>> if i may, mr. chairman, one thing along with everything mr. mason said, that has been a very helpful tool, across the whole operation, and the aggressive introduction and improve maintenance program for video cameras. on the t-line, for example, there are cameras on the station platforms, cameras on all the vehicles. we're in the process of creating the technology for the cameras, and they have been invaluable to us, our resources to will for any operational incidents, as well as some of the graffiti incidents, some of

the other criminal incidents. one of the things they would like to point out to people is the likelihood they would point something out to the new people, it is a very high likelihood it would be memorialized in that would be invaluable information that would go on to our security folks, but ultimately to sfpuc. -- sfpd. supervisor cohen: now i have a series of prepared questions. many of the questions i have the i will be asking have come from folks to have -- who have emailed me because they were unable to attend the hearing today.

around the time, it was generally reported this new light rail service would cut the travel time between visitation valley and the south midmarket area by five to 10 minutes. have we achieved that time savings of 10 minutes? >> i just want to understand the question? >supervisor cohen: sure. >> my apologies. i wear hearing aids. supervisor cohen: i apologize. i did not turn up my volume. do you hear me ok? i can speak louder. when the t-line, the proponents of the t-line were pitching the idea, they said it would increase the efficiency by 10

minutes, meaning it would take, if you are arriving at visitation valley down to the south of market area, that would decrease the right time by 10 minutes. i want to know whether or not he met that goal. >> i guess i would submit that it has met that goal, in terms of that. i guess for the following reasons. the roof of the existing t- line, and the 15 were a little different, but the ridership in that corridor is up from the transportation perspective. furthermore, we're also position, because of the investment made in infrastructure, along the permanent infrastructure, to support growth that is invariably occurring across places like mission k and other

potential development opportunities increase further down third street. at some point, the introduction of additional rail service, with th the next phase along. most transit measures, including the ridership, the accessibility in terms of making all areas of the city more connected than they were before, is making an investment and continued growth of the area, all of which have been important. that would, in my opinion, make the project successful. from that standpoint. i would also submit, and when i said earlier the line is perhaps

the model of where we want to be, you know, the biggest complaint is travel time. why can we go faster? with the t-line, some of the things we have done, the right of way, that has really made a difference, and that has served to be a model for the rest of the system. supervisor cohen: i think what i am looking for is not so much an opinion or anecdotal that it is hitting the mark or not. i want quantifiable data. i want to know what the t-line was doing. i just want to be clear about gathering information. i am goiback and figure out somr if you don't keep records of the efficiency of the t-line, compared with what the 15 was doing before, at least begin to start to keep this data.

my next question is going to be how to the current numbers compare with those forecast before the opening -- how do the current numbers compare with those forecast before the opening? >> as i said earlier, the ridership has grown. to be honest with you, i have to go back and look at what was predicted. if i may, can i ask for clarification on what you want as a comparison between the 15 and the t? ridership is one thing. we can look it that. supervisor cohen: the nude -- the light rail is supposed to cut down on travel time. is supposed to be more efficient. it is supposed to cut down on travel time -- cut down on travel time. i am not making this up. this is what was put out to the

public when the t-line was going down, and it was trying to gather support. i just want to know if we achieve cost savings for the riders. >> i understand. thank you for that. supervisor cohen: what are the most, the highest stops. are we talking about the bayshore? i am trying to get some data around the question. >> my apologies, again. i am happy to provide that. i am happy -- supervisor cohen: that is what we are here for. sanitizing numbers. >> college and balboa are big

ridership points, as you go up third street. i can provide you that. supervisor cohen: that would be perfect. when i see some of the regional bodies here, and i ask questions, 3000 people aboard the train at the bayshore station. i am looking for that information. i want to know how many people are getting on. coming people are getting on and off at third and 20 seconds. i am trying to understand so we can make it more efficient. >> actually, if you want that, what i will provide you is that -- supervisor cohen: i know, but whafour is a bunch of circles. >> i will put numbers with that,

and you will see. supervisor cohen: ok. >> i will submit that we will be able to give you as good data as caltrain does. and we like caltrain. supervisor cohen: we need to keep those stations open. ok. my next line of questioning has to do with how does the service performance on the t-line compared to the rest of the system? what i am looking for is to make sure those of us in the southeast of the city received the same high-quality service as our neighbors around the city. if you could tell us what the hours of service are for the t- line? i know you gave me -- >> i think there are two questions. the first question is how does

the performance of the t-line compared to the rest of the city? supervisor cohen: yes. >> the systemwide average was just over 70%. the t-line was 50%. the reasons for that, some of which we talked about, are the areas of congestion -- a congestion on the ocean avenue side, the congestion around the corridor, where the best performance those. -- goes. look, if you follow some of the things we suggested, most importantly, the biggest reason on any of the rail lines is two things are going on right now. the first one is the vehicle

stopped. the number and service. in the second -- and the second is the number of opened or mr. runs because of low operators. -- open or missed runs because of low operators. when you do not put the service on the street, you have a substantial gap by . things are laid. things are slow. overall, for the first part of your question, the performance of the t-line is less than the system average. supervisor cohen: what is the most efficient line on the light rail system? which one is most efficient? >> the highest performance line in terms of on-time performance -- i am not trying to split hairs. i am just focusing on apples to

apples. that is focused on the j-line. the most difficult is probably the l-line. supervisor cohen: the l is the least? >> i do not have it in front of me, but if my memory serves me correctly. supervisor cohen: the line that has the mos>> again, if i may, , i think it is important -- week manage the system as a system. even if we do not manage it line by line, each line has issues were quirks, that at the end of the day, once the k-t line goes

into the ferry portal it is integrated into the system so that if there is a subway delay, everything is impacted. we do make some adjustments for individual circumstances, but we have to manage it has all whole system -- a whole system. supervisor cohen: that is exactly what i am trying to do, understand the whole system. who is performing best, and was performing worse? i understand there are special conditions that factor into why one line should be more slow or efficient than another. i get that. ok. >> can i just add, from a

traffic perspective, looking at los angeles, where the bus riders union, labor unions will get lines throughout the southern california area, they found the lowest in come neighborhoods are the least served. domestic workers and others had to wait much, much longer than middle-class people in san fernandez valley and other places. my hope is that you are looking at transit service from a transit justice perspective, and not just kind of decent time, but also where these neighborhoods are. looking at it in oakland and other places, i would hope that's we have a transit equity -- i would hope that we have a transit equity analysis. i really support the efforts to make sure the neighborhoods, especially in the southeast part of the city, are well served.

>> i can make two comments, if i may, supervisor. we absolutely do have several requirements for exchanges to make sure they are equitable. they are above a minimal threshold, that looks at the adverse impacts and income. the other point, just because you introduce los angeles. our service area it is 0.7 miles. los angeles is much greater. supervisor mar: there are 49 square miles, but there are lots of inequities in our city. >> absolutely. we are very sensitive to that.

if the committee pleases, we would submit any time we make service changes, the process we go through. supervisor cohen: all right. so, i am going to move into a different line of questioning. i'm trying to figure out the average speed of the t-line and how we can improve it. i want to talk about the role of v-tag. the v-tag, what is the role isv- tag in -- is the role of v-tag in the corridor? is there one in every light rail video -- every light rail vehicle? >> the role of the v-tag. it should be on every vehicle.

is a device that provides the priority for transit cars to move more quickly. is it -- supervisor cohen: is it on every car? >> it should be. i am happy to go back and check. is supposed to be on every car. supervisor cohen: ok. we are happy to let you go back and get that. >> we do not have a set of third street cars or a set of cars for the j-line, so they should all be outfitted. supervisor cohen: i see. i heard a rumor that we have v- tags, but they do not all work. i just want to confirm or deny

-- >> absolutely, sometimes we have v-tags that do not work. i am not defending things that will not work, but you do have many systems like ours. cars are 15 years old. they all interact. the v-tag interaction is the interface between two systems. i would be happy to give you a sense of the failure rate on v- tag, how we maintain them and those kinds of things, but it is not a rumor. occasionally, the v-tag does not work. then you have to make an adjustment that can delay service as well. part of what we have to do is

make sure v-tags work, that they are reliable and they do what they are supposed to do. i do not have the exact numbers, but i would be happy to provide, you know, a sense of, number one, are they on every card? they should be. i will check. and number two, what is the failure rates? supervisor cohen: if a car leaves the central station and is working and somewhere along the line during its route, it becomes effective, how was that communicated to central command? >> two ways, and it is getting better. he is not only how you monitor v-tag, but how you monitor the

system. the radio system, if they are in contact, the operator is in contact with the control center. right now, with the interaction, we're able to manage the service on a real-time basis. what that means, there is a board on the eighth floor or we can see the position of all the trains in the system at any time. that indicates to us if the system is not moving, if there is a problem we are able to immediately say to the control center, call the operator, see what is going on. such as a train standing or sitting. real-time service management, if you will, on v-tag or anything else i would describe as three

legs of a stool. you have the command center, which is the ability, the service people who can see all the trains. we had staff in september, and especially during rush hour, and they are the ones understanding if you make an adjustment, the control center, which is in direct contact with the operators is limited in the technology. you can see where all the trains are. they are at the key portals. is a shared responsibility. we're looking at technology to supplement how we do that. our management team should follow up. if we have an incident and we do not repeated, the next day we

understand, and if it is necessary to go beyond that. so -- supervisor cohen: it looks like i have colleagues who would like to have a word or two. >> hi. i am it with sustainable streets. i do not know much about the v- tag -- supervisor cohen: i am sorry. you are with you? >> sustainable streets. supervisor cohen: is that mta? >> with nt 8. i know how the v-tag interacts and i wanted to share information about that. supervisor cohen: thank you. >> i know about the detectors on the streets. it is in our sf go

transportation management center. last year we were able to upgrade to these logs. until last september when a v- tag failed, we would only know if someone complained. as of last september, we were able to add the logs, and if there is a failure, we send it over to the muni maintenance, and a repair a. -- and they prepare a. the failure is about 1%. failure does not mean it does not work. it means that particular transit detector -- it is not working, it does not mean the

whole transit areas not working. is just slightly less efficient. supervisor cohen: can you briefly describe for the public the purpose of the v-tag? >> sure. there is a detector in the pavement and also on the vehicle. when the vehicle runs over the detector in the payment, there is a communication between the detector and the traffic signal that basically says, hi, i am a train. i am at 30th and carroll. and the detectors in the traffic signal will estimate the time it will take to get their. if the detector at carroll is not working, we do not have the advanced 30 seconds noticed the train is coming.

supervisor cohen: ok. since i have you here, can you talk to me about the prioritization of the third street corridor? house synchronized? >> sure. from 4th and king down to the bay shore has transit signal priority. we have a system several signals a way. whenever ran the t-line without priorities -- we never ran the t-line without prior ries. our models show we are saving about 20% of our running time if we did not have the priority is in place. we think we would reduce our men time by about 25% by having priorities in place.

supervisor cohen: would you say that having the t has decreased the time from visitation valley to the market by tenants? but i do not have the data. supervisor cohen: ok. so, you mentioned about broken v-tags. how do we go about replacing it? >> i guess i can only talk about the intersection side. it is usually up parts -- a part of the filter that means to be replaced. if it is part of the filter, they replace it. if not, they do what ever they have to do. supervisor cohen: i of one last question. what is your strategy to limit

the traffic flow on the third street corridor. >> bonnie t third corridor, the train is the highest priority. we try to reduce travel time for transit first, and then we look at traffic. usually you have a coordination plan where each signal turns green for a certain time. you keep going. the next light turns green. we haven't set up to work for the cars, but when the train comes, -- we had it set up to work for the cars, but when the train comes, we do what we need to do within reason.

we have to make sure that pedestrians can cross the street safely. we never shortened the what. we do switch around the times to allow the travel time for transit. supervisor cohen: that is the coordination plan for third street? >> yes. supervisor cohen: ok, thank you. ok. i am not sure if you are the most appropriate person, but regarding the fourth and king street intersection, this intersection has great delays on the system. what is the primary problem there, and hasn't been addressed? >> fourth and keene is an extremely complicated intersection. -- fourth and keen is an

extremely -- fourth and king is an extremely complicated intersection. there is the turning he banged -- the turn lane. one of them will have to wait a signal cycle, which means reduced travel time getting through that intersection. is a problem. i agree. both of the trains are going on a through direction, and that will not happen anymore. supervisor cohen: thank you. i'd like to call mr. mason to the podium. folks, i am almost done. i just want to