that is where i am coming from. >> michele browne, followed by david pelle pelle. >> the issue to me is not so much an issue of the alternatives that take away a lane in each direction would work best. to me, the issue is taking a way -- away a lane in each direction and making a busy street from six lanes to four lanes, which moves traffic all you still traffic over there. because the plan that they came up with was just come up with about two weeks ago, the final compromise plan, the neighborhood as says the asians are just reacting to it. the association -- of the neighborhood associations are just reacting to it.

one association is meeting tomorrow. another is meeting in the next couple of weeks. i think you are getting a more negative reaction to taking away two lanes that i think is being communicated to you and what is being cured now. the cost of this, the transit authority program tabled it said they could study it more. basically, by reducing from six lanes to four lanes, rather than focusing on an alternative with all of the improvements except that you are leaving the extra two lanes, compare that with the alternative being suggested. even under current conditions, they admit that you are saving less than five minutes. five minutes in traffic time for a cost of 80 million -- not traffic time, but in terms of commuter bus time for a cost of

$80 million extra. no build, with all of the improvements. this is taking very busy street and shoving the traffic into various neighborhoods. correct thank you. david pilpel. >> if you go to slide 7, alt 3, it shows you a southbound running mockup. >> but we have the hybrid alternatives three, four. >> i want to point out that this project would actually restore the median to the transit avenue where the street car and ran for a number of years from 1946-48 or so. we're just reclaiming territory

where there originally was not any. what i'm not clear about is the motor court -- motor coach 47, trading that up to and arctic. there is an issue with the flinn division. does that mean that the other route would have to become a more standard motor coach? i sensed that there is a tradeoff there. it is also not clear, since the project limits are only to lombard, what happens to lombard. if you are out in the curving, will that involves a complicated move between lombard and chess that in both directions? how would that work exactly? and with that lead to 30 at van ness and jazz -- and chestnut?

i do support this selection of the lpga. thank you. >> next speaker. >> good afternoon, directors. terry mascow, representing the board of directors. you have a letter dated may 9th in your packet. i will not belabor the points made there, but i would just suggest that spurs strongly supports the adoption of the preferred alternative for the van ness brt. and just a side comment, let me

commend the cta staff for coming to this grant, if you will. we see this as the best option, as was mentioned, with the biggest expansion of writer ship with lower cost. as a result, we urge your board to adopt the running brt with limited median and left turns. anecdotally, i will say that spur just returned from its study trip in loss angeles. we learned how important brt is for increasing ridership. the san fernando valley is packed and very successful.

the sooner this is implemented, the better. a 10-year project, which went- year per -- with one-year construction, but a 10 year project. >> thank you. >> good afternoon, mr. wong. >> good afternoon, board. i'm here to talk about the van ness brt. i am concerned about the elimination of the local 47 and 49. i am understand that they basically want to eventually

make it wider. people with mobility problems may not be able to walk to the next bus stop. i know it is already pretty much a final design. i was thinking like the 38 gary that they have, limited staff for example, 48 blocks. and they also have the 38 local. people have a choice of using the rapid bus and also the local for people who want to go in between the bus stops. i do not know.

we need to figure out what is the solution for just using the van ness corridor because people have to walk up the block to get to van ness and then go back down. it is one of those things that we need to look into more. and you know, talk about it more. thank you. >> thank you. >> good afternoon. deputy for the planning and transportation authority. i'm here to say thank you for your continued leadership considering this lp a. as the director aptly put it, it is an alternative of the current

alternative. we believe it will demonstrate the full opportunity for this new mode of transit for the city brt, and not on the for the city, but for the region and our nation as we struggle to do more with fewer resources. we want to pledge our continued support together. you're the previous speaker that the item had been deferred. i would characterize that as procedural. we did receive some late correspondents yesterday and did not have an adequate time to brief the stakeholders. then the authority board will consider policy action in the joon plans and programs meeting. and i just want to clarify that we do expect the center running alternative to maintain% throughput will have so many -- maintain person throughput.

we will have some any more people on buses. the fewer left turns and signals will benefit traffic appeared thank you for your of leadership and your support. >> thank you. thank you for all of your work on the mta wit -- with the mta on this. >> good afternoon. i am the director -- executive director of walk san francisco. i'm here because walk sf strongly supports this as an elegant solution to the mta and t a's earlier differences on how this could run. it was a mean faster public transportation through a major central corridor in our city and it is something that people in our city really deserve and that something -- and it is something that san francisco should be

leading on. we are excited to be hearing about widening of this ought -- of the sidewalks so that people have a shorter crossing distance. reducing left turns. putting audible countdown signals through the entire corridor as well as lighting, so that folks can see and be seen. this is a step forward for better public transportation and, really, 21st century sustainable transportation. i also want to say congratulations to the mta on getting 181 schools sounds done since august. it is a really big deal. i should have done it at the general comment, but i have 40 seconds. san francisco is the first big city in the state to do this. the media is very interested in helping other cities like l.a. -- is very interested and hoping other cities like l.a. will do

this. thanks. >> thank you. ben kaufman followed by eric williams. >> ben kaufman with the san francisco transit riders union. i want to echo what a lot of folks have said on the ta and the mta in collaboration. i thank you for putting your head together outside the box. we wholeheartedly support center writing brt with right door boarding. i want to acknowledge mr. wong's comments that the stocks should be maybe given a little more thought -- the bus stops should be given maybe even a more thought in terms of

accessibility. but as far as projects, this is a great one. it is an investment in our future. it is a connector to an isolated neighborhood, or a group of isolated neighborhoods to transit. and it is the first example of bus rapid transit coming to san francisco and we hope it paves the way for many more in years to come. correct erik williams. the last person to turn in a speaker cards -- >> erik williams, the last first person to turn in a speaker cards. >> if we are talking about the alternative on the right-hand lane and making it a transit- only lane, saving the agency millions upon millions of dollars for operations, i think one would think about that first. we are giving the police

department $16 million to make sure lanes are open, make sure bus lanes can't follow accordingly -- can follow accordingly. tuesday that it is going to help with traffic, to say that it is going to help all of the above -- at what cost? this agency is going to hemorrhage millions. we are going to invest again. i appreciate the effort by whoever put this in again, but we are hemorrhaging millions already. we can just make that right hand lane bus only with the enforcement that we give $16 million a year to. let's think about this. are we seriously -- and i hear from the public. i have to work hand in hand with

the public and the agency, but honestly, we cannot have both. the agency has wasted $850 million and it cannot even run on time. the next question, how much is caltrans putting into this project? how many federal funds are going into this project? and how much is coming out of the operations fund for the sfmta to get this done? really quickly, on the restaurants, they were spending $500 million on the -- $500,000 on one come out. that is the type of spending that has been going on. >> thank you. last speaker. >> thank you. i am a taxicab driver. i do not know what you're talking about, but i basically-

gregg's van ness. gregg's yes, van ness street. -- i do not know what you're talking about, but i basically -- >> van ness. >> yes, van ness street. i always take van ness street from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. the traffic light system is all the way green lights. i never take franklin. franklin is so packed. and no parking on franklin streets. always too many cops. i take van ness only at the rush-hour. i hope you will open any bus lane said that the taxi driver can use it because we never block any traffic lane. we go very fast. [laughter]

but we try very fast, too. in a collision with a taxicab driver, the first question is, what that company? but that is what we asked. we always have chinese drive by muni. that is not always fair for you. i hope the police will take care of the street. sometimes they do their job and sometimes they do not. rush-hour, they do their job. if you look at kearny and market street and always a big line there. >> thank you. >> madam chair, that is the last person to turn in a speaker cards and it does not look like anyone else is looking like they

would like to address anything. >> director heinicke? >> mr. papandreou, emasculate few more questions? -- may i ask you a few more questions? as i understand it, there is not a lot of operating budget, if any, to go to fund this. i think it is a fair question and one that should be answered. >> absolutely. and thank you for the opportunity. as what's touched on this presentation in the staff report, the lion's share of this funding coming from this project comes from our federal program. these funds are available for this program only. they are not coming to us for discretionary use elsewhere. we anticipate no mta operating funds to be used for this project. the balance of this fund is proposition k project funds, which was called out for this

plan is physically and voted on. and to the extent that we can make muni more efficient and faster and increased writer ship come out it would ultimately be a positive for muni, not a burden. it is a positive from an operating perspective. we will make sure to circle back with mr. williams and twu so they are clear on the components of this. >> i agree with that. as for state funding, we are aware of what is going on in sacramento and there are being revised budgets floating here and there. what i will simply say to our planners and directors is, if an ongoing program where we have counted on state funding now

appears to be a situation where funding is not a ploy to and through, i would just -- is not going to be updated through, i would ask that the board be updated. i'm going to vote for this program. i like the solution now you have explained it in a way that i can understand it. but i do have a few other questions. i'm very glad to hear the pedestrian in input and the advocates for the pedestrian state -- favors this. one question i have is about getting off of church on to the 22. when you see your boss and you at a station to cross to get it, what do you do? you should wait for the light, but some people understandably run for the boss. when you look at this model, especially when coordinating

signal for the vehicle, you have several pedestrians that have to now cross lanes of traffic to get to racing will preference. i wonder if this is an issue that you have thought about and if there are plans to address that particular precedent. if drivers are paying attention, they will stop. >> i think you are exactly right. we have been looking at what we could actually do using the existing tool kits -- widening the sidewalks, shortening them where possible. people might have to cross through the intersection, but the most they will cross is two lanes. it is very different from crossing -- in-line >> and if

there -- and if they are crossing more frequently, maybe there will be more awareness. i just wonder if there's any outreach to the public on it. the van ness green project, i have not driven van ness in a while, but the last time i did i seemed to recall lots of nice trees with lots of signs touting our current the good -- lieutenant governor and thank him for all kinds of green. imagine that is going to be disrupted. the trend is our first priority, but green stuff is good, too. what is the plan to deal with the plan beds that are on the northern slope of the van ness? >> the plan retains the bulk of the medians.

by combining the aspect of alternative four, we are using the traveling adjacent to the median. there are many places where the median will remain untouched. when we get to the stops, that is where we will ankle and -- angle in. we will also be creating other spaces where we might be able to increase green's base. there will definitely be some impact to the medians. we will work to minimize those. that was one of the elements behind this optimized solution. in either three or four, the ends of the medians would be converted to busways or stops. it is a similar scenario to what we would have had in alternative four, but the core of the

medians well remain. >> thank you. you said there was a concern with the center lane approach of the buses perhaps being pinned in. is that because they can negotiate with the lateral buses? i did not understand that. gregg's this is where there ought were limited medians -- >> this is where there are were limited medians and that bus was basically crowd into two lanes. gregg's ok, got it. -- >> ok, got it. the final question i have is, is there a plan -- the last time this came up i supported the center median, which is still the way to go, i think. is there a plan that is open to emergency vehicles?

have we spoken to police and fire to allow them to use these lanes in an emergency? >> there is no design that would preclude that from happening. and we have not had a detailed discussion on all that they would need. correct and that brings me to my final point. -- >> and that brings me to my final point. i think this is wonderful. the groups that have said that we have just sprung this on them, i do not think that is the case. it has been going on for a long time. it is more a question of how we will do it, not whether we will do it. and certainly, is a price worth paying to get expedited bus service through this very important corridor. the staff and i have talked about my daily ride is the underground rocks. i ride them in the -- right that

muni metro. and this, we cannot tunnelled through all of it without a massive expense either way. my closest view -- in my view, this is as close to an underground subway as we will get. it will have dedicated lines. i'm very excited about this project. it runs in the center lanes with boarding options there. and this is going to be even better in this situation because there will be signal preference and that sort of thing. i think this is a wonderful project and a wonderful compromise. i compliment you on it and i plan to support it. the cracks good -- >> good questions as always. any questions, director bridges? >> bebb kudos to you for your team and for everybody who came

up with the spirit i understand there were some challenges earlier. your bright folks and i appreciate you coming up with this. to everyone who came up with a solution, thank you. i speak as a writer from experience who -- as a rider who worked. for you to say only five minutes, that is disheartening. there are many transit riders on that bus -- it feels like an eternity back and forth, back and forth. i know people who were fired because they were wait -- late to work too many times. i sit on its -- i sit on it still and i heard a guy comment on how slow it was going. clearly, he was a worker that

was worried about how long it was taking to get to work. this to me will mean that those workers will get to their jobs on there -- on time and not have to drive the way i would have to drive and then take up more precious parking spaces and cause more traffic. i understand the time difference is not substantial. we will not turn a 30 minute drive into a two-minute drive. but that five minutes will make a big difference to a lot of people. the increments that you found, actually, i'm thinking it will be a lot more than just five minutes. i think the times that you have suggested it. -- that you have suggested, i seriously doubt that number. i think it is closer to

something more significant. regarding the operations, i did have a question, and i do not expect an answer on this right now. but i hope it is something that you think about in the future. we've got our brt running so quickly with such great frequency and then we reach a point where some folks are going to continue to move along along mission street. i hope you are paying attention to regular mixed-flow traffic when you cross market and get back into mission street. i am under the assumption that operations actually go down, operation costs per passenger actually go down because the efficiencies and the amount of riders by u.n. with brt, and the --