to manage demand. california various plans from the state

transportation agency, caltrans, the air resources board all call for pricing solutions to manage demand. the federal government is also unlocking resources and reducing hurtles to plan for pricing to manage demand. there is a provision to permit 10 urban regions in the use to price all lanes of interstate highways. opening that door, which previously been close since inception of interstate highways. highways have been part of realty for decades for so many regions in the u.s. some of the states have large networks of tolled highways and people are acustom to driving on tolled highways. we along with other regions from portland to la alang the west coast explore pricing specifically as a tool

to manage demand on existing highways rather then build new roads. pricing would be a major policy shift and no meaning happening tomorrow or this decade, but it will require years of groundwork and this study is meant to be a early action planning study. there first step is adopting into the plan. we are here in the study past the mid-way point completing 2 rounds of public engagement, analysis and in the second round of analysis. the road to implementation will necessitate planning study detail design, transit improvement, public information campaigns, legislative approval and pilots. we recognize the current climate isn't suited for a policy shift. there are more important issues like i said in the beginning of the presentation, but we also recognize the road to implementation is a long one and we need to make baby steps

ahead. next slide, please. i think i have given enough background about the study without talking about the study itself. what are we exactly doing? this is identifying whether there are equitable pathways centered on pricing to meet our region equity mobility climate goals. we know pricing strategies have significant equity concerns. we are exploring pricing stat ags in conjunction with meaningful suite of complementary strategy and think how to be a tool to advance equity rather then hurt equity. we are not talking strategy that impact pricing with exemptions and discounts, but how can tolling revenues be used to fund strategies that make our transit options more robust, streets safer and advance equitable outcomes. together we are calling that package pricing and complementary

strategies pathways. pathways towards next generation freeways. the objective of the study is to recommend equitable politically acceptable pathways and narrow down future efforts after the study. next slide, please. what pricing strategies-what are we exploring? in this second round we are studying three pricing strategies that are a major policy shift. the first is all lane highway tolling that toll all lanes of all major highways in the region. tolls would be based on distance traveled and vary by time of day and location depending on the level of congestion. we are not thinking about as dynamic tolls but preset tolls as users need predictability in making choices. while all lane toll has potential to manage demand, a major concern

is diversion to local streets. people skipping the tolls and using the local streets and downstream impact that can bring to local street congestion and safety. the second strategy we are exploring is regional mileage based user fee. that is a simple uniform per mile fee onch all times and all roads, including local streets. mileage based fees are better suited to raise revenue rather then manage congestion. facility based pricing is better to manage congestion:mileage bay base fees are less expinsive and may not result in diversion to local streets and may still have the potential to curb vehicle miles traveled. the third is a combination of both. in the first round of analysis, which we completed last year, we explored two other pricing strategies. we studied all lane highway tolling along with tolling of major

arterial to think whether that can limit the diversion issue i have been talking about. we are no longer prur sue pursuing the strategy because of the operational complexity that involved tolling specific local streets. we also studied in the first round the potential of [indiscernible] in the downtown of the three biggest cities including san francisco. while there were strong positive impact of the local level, mainly in san francisco, we were not seeing major regional scale shifts we want to see in vmt and traffic congestion on freeways so not pursuing that either in the second round of analysis. shifting attention to the bottom half of the page we eval waet the benefit of continuing the build out of ecexpress lane with three different aumgzs. lane expansion. second through only lane conversions and third also exploring converting the

second additional lane for dual express lane throughout the region which has their own pros and cons. next page, please. i talked about the pricing strategy and complementary strategy. pathways are meant to be combinations of the two. we have been engaging with our group jz communities to determine what is the right way, the optimal way of reinvestment toll revenue to help achieve the 5 goals mentioned. this slide shows one scenario in the first round of analysis, 50 percent of the revenues would be dedicated to transit improvements, mainly focus enhancing transit as a alternative to driving. 25 percent to local streets. mainly focus on road safety and sidewalk and are bike lane upgrades and the remainder split into discounts for low income as well as investment in low income communities adjacent to freeways.

that doesn't mean the first 75 percent of the investment is not equitty focused. those strategies can also prioritize. this distribution of revenue what the mix is remains ongoing discussion and how thinking how to maximize the benefit and maximize the equity coming out of revenues from road pricing. next slide, please. what did we learn about all lane tolling from the first round of analysis? in the first round, looking at the gray bar, we studied all lane tolling for that map of corridors. we were considering highways that only had frequent transit so limited set of corridors. we studied tolling on all lanes. tolls vary by place and time of day ranging from 10 to 30 cents per

mile during peak hours so up to $3 for a 10 mile segment. but lower or 0 tolls midday and no tolls night and weekend and 50 percent discount. we saw positive outcomes. fewer free way trips in peak hours. see 20 to 40 percent reduction in trips during the peak hours. we also saw reduction in trachbl times up to 25 percent on certain busy segments of freeway corridors. we also saw limited affordability impact for most low income residents. what do i mean? there is perception tolls and highways means everyone is heavily burdened. over 50 percent do not use-would not use toll freeways during peak hours. because travel within their

county or use transit. even on those they may travel short dist ances and driving every day of the week. we know higher income drivers represent a larger share of peak freeway users relative to the share of population. what we found is only 6 percent of lower income houses see monthly expenses above $25 with those toll level s i mentioned. what we saw is there a opportunity for targeted cost burden relief for the high frequency users. with the toll revenue reinvested in transit we saw road pricing has a strong potential to redistribute revenue bringing greater benefit then burden for low income population. only 6 percent came from the bottom 25 percent of population while 30 to 40 percent of the benefits again, depends how you allocate the revenues,

would be accrued to the group. what challenges did we see we are trying to address in round 2? diversion is a major concern and so we are testing strategy like making streets more friendly, roaddites and lower speed limits which advansh safety goals and boosting transit frequency rather then focusing so much on regional transit to alleviate the diversion on local streets. we continue to think how to best allocate the revenue to increase mode share and then also studying how can we best enhance affordsability for those high frequency low income drivers and evaluating different strategies like capping monthly polls as a fixed amount for this group of drivers and discounts. how to optimize tolls at climate cleanse because that is so important for larger planning process for the

region so as part of this based we are shifted from the map on the left of tolling limited set of corridors and expanding tolling to all highways in the region and not just those shown on the map. we have much more to study and learn in the planning study i are trying to answer so many questions, but also want to emphasize this is a early action study. we want to make meaningful progress and may not answer all our questions but we want to make progress and narrow down future efforts. last slide, please. our next steps really quick. we are hoping to wrap the second round of analysis in the summer after which we'll work closely with stakeholders to develop recommendations and think about a high level 10 year road map of what actions or studies might be needed down the road. again, thank you for the opportunity and happy to hear opinions and take questions. >> thank you for your

presentation. questions? comments? can you or someone on the staff talk about like, what happens with this study? plan bay area in order to make it all work out, what did the mtc have to say about congestion pricing that the region would somehow adopt a-well, tell me what it said? >> one of those strategies in the plan the 35 strategies is per mile tolling on our region freeways. also some discount assumptions for lower income households so that was a strategy in the plan the commission adopted.

>> so, not super presciptive how much, where, how, just the obigation is to look at this and i'm getting wide eyes from the executive-nothing over here being said. okay. what-you are doing this analysis and then who then has to act on some or given the option of acting on some regional tolling reseem? >> i don't imag chb we will have action item but will probably look for commission approval in moving forward in the implementation road map. further recommendation from the study is meant to be incorporated into plan bay area so the commission will be adopting that. >> you are going to round 2. is round 2 the last round? >> corrects. >> how long do you think that

will take? >> looking to wrap thought up in the summer and looking to feed our recommendations to plan bay area in the fall. >> plan bay area 2050 plus? >> i have 250 to check on that but believe it has to be-24 draft has to be adopted this fall. >> okay. >> i can relay this back to your staff. >> alright. thank you. does our staff want to say about potential implications of this work for san francisco? >> so, i want to thank you for agendizing the topic and hearing the item and for presenting it. we have been tracking this work and participate on the working groups. f appreciate that this is a very bold new strategy for the region and out of necessity it was added because of the need to close the green house gas per

capita reduction gap. this is an initial step and we in san francisco have been studying pricing as you all know in various sort of different formats i should say. the counterdowntown pricing study is on hold and but we have been adviceing mtc as they grapple with many issues how to set your goals and how you evaluate the trades-offs and in particular address equity not only to mitigate it, but to advance through a policy such as this. in addition, we have been grappling with this approach and the strategy as well on treasure island, which is microcosm of any other geography. this is something that i think we welcome the board guidance and the public continued input in many cases, this is the first time some of the folks in the public are hearing about such strategies but as you may know in new york city, there will be the

first-nation first urban congestion pricing program launched in the june so we are starting to see the conversation here domestically in the united states not only mtc but the state again is also looking at pricing strategy and we in san francisco have been in this conversation for some time now. thank you. >> thank you. a very long time. what other jurisdictions in the bay area have undertaken some- >> right. all lane tolling is very limited. my understanding is the only other all lane tolling policy that has been roontly approved is highway 37 which is going to be imagined as a new all price facility accept for the express lane, which a carpool i believe of hov three or more could use for free. all the other capacity on the new proposed highway 37 spans the 4 north bay counties is priced somewhat

like a 9th toll bridge of the bay area. >> alright. thank you madam executive director. thank you for your presentation. lets open to public comment. anyone in the chamber who wants to talk to us about this item, please come forward. >> thanks guys. really great presentation. i learned a lot. makes you see people on bikes, the bike movement ahead of its time. it is ahead of its time and we have to make sure bike infrastructure is able to complement the studies we are doing. the studies talk about tolling urban tolling, so it is what it is. what i want to say is, just take a step back and you know, people are tired of

being taxed. they are tired of just giving their money away for driving a car. i just say, new york could do it, san francisco, san francisco we dont have to compete with new york. we don't have to compete with new york, let new york be new york and san francisco be san francisco. we have our own history. we have our own way of doing things and that's not it. congestion pricing is not it. take a step back, do the study and leave it alone. come back to it maybe 10 years. people are tired of being taxed. they dont want to pay a toll. cup of coffee cost $3. when is it going to stop? it is a great study. i learned a lot. thank you. >> thank you. see if we have remote public comment on this item. >> yes, going to remote public comment now. hello caller, your two minutes

begins now. >> hello. hey, san francisco. hey, i looked at the agenda item and perplexed about this. as i understand it, vacancy rates are off. office vacancy rates are up in the city. that would mean that traffic congestion is lower because the more workers are working remotely or obviously there is a exodus from san francisco, so the studies i would want to understand what are the traffic rates as compared to maybe 5 or 6 years ago as compared to today. very interesting and hard to project what the traffic rates will be in the future, so one thing to point out was, i don't know how valid the study is because muni and bart are very reliable modes of transportation and

keep their rates down. i take muni [indiscernible] keep in mine the vacancy rates of office spaces in the city are higher now. thanks, bye. >> thanks caller. there is no additional public comment. >> alright. public comment on item 8 is closed. thank you again for the presentation and madam clerk, please call our next item. >> item 9 rfx introduction of new items. this is information item. >> anyone with new items? please call our next item. >> item 10, public comment. >> alright. anyone would like to speak to us for general public comment, come on up. don't see anybody in the chamber. see if we have remote public comment on item 10? >> yes, chair. going to the comment. hold on just one moment.

hello caller, two minutes begins now. >> hello again chair mandelman and commissioners. i would like to bring to your attention that i stopped receiving notice of meetings and agendas for about a month now and i assume i am probably not alone and this is probably the reason why there is substantially reduced public participation in the last month or so. i very much appreciate if that could be addressed. thank you. >> thank you caller. there is no additional public comment. >> alright. public comment on item 10 is closed. madam clerk, please call our next item. >> item 11, adjournment. >> we are adjourned.

>> san francisco is a positive impact on my chinese business. >> i'm the founder of joe-joe. i'm a san francisco based

chinese artist. i grew up in the bayview district. i am from china i started at an early age i started at age of 10 my grandfather my biggest inspiration. and i have followed with my traditional art teacher in china:i host educational workshops at the museum and local library. and i also provide chinese writing in public middle school and that way i hold more people fall in love with the beautiful of our chinese calligraphy. it is a part of our heritage. and so we need to keep this culture alive. hand writing is necessary field that needs to be preserved generation toieneration. this art form is fading away.

but since covid i have been very dedicated to this art and i hope that my passions and serving this art form. there are many stores and shopping centers and companies that are interested in chinese cal iing ravi. i feel motivated to my passion for chinese calligraphy in today's world. so people can always enjoy the beauty of chinese calligraphy, from time to time i have a choice to traditional chinese calligraphy to make it more interesting. we do calligraphy on paper. i can do calligraphy different

low. >> my inspiration is from nature and provide calligraphy that was popular style of persons time. i will invite to you check out my website or instagram. and there is some events and updated upcoming events that you can participate. >> the vibrant south of market neighborhood in san francisco is deep lee rooted filipino if fluences to shape the cultural

identity. soma pilipinas known for [indiscernible] night life and art scenes is home to growing filipino community that thrived for generations. >> soma pilipinas is a community, the village that has been over a hundred years in the making. this is home to many generations of filipino from the turn of the century, to the present. continues to be a gateway community for a lot of filipinos just arriving from the philippines. >> one of sth most prominent scines is filipino owned businesses become staples in the neighborhood. restaurants like manila bowl and jp restaurant offer [indiscernible] >> we call it [indiscernible] this is my passion. everybody's who came right now.

we feel good right here. community is like a family. >> the eatery serve mouth watering dishes and provide a sense of home to the filipino community, preserving traditions passed down generation. >> a filipino restaurant utilizing california ingredients we honor traditional family recipe [indiscernible] we shop in the market 2 to 3 times a week. we make the filipino cuisine proud in san francisco. >> along with the culinary deliteds, soma philippine ow is home to san francisco top mix aulgists. filipino artistry is a facet of soma pilipinas rich tapestry. the filipino cultural heritage district transformed public

spaces into canvases that depict the stories and experiences of filipino americans. >> parlt part of the work we do is support filipino artists to work with community to really create and develop community based art. this is murals and designs that really reflect the rich history, the culture and the struggles and triumps of the filipino community. >> the presence of the filipino cultural center which offer workshops, language classes and community resources is a testament to the community efforts to preserve and promote the heritage. >> features the [indiscernible] philippines which is a indigenous community weaving textiles and tapestry for hundreds of years so proud to feech were modern ones and very antique ones and showcase fashion from the community and we are inviting everybody to come experience that with us.

>> the center not only caters to the filipino community, but welcome all who wish to learn about and embrace this culture. >> we want to develop a cultural district where you have the young generation learn their history, language and culture and where you have also the seniors be part of the cultural and share their stories and their traditions, and continue to grow young in the neighborhood. >> the intersection of technology and culture in this part of san francisco provides a unique back drop for a thriving community embracing the past while looking to the future. the filipino influence ingrained in soma serves as remindser of the power of cultural diversity and importance of celebrating in our ever changing world.

[music] since the opening on third and mission in 2010 the grove is a epicenter. tis is part of the community. we bring tourist, we bring convention ears and have a huge group of locers who live here. we are their living room and love to see them on a regular basis and seek newcomers to the city of san francisco and serve them a good dose of san francisco hospitality. we make everything in house from scratch every dape we vahand carved [indiscernible] the chicken pot pie we serve probably a hundred thousand if not more.

roasted chicken, prime rib, salad[indiscernible] coffee cake and [indiscernible] all the pies are fresh baked. the home made cookies are done, once, twice a day, depending how fast they go. we believe in goold old fashion home cooked food. we want to be a welcoming, warm hospitable place for everyone to come and hang out. respond time with friends and family, meet new people. have important conversation. relax and enjoy, rejuvenate, get restored, enjoy one another and the at mus sphere the growth. the grove is over 730 to 830, 7 days a week, breakfast, lunch and dinner.

good afternoon everyone, this meeting will come to order. welcome to the april 29th, 2024 regular meeting of the land use and transportation committee of the san francisco board of supervisors. i am supervisor myrna melgar, chair of the committee. joined by board of supervisors president aaron peskin and vice chair dean preston. the committee clerk today is mr. john carroll, and i would also like to acknowledge and thank karina mendoza for sfgovtv for staffing this meeting. mr. clerk, do you have any announcements? yes. thank you, madam chair. please ensure that you've silenced your cell phones and other electronic devices you have brought with you into the chamber today. if you have any documents to include as part of any