>> my name is mark buell and i have the pleasure of being the chairman of the america's cup organizing committee. nice to see you today. a number of distinguished guests in the audience and on the podium, and i will do my best to knowledge most of them, so do not get your feelings hurt. today, we are presenting one of the conditions in the host city agreement. when mayor newsom and i signed that agreement, we committed to doing certain things to enable the city to put on the best of it possible. one of the most -- i cannot imagine a more critical element to this plan than how we move people during the event.

if san franciscans care about anything, it is traffic, parking, movement, and i think today's press conference at the beginning of this effort acknowledges how seriously we take this situation and how much we want to get it right. there is a provision that by march 31, we begin this with a document, and it will continue until the environmental impact report is finished. there will be plenty of chance for people to comment on it, contribute to. we want that. it is really important for this process to get that. with that, it is my pleasure to introduce to you our newest, biggest supporter of the america's cup in san francisco, our mayor, ed lee. [applause] mayor lee: have the opening day at the giants. [applause] -- happy opening day.

i want to give our -- a shot up to are daniels. i wanted to again thank him. right here, we are enjoying the beautiful sun, and maybe a few decades ago, we would not have been able to do that because of some freeway. but i wanted to thank can because he has been a big supporter and a great advisor of mind and someone who early on enticed me to join government rather than throw stones at it. as markets unveiled earlier, one of the most important plants that will not only have to do, but we must do, if we are going to invite 200,000 people a day to come to our border share along the waterfront and view one of the most spectacular races, the america's cup 34. as i began my -- a couple of months ago, i was forewarned as we made the initial announcements of how already we

are, i had gotten some phone calls from quite a few friends, both new and old, who reminded me that the big challenge is going to be if we are successful in getting this and if it works, how are you going to move people around? how are you going to do its motley? those people came from very good friends, who spent their lives not only dealing with the interactions in our city, but transportation issues as well. so i am unveiling to you today what we have dubbed the people plan, which is our initial draft. and it is just the initial draft. it allows you to see how we are going to take care of these big challenges. i want to thank president chiu, ross mirkarimi, all of the supervisors here in the front row for working with me. all of the mta.

with the court, the public works. all the city agencies that have come together. the department of environment as well. working together with the even authority that formed and with mark and others to help give the initial launch of this draft plan. this plan is a framework, has quite a few details, but it emphasizes how we will approach moving some 200,000 people on a daily basis to the waterfront to view this great race. and it is important that we begin with this draft plan that talks about transit and talks about how we can work with our friends in the bicycle coalition, our friends that are pedestrian-oriented routes, as well as municipal transportation routes. we want to emphasize those modes of transit, just as we just did

as we came down from city hall on our municipal railway's. this draft is important, and it is so important that we do it right, that it is the first plan that we initiate, that we launch in the public. it is one that will be on our website, on the office of economic development workforce development web site. it is there now as we speak, and it talks to you from at least the initial groupings of the apartments that have worked together in concert with the event authority and the organizing committee in anticipation of how we move people. it reflects some very strong principles and some policies. the first one is we have got to have energy efficiency reflected in this plan. the second is it has got to be environmentally sustainable. the third -- it has got to be strategically adaptable, that we

can use this plan in a very adaptive way to all the events that happen. finally, another principal reflected in this plan is it has got to be a positive legacy that we leave with the america's cup. by "positive legacy," we mean that whatever we do, whatever we build, whatever we improve has got to beat an improvement that benefits all san franciscans for generations to come. we're looking at the infrastructure we invest in with a future that not only will handle the 200,000 people a day, the millions of people to come here, but it will benefit our city in the long run, and that is the smarter way of doing it. the reason why we are doing it early is because we know transit is already a challenge. even with the myriad of events that we hold today. they are a challenge, and they will be a challenge again this fall when the giants take on the world series. again, it will be a challenge

for us, but a positive challenge. one that we welcome. america's cup 34, all of the challenges it presents are all challenges to our city, and it is really the kind of event that san francisco was created for. charlotte is saying yes because we know how to handle these kinds of events, and it will take earlier planning. this plan will be posted for at least two months for public comment, for interchange, for all of you transit fanatics, all of the members of the community who want to know how we are going to handle this. please, we are inviting you today to engage with us on this plan, to give us your best ideas. how are we going to utilize our bicycle population to transport people. how are we going to utilize our municipal railway's and the best lines we have, how do we improve

them? how we make sure pedestrians, both ones that what get to where they are going in different modes, but i also want to make sure that we take care of our disabled community as well. i just had a meeting with disabled advocates, and they want to be so much a part of america's cup. how do we have a chance a plan that invites everyone who wants to be here to feel warm, feel well, feel that they can get to all the places they want to view this great race? there is momentum building in this race already. i cannot announce some of the things because staff tells me that i can paste this thing as it goes on for months. but i am already excited by some of the new international teams. they are already registering themselves to join in this historic race. so we have got to do it right. i think we have started with one of the best plans. we will deal with things like

waste management or marketing or security as well as other plans that will hopefully engage the public as well, let everybody know that we are handling this the best way possible, and it is what we have always touted. we are handling this plan in the most san francisco way possible. it begins with the best line of the departments we have, the people responsible for the plan, and i want to say thank you again to the department's that have been working well together, with their enthusiasm, their excitement, to work with all of our key agencies to produce an initial draft with our partners, with transit experts, and not be afraid. the reason we're putting the plan out there on the website is we want that engagement, certainly for the next month, two months, and then we will meet our deadline.

with both the authority and organizing committee, we will meet that deadline. we are setting ourselves a deadline for this transit plan to be adopted by the end of september, and it will, of course be -- many parts of it will be part of our ceqa -- our review and ceqa tests as we build all the other elements together. i want to let the public know we are still at it, let everyone know this event is the most possible event possible, and inviting everyone to do it with us, so please pay attention to this plan. let us know your ideas. let us know your cautions, if you will, and let us know your solutions. we are not just adding more problems to this plan. we are also going to find solutions. i love the fact that the plan is initiated with a western- oriented ways to get here, how we can support that, along with

the bicycle that we can use, along with public transit that we can use, and i thank you and invite you to be paying attention to all the other plans that we will be unveiling in the next few months. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you very much, mayor lee. before i introduce the next speaker, i want to acknowledge some people that are here. perhaps first and foremost is the president of the america's cup event of 40. thanks for being here. can i tell them how many boats are in and how many you might think might get into this? thank you. he is the guy who knows. i was told about five minutes ago the 13 entries -- no, 12 entries? 13? 14? 14 entries -- it has gone up since i talked to them. that is pretty spectacular. now, we will all hold them to the fire that they get to the starting line. let me acknowledge, and if you hold your applause, i'm going to

read a list of distinguished guests that are here today. you are all distinguished. but supervisors wiener, supervisor eric mar, supervisor mark farrell, thank you for coming. jonah's minted from the planning and conservation league. our port director. dpw director. the of director of the office of economic and workforce development, with the project manager for the america's cup. a round of applause. [applause] she is my boss, too. mike martin, who is heading the city effort to coordinate all this. critical role at this point. thank you. christina from the golden gate yacht club, which is the owner of the contemporary, but we hope long-term owner of the america's cup.

and lazarus from the port commission is here. charles schulz -- charlotte schulz. thank you. wonderful to have you. dan is here from nancy pelosi's office. we appreciate that. i think that does it for the vip's -- oh, who did i? kimberly from the port commission. all right, with that, there are two supervisors who played a key role in making this happen. while we got an 11-0 vote, and i know everybody gas when they hear that the board of supervisors voted 11-0, it was through the extraordinary efforts of many supervisors, but two played a key role. i'm going to introduce the first right now, and that is the president of the board of supervisors, david chiu. supervisor chiu: thank you.

first, and like to thank everyone for wearing orange today. i feel sorry for los angeles. i feel honored to be part of this world-class sporting event, not just because of what it will do for our local economy, for jobs, and for the sport of sailing, but what it will do for transportation. we know that we are trying to build a 21st century here in san francisco, and while we are the city that invented the cable car, right now, we have had many challenges as people tried to get around the city, whether they are on bus, on foot, on bicycles, in cars sitting in a little bit of gridlock. what is so wonderful about the people plan, which, i have to say, is very aptly named for the people's republic of san francisco, is that we are creating a vision for the future, establishing a legacy for who we want to be and how we want to travel and setting a mark for creating a transit

first city. i want to thank the transit advocates who are here with us today from have -- who have really been on the forefront of making us think as policy makers of what we needed. there have been many thanks to the city officials here, and i want to add my congratulations to the work that was done, as well as to my colleagues who have been leading in so many areas, not just supervisor mirkarimi, with america's cup, supervisor mar on the land use committee, and supervisor farrell because a large number of folks will be in your district sharing in this event. we are coming together, though, as a people in all facets of our neighborhoods, and i want to thank my neighborhood leaders who just last week got a little preview of the plan, and i know we will be working with staff to make sure that this plan is as effective and efficient as possible. we need to rethink how people

traveled here in san francisco. assuming not only after 2013 that the america's cup, that we continue to win for many years to come, we have to figure out how to deal with this capacity and not just if, but when san francisco comes out of the recession that we are in, we have to figure out how to continue to move not just 800,000 people a day, but many more than that. so i'd just want to welcome and thank everyone for this kick off of a conversation, a dialogue that will lead to the implementation of plans that will lead us to be one of the greatest cities in the world here in san francisco. thank you for being with us today. [applause] >> thank you, supervisor. the next person i'm going to introduce sits on two relevant authorities, but i know a third reason he has been so active -- he is a member of the california coastal commission and chair of the san francisco county transportation authority, but he also grew up in newport road --

newport, rhode island, and was passionate about what the america's cup in to the community for so long. i did not think the documents that we have that we were successful in putting forth to the ellison people could have been successful without supervisor ross mirkarimi. [applause] supervisor mirkarimi: thank you, everybody. what he did not tell you was that i'm not allowed back into the state of rhode island, and they are not happy that they see me as the trading our homegrown interests. i am proud, as an early supporter, of trying to bring the cup here to said francisco and wearing my other hat on the transportation authority, in rising to the challenge that i think the san francisco can do what no other city in the united states has demonstrated for a high-profile sports event. if you really put into this

frame, after the olympics and after world cup soccer, the america's cup actually grosz's -- is the third-highest grossing per dollar value of an important international event. with that distinction comes an incredible infusion of population that will certainly want to enjoy, will certainly want to remain, and really take in san francisco. that puts a certain amount of pressure and opportunity for our city bought to rise to that particular occasion. i see it more on an olympic number sort of trophy with regards to is being prepared, being able to ferry and traffic over 200,000 people a day during what will be a high- profile season routinely for san francisco. it is more about people getting on to transit. it is also about them biking and

walking. it is also about allowing for residents to engage something they take for granted on an everyday basis, and that is a relationship to one of the most important assets that we have, and that is our day -- bay and all the other natural indigenous resources we have that make this city one of the most majestic on this planet. for us to be able to create that kind of infrastructure so we are getting people out of their cars, walking, biking, being able to take transit, to seriously upgrade not on an interim basis, our transit system and what it looks like, but it fortifies our commitment to the kind of transit first policy that many ask why we have not yet. along that line, while it seems to be somewhat mainstream for ebit holders throughout the country today and even abroad to use the moniker of a green event, they often do not rise to

achieving that kind of result. i think san francisco could be the first city, and we are very wedded in city hall to be the first in something every now and then, so it is not an unfamiliar distinction, but san francisco in this case can show, because of all the talent that's is really aggregated here today of the city family, neighborhood resources, and the expertise, both public and private, that is now helping us prepare for this, to say that not only do we not want a carbon different -- a carbon neutral event, but we want a carbon-- the event -- carbon-negative event. i think san francisco could be the first. thank you. [applause] >> thank you, a supervisor. probably the linchpin to making this begin to work is going to put the test to muni. i would like to welcome the

executive director and ceo of the san francisco municipal transportation agency. >> thank you. yes, it is going to rest on our shoulders, but i think we are well prepared. in 1999, when you created the mta, you must have had this in mind. you have an agency before you that is responsible for taxes, responsible for pedestrians, responsible for parking, both on street and austria, responsible for your transit system. you have taken the lead and created the kind of coordination that would make this event a success, but we are not going to be able to do it alone. we have had a lot of preliminary meetings in designing this plan with our partners in the city, working with dpw, our planning department, the port, and a host of others along with our regional partners. we have a coalition of folks working together to put together not just a good plan, but an exceptional plan. so it is a tall order, but i

think we are well prepared for it. i tell my staff all the time -- it is not about the rubber tires and the steel wheels and what we do every day. it is about helping people have a better quality of life. i have the opportunity to plan this, we are confident we will have the opportunity, which we work for every day, to help improve the quality of life for san francisco and the bay area. with that, thank you for the opportunity. we are ready. [applause] >> thank you. we may be egocentric here, but this is really a regional event. i think no one knows better about transportation in the region than the executive director of the metropolitan transportation commission. [applause] >> thank you. as mark said, even though the america's cup will be burst here in san francisco, it will be conducted on the day, but -- it

will be conducted on the bay, which is a regional resources. it is a transportation of challenge. there is no way around it. we will have to take the transit first policy that san francisco has and apply in and around the region, at least during those races, to make sure we get people into san francisco as convenient as possible. it might be better for us, since we administer the toll bridges, if they all drove because we would get the money, but for a lot of reasons, it is better they take bart or ac transit or caltrain. i'm just reaching for a clipper card right now. but no matter which one of those they take, they can use this card. i think many of you know that this card is named after the clipper ships, which were built for speed, to get people here during the gold rush days, and i think it is safe to say that these america's cup boats are a little bit faster.

what i'm thinking is maybe we should have some special cards printed up during the races that have a big old oracle cup yacht on it, the eventual winner of the america's cup races in 2013, because it will be a token that people can always remember the races by. one other thing to think about -- by september 2013, if we are lucky, we will not only be having these races here in san francisco bay, but we will be opening a majestic new bridge, may be right about the same time. i think that would be a wonderful confluence of events, so even though i have to speak and run today, let me assure you that the commission is going to be with you all the way through the last race. thank you. [applause] >> steve was kind enough to squeeze this in and is running off to a previous appointment. in keeping with the mayor and

supervisor mirkarimi's charge that this needs to be a green and sustainable event, nothing could be greater or more sustainable than bicycles, so i'm going to ask the executive director of the san francisco bicycle coalition to come on up. >> good afternoon. thank you to the leadership on stage here. thank you to the hard-working staff and are going to make this happen. thank you to the community. nowhere could this be done about it -- better. what a day, what an opportunity. there is a reason hundreds of thousands of people are going to want to flood our city for weeks and several years to enjoy not only the gorgeous day and a bit, but the city and the area. i'm also really proud on behalf of the 70% of san franciscans already bicycling in our city that there is such an emphasis on bicycling in this plan. thank you. it is folks like me who are fortunate to bicycle every day to work and meetings and events,

and there are families who come out maybe once a month to enjoy sunday streets, or maybe they come to golden gate park on sundays, but this is a bicycling city, a community that knows how already, and i think we are going to teach the world in the images that get share on tv and the stories that get told, when people come here, i hope we are ready to share a bicycle with them through the program that the mayor's staff is talking about, and i hope they will check out the bicycle, and i hope they will ride along this gorgeous embarcadero, and i hope 8-year-old children will fill safe and comfortable doing that. i hope that there 80-year-old grandparents will -- will feel comfortable doing that. i hope we have safe, convenient, secure parking for them on the other end. that is the way we're going to move so many people around this wonderful event. what i'm most excited about is the legacy we will leave. we could be a great bicycling city. the next two years will help us

get there. so thank you. [applause] >> before i introduce our last speaker, i want to let the press know that they will not be taking questions from the stage if you have inquiries, but will be available individually, so you can test them after they depart the stage. with that, let me introduce the executive director of liveable cities and a member of the bart board of directors, tom middle of which -- radulovich. >> we have two goals -- to make this city a great place for the people who live here, but another is to make san francisco and is a blur. i am a proud san franciscan -- transplant, but a proud san franciscan, and i think san francisco values are our greatest export. i think the america's cup is a great opportunity to highlight

both of those things -- how to make this a great event for all of the attendees, but also a great event for all the people who live near the waterfront and for san franciscans. we do not want to overload our streets with traffic. we want to keep this a livable city as we do this huge event and make -- bring mass numbers of people through. the other is to be an example, and a lot of people have talked about this. every event wants to be the greatest ever. i want this event to be the greatest ever feared with any other city is doing a large sporting event, i wanted to go to san francisco's people plan and say this is where we start. hopefully, we will not be the eggs of live forever. hopefully, this will continue to advance, but we should have that reputation, considering what we all espouse. i think we have a great opportunity to do it here, and i think we are off to a great start in that. the other goal that we would love to see advanced with this is permanent improvement. about 20