they have found it this way, and working with us and freeing up their resources to help establish a mission neighborhood district center and having a nonprofit host their pre-apprenticeship program, they are providing financial resources as well as their apprenticeships rules directed program. we have done this the right way. i know everyone put a lot of valuable time into making this sunrise and putting all the funding together with the various departments coming together. what we have in store will cover 175 blocks in the city. the most gritty, i get the most sensitive ones that are commercial -- the most ready,

yet the most sensitive ones that are commercial corridors in the city. they have already been through the hiring process. these individuals a proven they want to show up to work. it is a world-class economy, and to let folks know the folks who will be cleaning streets, removing stickers from polls, cleaning graffiti, i want you to know, you are part of a world- class city. you are part of a work force that keeps our world-class status here. i do not want you to think you are just part of a street cleaning program. you are not. you are part of a world-class city. just like the labor union, the department of the environment. we take pride in connecting everyone up. it begins in our neighborhoods. but it ends with the whole

city's world-class status. and we could not do this without everybody feeling the same y. they are part of the work force, some 26,000 people that served in the city, and they are part of a world-class standard. so, i want international tourists to be visiting this restaurant and to know that it was part of sf shines, part of a program at the neighborhood level, but they have world class people to serve them better part of our revelation of businesses along the first street corridor, and i am so proud to be down here to kick this program off with supervisor cohen, knowing that it has the world-class touch to let. we have been feeling isolated, disconnected. we do not want that to happen.

we want to make sure that those on third street feel a part of the. we did this with the renovation of the t-line. it is an old promise, being led by new leaders like malia cohen. thank you for all the departments of come together on this. we have been talking about this for many months. especially last year when the budget had to be cut for the corridors program. we said, we are not going to let that stop was. mohamad talked about this, saying, how are we going to restore pride? we have to do it through at job creation. have to do it the right way. everyone has had combined efforts. even the puc, with their money,

they know keeping track out of the water drainage system, that will all flow in when it is raining, they will be a better performing utilities commission on this. so, they put their money in. everybody has done is the right way. mostly, i am proud of all of the residents here giving up hope that they can have these jobs that are modern jobs. with that come my congratulations to everybody. congratulations to all the department's. -- with that, my congratulations to everybody. all the 175 blocks to bring all level of planning, and a level of civic pride. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, mr. maher.

he kind of breeze over it, but i do want to note -- when he took office, he was facing a more than $300 million deficit he had to close. building the budget, he was focused on cutting in a way that was responsible. but it was mostly a cutting exercise. when we went to him and said, we actually need to grow, sir, it took a lot of courage for him to make an investment as part of this budget. which he did. that, you could say, was may be the easy part. he proposes the budget, and then he has to turn to the board. the board was faced with a lot of demands for a small amount of resources. supervisor cohen was a great leader. they saw the value in this investment. investing in our neighborhoods, investing in our people be buying -- investing in our

people. so, i do not want that to be lost in the fact that the mayor and the board have taken a courageous steps in making those dollars available. representing the board today, we're in her district, you're great supervisor, supervisor melia -- supervisor malia cohen. supervisor cohen: i want to talk about mayor lee. he is so may your role now. there was a time when he would go to the microphone and say two or three sentences. those days are gone. he took all of my talking points. i want to commend his leadership in office, what he has been able to to. he has honor his commitments. everything he said he is going to do, he has done.

i just want to also acknowledge -- thank you for being a business on that the third street emerging corridor. you've made donations for a lot of our meetings. this is a beacon of hope. we are not stopping here. we are working along the third street corridor. steps that we are taking today are going to assure that folks who come to san francisco are going to come along the corridor and shop and spend their money and be able to see and feel the committee -- the community we have here. we will not be deterred by negative energy. we will continue to move forward in bill. i am glad to see the bayview

here. it is today we kicked off the ambassadors program. -- yesterday we to adopt the ambassadors program. the commitment we have to the community is on wavering. we are going to be here. i will be here with the department heads the banking or screaming, they will be here. hello? 35 members. this is local hire at its finest. at one to introduce vivian. everyone needs a visionary. everyone needs a visionary on their team. she runs the sf shines program. i also want to acknowledge our third street management corridor. we and many partners year that will make this community robust

and drive. with other partners. we have these san francisco housing development corp. i could go on and on. it is important that we continue to show thankfulness and a strong sense of gratitude. we do this work on a daily basis. i want to come out here and reiterate my commitment. is on wavering. i will be here in good times and bad. i will bring it the mayor and everyone else with me. i want to let them know the role they are playing along third street is important. you are, in many ways, the ambassador. it is important we keep the bayview clean and make it sparkle and shine. when we start to see pieces of trash, that sends a message to the residence that we do not care. today, we are watching and we

are taking back third street. like i said, one block at a time. thank you, everyone. >> thank you, supervisor cohen, for your leadership. i will not be coming kicking and screaming. and just so you know, the mayor already gave me your list of concerns about the muni coming through your district. the supervisor talked about this program, and putting folks to work is really resuscitating a program started years back. the reason why this is called a partnership is because it is not just about the city coming in and clean. is about a partnership with our businesses and residents in these corridors. in each one of these corridors, we work hard to establish relationships with the merchants to help educate in terms of responsibility for

keeping the city clean, and to work with them to find out what we needed to jointly, collectively to make the city as beautiful as it is, to make it the world-class city the mayor spoke about. we have a great partner right here in the bayview. i want to ask a representative -- she goes with the bayview renaissance center and the bayview merchants association. >> good morning, afternoon probably now. thank you, ed. i am the vice president of the bayview merchants association. as you ever heard from the mayor and ed and are supervisor, revitalization is about a lot of things. is about a lot of moving parts. is about a lot of relationships and things happen

simultaneously. the work we are doing with the apprenticeship program, the things we're doing as bayview merchants, we are a robust group, and the work that the redevelopment agency and the mayor's office is doing with sf shine, all this work happens together. malia also referenced our community partners. revitalizing neighborhoods means all that were. and growing up, our mothers and fathers told us to where our best to sunday church. -- wear our best to sunday church. how things look matter. people need to be proud of how they look. vivian, we love you. this sf shines program is vital.

you have appetizer's for as -- for us. we have merchants available. wheat thank you so much. this program, the work we are all doing together is going to make as the thriving bustling commercial corridor we want to be part of. i want to thank the mayor's office and dpw. thank you to james. we will continue to do the work. thank you. [applause] >> thank you. so come that you have heard from the people who brought the

leadership and the vision and the means to implement. now i want to give you an opportunity to hear from someone on the ground. from someone who knows what this work is, what it means, how important this is typical of this city. someone who has been part of the dpw family. >> thank you. good morning. dpw. i am going to talk about my experiences as dpw. it gave me an opportunity. i've learned a lot of things to the corridor. i have also -- we just came up here. while. would put some decomposed granite in these bottles, and came out with some volunteers,

and we weeded out the trees and all that stuff, but this has been a great opportunity. i will soon be graduating. when i came in, i was a 99-16. these guys are in the prince -- are in the pre-apprenticeship program. i took pride in my job. sometimes it would be tedious work. i would come out and work hard. you could see the merchants, the merchants will criticize you one way or another. if you are doing a great job, they will say, hey, you are doing a great job, give you a soda pop or water. if not, they will also write in and say, hey, this guy is not doing the job. i have enjoyed myself year. seeing everybody speak, this is

a tough act to follow, you know? they also good and positive things. i will say, let's keep san francisco green and clean, do our best as partners in the city, and just keep up a good job. thank you. [applause] >> could not have said it better than that. i want to make sure we acknowledge different people. we have melanie nutter, mitch salazar. he is going to be on the ground. mohammed nuru. this is a great new way we are

partnering together. i want to look knowledge the mta, the puc, the office of work force development. thank you for the work you're doing in our neighborhoods. the partnership of the police department, making sure we are all safe. and finally, again, supervisor cohen and mayor lee. thank you. >> san francisco's buses and trains serve many riders who are

blind or how low vision. muni is their lives line to get around. simple act of courtesy can help them access muni services safely. it is not just courtesy. it is the law. >> i used to take the 21 airlock. >> lot of times, when i would be waiting at the bus stop, the door would open and the driver would announce the bus line. >> 71. >> it is easier and preferable when a driver sees someone who is obviously visually impaired if they stop in front of me and say "this is the 71," "this is the seven." >> our buses are setup to announce the lines when we pull up. when i see a customer with a guide dog or cane, make sure i let them know what line i am.

>> every time i get on the bus, i tell the driver where i need to get off, even if i think there digital voice system is going to announce that. just so they know in the event that it is not working. i would say a good amount of the time, i do get acknowledgment, actually. >> good morning. >> morning. is your announcements system working? >> i'm sorry, it is not. >> could you let me know when we get to van ness and sacramento? >> i sure will. >> i have had a number of drivers be really helpful in terms of getting passengers to move down a few seats so i can sit in the front. >> can somebody give this lady a seat? >> the bus driver was say, "please wait a moment. i want to make sure you have a seat." and i hear him or her announced that he needs a seat for a person with a disability. >> as soon as the person gets on the bus, i ask the passengers if we can have a seat for this

person. >> anybody help us? thank you, sir. >> thank you. >> sides, federal law requires that the customers give their seats to the elderly and disabled if they should need it. >> buses should stop in zones that can accommodate multiple lines will stop behind one another. i cannot see what bus is behind -- i'm not even sure if there is a bus behind. the second bus does not come up to the front. oftentimes, it has caused me to be passed up by bosses, by trains, and again, it makes me late for appointments. it makes me late for my job. >> i'm often anxious that i'm going to miss the bus that i need, simply because i'm not fast enough to scamper down and find out which bus is lined up behind the bus that is currently

in front of me. what i'm going to work and i take the van ness street buses to work, sometimes, one of them will pull up right next to the other one. not in a bus stop, but parallel to it. and i do not know it is there. i also do not feel comfortable walking out into the street. >> is that my boss over there? i think that is my boss -- bus. i'm going to miss it. i don't know how many times i have missed buses because of this. >> i do not double park. it is not safe for our customers, and especially the visually impaired. anything could happen, and it is muni's policy not to double park. normally what i do, if i can safely go in behind, i pull in the zone, offload my customers, load the customers that are

waiting for me. when the bus in front of the leaves, i will pull to the front for the customers that did not see me. >> sometimes, the bus pulls up, and there is stuff in my way because the boys -- bus has not pulled up right in front of me. i have to figure out how to get around or through. i have to navigate through all of that in order to get onto the bus. >> when i pick up a visually impaired customers, i like to pull up right in front of them, make sure nothing is in the way so they can walk right on the coach. >> okay, take one big step forward. >> when i drop off a visually impaired customers, make sure you do not pull up at the shelter. you want to give them a straight shot so they can go to the left or the right. you want to pull in front or behind the shelter. never around any trees or pose.

i usually let them know that they have about 10 feet before you. a straight shot, and wallace 10 feet away, and they can make the decision what they want to do from that point. every now and then, and visually impaired customer wants to be dropped off right at the shelter. so they can go to the left or the right from there. >> ok, you want to take one big step when you step off. the shelter is straight ahead. >> if i get on the bus and asked a bus driver to please tell me when to get off at seven straight, the bus driver very often will tell me to just look at the sign, and i will say that i cannot see the sign because and visually impaired. sometimes, the bus driver gets it. some of the time, the bus driver does not get it at all. it is really difficult when you do not see well to understand where things are. it is one of those issues where people do not see it from the

outside. so when they see me having problems stepping off of curbs or stairs or running into the side of a building or things like that, it would appear to them as though maybe i had been drinking, but the problem is that there is no contrast between a great building and a sidewalk. >> it is difficult for some drivers i think to understand that i am blind. although i may look like i'm getting along very well, and it did happen to me on several occasions with drivers, questioning my ability to see. they would say, "well, you really are not that blind." not only is that infuriating, but it is just something that cuts to my core. >> there are times that visually impaired customers get on the bus, and they are moving so well that makes me wonder how blind they are, but that is not for me to decide. i'm just here to take them some

point a to point b safely. >> i moved all the way across the country specifically to live in san francisco because i knew they had great public transportation. i had the greatest interactions with muni drivers because i was thrilled to be on a bus and be able to get some more independently. i think the drivers can really feel proud that they are making people's lives possible in a way that it is not possible in other parts even of this country. >> the americans with disabilities act of 1990 is a wide-ranging federal civil- rights law that prohibits discrimination against persons with disabilities. title two of the ada addresses access to public services, including public transportation for persons with disabilities. tips for respectful communication for people with disabilities brochures are available. call sfmta accessible services

at 415-701-4485 for copies.