>> mr. chairman that's the last person that turned in a speaker card. >> thank you very much. >> is there anyone else? >> okay. come forward please. >> art, you wanted to talk about item 14 on the agenda. we're not there yet. we're on item nine. >> we will be there shortly. >> [inaudible] >> okay. thank you. >> all right moving on the consent calendar. these items are considered to be routine and enacted by a single act by the board unless an item is requested to be severed. mr. chairman i have no requests. >> motion to approve? any further discussion? all in favor say aye? the ayes have it and before we leave public comment and there are a couple of things

and with the large vehicles and the july 15 date and start enforcement and represented here that's not the case, so i would be interesting hearing back on that at some point and members consenting. director reiskin. >> i would be happy to report back. it's my understanding there are four tickets issued in error and will be invalidated. >> do the people know that? >> i don't know. i just learned about that but we will report how the implementation is going. >> we received letters from the coalition and we appreciate that and the cab stand issue that ms. mcguire raised. it's not good if you can't get to it so -- maybe not today but some point soon. >>i would be happy to. i know there has been work between our folks and the taxi division to discuss the ballpark taxi access, but obviously if the

taxis are getting blocked in getting there then as you say it's not very effective so i am happy to report back on that. >> and we will ask director reiskin to come back with that. thank you for bringing that to our attention. >> moving on to item 11 on the regular calendar, a presentation on the van ness bus rapid transit project. >> peter o botcho, will present and we have michael schwartz from the transportation authority as well. >> i asked for this item to come before us because i was with him in mexico city and seeing their lines so effective and 850,000 people a day read the lines and all in four years. obviously they have a different system than we do but it seems like we

have an awful way to go for the one project and i am interested at some point in the presentation what could be done to speed it up. it's such a long time and a valuable thing -- we could do quicker than other things we try to do. good afternoon. are you ready? >>i think so. >> okay. welcome. >> actually you have to speak from that one. >> good afternoon chairman knoll nolan, numbers of the board. >> >> and staff and members of the public. i am the sfmta project manager per the van ness bus rapid transit project and i am here today to give everyone a brief update on where we are with the project and what we're trying to accomplish with it. the purpose of the project, the purpose and need of the project -- i am sure we're all aware of the difficulty -- the sfmta's

motor coaches and trolley coaches have getting down van ness avenue and the need to improve transit in this important corridor and that is the primary goal of this project and one of the main methods of accomplishes this goal is by separating the buses from the mixed traffic and providing their own transit dedicated lanes. along with this we intend to improve pedestrian accessibility along the corridor. pedestrian comfort along the corridor and enhance the van ness corridor infrastructure. i would like to talk a little bit about how the van ness brt fits into the operations of the mta and the future of the mta's development. as you can see from this map in

the green it provides a north south trunk, an area where there is little rail currently available, so we will provide basically a high capacity corridor for the mta without having to build a rail line along van ness. it's designed specifically to hook up with the geary brt and currently in development and provide east-west connection point and connection hub at van ness and geary. as part of a larger mta network service for the van ness brt will be provided by the trolley and motor coaches currently operate the 47 and 49 limited lines. as you can see from this map the bus rapid

transit project will operate in the exclusive right-of-way along van ness. for the rest of the run they will operate as they currently do along the traditional routes of the 49 limited and the 47 lines providing connection to other parts of the city and the 49 line will run virtually the entire length of the city. what goes into making a brt system? what is bus rapid transit? it's the dedicated transit lane is the obvious item but there are subtle features and signal authority and opt minimization to make sure the buses get the extra jump on the rest of the traffic lie continuing to allow the traffic to move efficiently. all buses to maximize the speed

for which people can board the coaches and of course pedestrian improvements and high quality stations are critical to encourage people to use the system and feel comfortable being able to take the system to their destination along the corridor and walk the final distance. the expected benefits of the van ness project up to a [inaudible] percent in transit time. up to 50% improvement in reliability and expected 35% or increase in boardings while maintaining the same corridor person you there put. in layman's term means we're taking a lane of traffic for bus only service for the bus service and removal of lanes for opt minimization and expect to move

the same people along the corridor if not more once the project is completed. there are many competing elements that go into developing any project, and part of a successful project is prioritizing the critical ones up to 36 different items were looked at during the development of the preferred alternative and the early design of the project. if you're interested in more detail on that it can be found in chapter 10 of the environmental report which was made public on july 5. but the primary ones that we have been focusing on these eight. performance, passenger experience, access and to the disabled community and pedestrian safety, urban design and landscaping, system performance, environmental and social fix and operations and maintenance and construction

and capital costs. this map shows the location of the future brt stations. a significant portion of the travel time savings expect friday this system is achieved by stop consolidation and eliminating about a 30 of the stops along the corridor. these locations were chosen because they're the heavily used in service so it was deemed critical to preserve them. in addition to that they are -- the vast majority of them have significant east-west transit routes so they're critical transfer point for travel n some ways the van ness once it's completed it will be like a trunk of the tree and east-west branches to carry people to other parts of the city and

connecting at these locations. a number of concerns have been raised by members of the public and staff as well about traffic diversion and left turn removals. what i can say to that is that the environmental report did a great deal of analysis and mitigate the concerns raised and as you proceed with the engineering construction of the projected we will continue to work very closely with our partners and other city departments and the public to minimize the adverses impacts while maximizing the benefits of the project. i would like to talk a little bit about what people can expect to see once the project is completed. this is an architect's rendering what it

could look like once the project is finished. the preferred alternative is center running right side boarding system. that can be explained better in this plan view. essentially in an effort to preserve median green space and improve the overall look of the corridor and passenger experience wherever the station -- wherever there is not a transit station the maximum amount of median and green space is preserved for tree planting and greening. where there is a station because of space constraints the bus lanes are forced to pull together and pull closer together to pull into the station shown here in red. i just wanted to highlight this particular location this area here and this is the transfer

point for the eventual geary brt as it moves forward and projected to one of the -- if not the most busy transfer stations along the line, and a major transit hub. for that reason it stands out as being the only block long station in the system right now covering the full length. the project is going to be responsible for constructing a number of major elements. outlined here the boarding islands and the dedicated bus ways and the medians are obvious. more subtle items not readily apparent to the public are things like fire hide drants, curb ramps and rehabilitation and sewer line rehabilitation and we are building a brt and as well as revitalizing the whole van ness corridor as part of

this project. in relation to that work that's within the project there is a number of parallel projects going on. sfgov is replacing the traffic signals and overhauling the trolley wire structure in serious need of replacement. puc is coming in doing sewer work and water line replacement along with procuring new radios for communication and traffic signal control and vehicle procurement. on the -- in line with the vehicle procurement as part of our regular vehicle replacement process the project will be picking up 38 of the new coaches that the agency is getting for brt service. 23 of those will be 60-foot trolley coaches and 15 of those will be

60-foot motor coaches which will upgrade the 47 line to 60-footers and allow for increased capacity of the 47 line. the project is currently estimated to run about 125 million in design and construction dollars. we have between 105 and 108 million in funding at the moment and that involves negotiation with cal trans and other agencies exactly what their contribution to the project will be, so there is a funding gap that we're working to close. and finally where are we now on the project? we're finishing the eir /eis, the environmental process and expect a decision from the federal government in september of this year. we've already started preliminary engineering and are

working on what the mta refers to as conceptual engineering report and essentially 30% design that will help lock down the final costs of the project as well as the total scope of work of the project, and we will be doing extensive outreach to basically everybody, the public, other city departments and other agencies to make sure that that 30% report includes everything that needs to be included in the scope of work and identifies all of the parallel projects and interfaces properly and if you have any questions i am happy to answer them. >>i am sure we do. thank you for a very comprehensive report. i just have one right away. i didn't get the you there put -- what does that mean? >> it's how many bodies you're moving through the corridor at any given period of time. >> okay. >> to clarify i think the point

in the statement is even we're taking away two travel lanes that are typically populated with automobiles with one person in them because we will have more transit capacity if you look at the quarter on the whole as a transportation corridor we won't lose capacity and likely gain capacity so although we lose some of the single occupancy automobiles we're down to two lanes each we will move more people on transit which is of course what we want. >> still don't like the word -- >> [inaudible] >> want to hear from the public first or members? okay. thank you. don't go for far. we have members of the public that would like to address on this topic. >> [calling speaker names] . those are the two people that have turned in a speaker card. >> good afternoon sir. >> good afternoon directors. i am taking off work because this is important. i live and work

on van ness. i have been transversing that corridor over the years since high school. it hasn't changed much since then. there is no need to spend $125 million to tear up the street and do something that is a disaster. if you want to speed it up make the 47 a limited. do bulb outs and save time and hold the light. all of those things are done quickly and cheaply and they're taking away several of the stops. if you do that anyway with the 47l you will speed it up. there are other problems. obviously you're taking a way a lane of traffic. we have three. you're putting it to two and one of the lanes is a throw away and there is ups, other deliveries and ga badge trucks and people backing into spaces so you're cutting it down to one. all of the side streets -- whether franklin or gof or polk street they can't

handle additional traffic and you're removing the left hand lanes. every time there say station or platform you make the traffic go along the sidewalk so that will make it a very unattendable situation and at the cafe and on the road and the trucks and cars whizzing past you. you're going to make van ness a wiggle. instead of going straight it's going to wiggle around the platforms. that is probably going to cause more accidents. you're taking away quarter of the parking. it's fully parked and people will circle the neighborhoods and add to the pollution and more accidents people not looking where they're going. i guess that's pretty much what i wanted to cover. i think you should realize these issues. that's highway 101. the single cars are coming from marin most of

them. >> thank you sir. >> that's are people not living on the street. we take bus. we walk. huge mistake. >> thank you next speaker please. >> good afternoon again directors. i want to speak to the van ness brt. i served on the board from the beginning. it didn't take four years to start like mexico city. i think i have been on it since 2007 or whatever and won't start until 2018 and a lot of plumbing work and complex thing. one of the things i am happy with we only had to add one station and found in the study they could get rid of one and we have the minimum number of staitionzs and i believe the study is going to work but i want to speak to the parking connection because the state wanted wider lanes because they feel it's their standard. it want fed to

eliminate a number of parking spaces and there are 35% more riders and many of them live in this neighborhood. some of the people will choose to get rid of their cars and these are the cars not parked in garages. these are parked on the street so we're making -- we will probably be making more than 100 spaces available. now it's your job to get right in there and put a meter, right in a residential neighborhood to preserve the parking for the merchants. the mta will do a good job of finding yellow spots which are essential for trucks and you have to help the merchant and the reason i mention this because this will happen again and again and do muni you have to remove parking and when you improve the muni more people ride it and less need to own a car and therefore you can take these parking

spaces. we gave you this right and be brave and put a meter in and help the merchants by having the meters. help the people get rid of their car. there is no limit to the amount of parking that people need if it's available. norm used to tell a tale -- i'm going to take another second and apartment house and didn't have a car and a space was available and bought a car. we are reverse this terrible curve. >> mr. chairman that's the last person that turned in a speaker card. >> members of the board have questions or comments? okay. sure. >> i'm sorry i didn't fill out a card but i just realized there were a number of questions came up because they weren't addressed. how is golden gate transit related to this? i think it's important to answer that because i take them once in a while and there are important stops there and i want to know

how they're going to be preserved and mix in with the city buss? next is it would be good know how many parking spaces are gained and lost and where? and he's talking about meters -- there are meters all along van ness. what are you talking about? the only part is north of bombard which is ridiculous to put meters because there are very few if any business there is, maybe a corner store and that's it, so i think more concerns to worry about like dealing with traffic congestion. also will you put the timing back on franklin street when this goes in place because of the fact that losing a lane could hurt -- bigger traffic congestion during all times of the day because timing of the lights are not that

good on van ness when you get up to broadway. all of a sudden you hit the broadway light going northbound, always hit it so the time suggest not good. like was said go to van ness the timing is burden. no they're not. they are up to broadway but then hit that and another light before lombard street so the timing need be improved and the traffic moves north because it's a major street to get through the city most of the time. i have gone to take octavia a lot because van ness can be a troashious. it would be good to have links on the mta website on the front page. i think it's important that everybody have access to it and maybe send out email blasts or a press release about this draft eir because it's not well publicized as far as i can tell. >> thank you. anyone else wish

to address the board on this topic? >> [inaudible] >> let's check with board members first here. members of the board. director rubke anything -- >> sure. >> anyone want to go? >> i will go. thank you chairman nolan. thank you staff for bringing this us to review and like chairman nolan i'm a huge fan of brt. didn't have to go to mexico to fall in love with it. i read systems in the usa and they're compatible and the systems are narrower and similar to what we have to work with here in san francisco. you know regarding some of the concerns that have been raised the construction and all of that is -- it's not going to be a lot more than street surfacing so the worries about that are something that we can deal

with. i really value this project because of the fact that very rarely is anybody whizzing on van ness ever and every time i get the opportunity i want to remind folks i was a regular rider of the 49 on a daily basis and still o occasionally read it and if anybody thinks what we have now is going to be better if you take out a few stops you're not riding that route. those buses would sit in traffic there. we need our own lane to win the ridership and save the efficiency and the resources that are going into and we're are effectively burning and wasting by not having better and efficient transit service there now. i am very concerned about how long this project is taking and the recent delay that's kicked us out to two years. i know there has been a

tremendous amount of work that has gone into this and the push back has come from the state from what i understand, the delay for another two years, but at the same time i am also wary of what is going on within the mta -- or the cta that allowed us to fall into this predicament and the reason i raise this is i am personally aware of the process like this on projects in the country moving faster than this and bigger and more complicated. right across the way in oakland which was significantly behind this project just a few years ago is significant ahead of this project and it's got twice as many stations, twice as long, twice as expensive, and goes through three jurisdictions. it should seem to have taken longer to do that, and yet we

accelerated over there past this project and they had their challenges with caltrans as well because it's operating on a state highway also. i understand there are values we have to trade off with respect to preserving landscaping or accommodating street widths or what have you, but i want to really suggest that we really start to recognize this is going to be a fundamental transformation of the way that transit works in san francisco and it's not going to make everyone happy. there is going to be a few break make this omelet and in commines to do it. there will be parking impacts and we can reduce those through the reduction of parking. i would go to gar deli square and have to drive because the transit service was too slow

and force me to take a car and take a space that other people could have used in the community so if we make the transit service more reliable we will reduce the need for parking and the parking is something we need to own up to and a challenge that we need to deal with and get over. i want to make sure that we're all on the same page with the respect to the community support that is there for this project and would really support this project when it comes up for a decision and i would like them to acknowledge that support. the know the san francisco riders union can't be here today because they're professionals working or regular folks that have a job and can't be here at a meeting like this are organizing their own community meetings and busting at the seams with supporters for the project. there seems to be i enough support to make those hard choices to get this

project going. we've waited too long. we need to find ways to do more than what we have or face a crim spelling of the system and i encourage them to get it going even if it means making hard choices. >> thank you. director. >>i want to echo what director ramos said. i know he has more experience than a lot of this and i am concerned with the delay and i would like this to move faster and there is the ability to whiz past van ness and it's the bus passengers and they're not going to be stuck in traffic. in mexico and riding the brt and the cars stopped and the bus going through with headways was amazing. one question. with the fine details and such as parking meters added on side streets that was talked

about. is that sorted out in the design phase? has it been addressed or as we get further along in the project? >> the parking has been addressed the stations picked up and lost are identified in the environmental report. anybody interested in the parking i suggest go to appendix and it has a block by block break down and how many are eliminated because of the project. the actual changing of the stops and the installation and removal of meters, that type of thing, is happening in the next few months. once the environmental report is completed we will use that as a model to basis parking legislation on, and my team is working with the city's traffic engineer to dra