beeping as they get on the bus, and we could not do that without this, and in the last month, i'd think i have used my clipper card on board, on a munich, on caltrain, when i wrote to 04 on my bicycle and took a public transportation back. i have in-laws in marin. a lot of times, it is a ferry ride over or a bike ride. there is one that does not yet take a clipper, and i am looking at a gentleman whom i know what i am talking about. the key for the report. this is very good. i am a huge fan of clipper, and i think that this is getting closer to a system that i experienced in hong kong, where there was one card that would take you anywhere. thank you for this report, because it is good to see how is -- has progressed.

thank you. chairman nolan: director ramos? director ramos: everyone here thinks this is addressed, then it certainly does not need to come back. if this issue has been resolved, particularly with a fare collection, i am comfortable moving on and not expecting anything at this point. like i said, i thought it was addressed when you showed the chart that shared that debt, and that was my primary concern. i am looking forward to a communications strategy when we go to the boarding, and that might be the best time to bring this up again. since mtc is here, i do regularly take transit system, and it is a real bomber to get on and then get on board, and

then get on another system and have them tell me, "sorry, do not know what you are talking about pure " hopefully we can have this their scent. my last complaint is that that be and so loud sometimes, it really is hard on a person's years. i have heard from a few people that when they are just trying to take a casual, calm ride in, if there is any way we can turn it down area i have heard it turned it down before. it was very nice on the ears, and i thought maybe they were moving toward that, but i think it was a fluke. chairman nolan: director heinicke? director heinicke: the

complaints i get about clipper are none really, as people appreciate it. it took some convincing to get folks to do it, but now they seem pretty good about it. i would imagine also that if we were having root problems with registration on the system that we would see resulting complaints about tickets, and our proof of payment of buzzers would say that people are claiming over and over again, and to my knowledge, we are not seeing that. but the problems that you described are very real as part of the implementations system, so i am glad it is going well, and i do not know that we need to talk about it on that level. the one issue i have is that we at 330,000 daily-week day clipper boardings. am i remembering right that we have 700,000 boardings total?

do we anticipate that 330,000 number going up significantly? and i guess i am a this point a little surprised that your than half of our boardings are clipper boardings, and i am just wondering why is that? >> i believe that generally represents the best passes, so is the adults, the senior, and the young. that is a big chunk that has moved over. the cache bears on the clipper are still quite a bit less, and that is probably the most difficult, the people would pay cash because they are local and choose not to buy or because of the frequency with which -- with which they use munis were people coming from out of town. there are a couple of other categories. our next biggest category is lifeline passes, which are think is on the order of 20,000 per month. we have been talking about the ability to transition lifeline pass holders over, but the

passes are really kind of the low hanging fruit. and we have gotten our big categories already, so the next is really moving to, aside from lifeline, moving to cash bears, which is going to be much slower. >> right, and we have discussed that before, and i know you know my views. my view would be to move to a cashless system or as close to it as we can. i think the efficiency and the safety and the revenue, there are all sorts of reasons to do that, so our would just give you my reaction. i was surprised of the number after all of the average, it was still this low. i guess it is not an indication of the success of clipper. it is an indication the i misunderstood how many cache bears where having on a daily basis, which is apparently a lot, so i would just reiterate i would as a policy matter favor doing whatever we can to move away from cash there's, and it

is interesting to hear that even on a lot of people, you know, you are making more than just one trip or something like that are unwilling to load up a clipper card, and i wonder if one thing to look at there is a differential one-time affair for clipper versus actually throwing coins into the box, to give people incentive to do one-time hits with the clipper card. >> if i could, i think that financial incentives are something that we should look at. the indexing policy that the board put in place a number of years ago for the upcoming fiscal years, because of the weight indexing policy is structured will raise fast pass theirs but not single-use theirs because of the way the formula works and because of rounding, some of the adult fast pass with bart will go to 72 to 74 to 76, and the adult fare will stay at

two dollars, so single use and cash versus clipper, something that the board, that will be happy to bring for the board consideration, all the passes that i mentioned are already clipper, but for single use theirs, many of them are cash. one thing we could do is that if you tap your clipper card, it is $2. if you want to use cash, it is more. director: the reason i favored the indexing program was to avoid arbitrary increases for pure financial budgeting reasons. i think there is a reasonable and legitimate exception to the indexing program if you are making a fair differential for transit policy reasons, which this would be, so i for one

would not oppose looking at that sort of thing as we revisit fares the next time around. director bridges: i think another got to 90%, which is the best in the region. director: i know that director brinkman and i think i to eye on this. there is somebody up there with a quarter, slowing the whole thing down. i appreciate your report, but i'm surprised by the number and want to know what we can do to get that number as close to 700,000 as we possibly can. director oka: it is my hope that paratransit's can be switched

over to the clipper card also. i have been pushing with mtc since the beginning of time. we need one mechanism that works on everything, and, you know, i would love to see that before my time on this earth. i am not going to hold my breath, but we should be able to do that. chairman nolan: thank you very much. i thank you for bringing this to our attention, director ramos. secretay boomer: mr. chairman, no one has indicated an interest of addressing you up to this point. >> good afternoon, director. first, i want to wish you a happy new year and a major happy new year from munich. with all of the stuff i learned from this today, i thought it

was just like the old days, so i learned something, and that may improve your numbers. one little complaint that i have heard about, the student clipper cards, it is very difficult for people to add money to the student clipper cards. there should be a place where every mile or so on major routes where you can get off and just recharged on a monthly basis. it is easy in my neighborhood, but i never heard people who cannot do that and have to go downtown, and that is completely out of the way, so we should work on that. and i want to add my voice that we should sometime soon nubbers is still young get people to use clipper card for every ride. the advantage is that when you have your small increases, they just go right into the clipper card, and of course, you've already started to speak that if you want people to use the clipper card 100%, then you may

have to charge a premium for the cash there, and i do not think it is a problem, even for visitors, when they know they are staying at a hotel. you can seldom a clipper card, and they can go to the walgreens or something, and then you get zero cash. that should be the ultimate, so happy new year. banks are not. chairman nolan: -- thank you. chairman nolan: thank you. ms. boomer? secretay boomer: >> the board voted unanimously to settle the cheah case and

moved the murillo case to the next meeting. chairperson nolan: we are finished. >> and i win. >> it is the first time ever. >> that sets a precedent, you know. ok. >> we're going to get started before everybody freezes. we want to welcome everybody to the groundbreaking of cayuga playground. is an important milestone for us.

it was built in the 1950's and renovated almost 30 years ago. we are long overdue for the next renovation of this park. this particular neighborhood has become a family neighborhood. it is so important that we keep our playgrounds clean, safe, and fun. we're so grateful to the voters for supporting the 2008 neighborhoods park fund. the project is a $9.3 million project. about $8 million is from the bond. we're thrilled we received an $800,000 grant from the state to cultivate the open space. it has been a team effort. i want to acknowledge some folks who are here. this is in no particular order.

i really want to thank barbara, josie, and all the folks from the cayuga improvement group. mohammed will speak and make some introductions. i want to thank lizzie hirsch, richard yee, marvin yee, our capital planning director. i want to thank courtney representing the parks alliance. steve courier is here. thank you for being here. i want to thank the rec and park staff, bill o'brien, our new gardner. perhaps the biggest thank you and acknowledgment is to our beloved retired gardener at the

cayuga playground, demnny. he immigrated to the country in 1973. he worked in the law firm became a gardener and singlehandedly took over the park. you can see some of his work scattered throughout the trails and beautiful urban landscape. he crafted about 350 beautiful sculptures and characters. some of them have been safely tucked away for the renovation project. he will still see about 100. -- you will still see about 100 of them out here. you are a demigod to this park. thank you for being here. when the project is done, you will see a beautiful new clubhouse with a living roof.

there will be landscape improvements. the street behind you will be part of the park. pavement to park. i want to introduce the park champion in chief who will say a few words, mayor ed lee. >> phil has gone through virtually all of the details that need to be mentioned. i feel safer being here with the cia. [laughter] i know the cayuga improvement association was born back in the 1930's, 1937. it has been a stalwart group of volunteers in the community. i do not live far away. 10 years ago, i met demi. we did some cleanups here with

you. i recall all the wonderful sculptures. i have snuck in here with my kids and visitors to show them how great it is to have these parks with people volunteering to do special things. i want to thank you for your leadership and sacrifices, all of your wonderful years of work. the park's alliance for your wonderful relationship and support, and our arts commission. they will be commencing another great piece of our work here. it just goes to show all the city agencies working together and that we honor our parks in this city. this is a wonderful commitment. we are not leaving this district alone. you know that. we're coming out your for a great purpose. we want to show and demonstrate

that every part of the city is worth every investment that we do, a special building strong neighborhoods. we have done that correctly here. this is well worth $9.3 million. it is a good investment. we will do more. phil will make sure that the commitment carries on. we do that by finishing the things we have committed to in the future. i know the staff is excited to be out here making commitments. we are shovel ready with jobs. i want to thank mohammad for making sure that they work closely with the parks and a neighborhood association to do this. i am here to announce this but also to make sure that this is part of the long term commitment to every neighborhood in the city. we will continue this -- doing

this and doing it well. >> you talked about the importance of jobs. there will be about 50 local jobs as a result of this construction project. you also talked about the importance of art in the parks. i want to recognize the president of the arts commission. there is a profoundly between art and our parks. that is probably no better exhibited than in this park thanks to demi's great work. i want to call up susan to talk about that. >> this is a very unique opportunity for us here at cayuga park. we were called in to help preserve the unique sculptures. my colleague came out and catalog, photographed and catalog all 375 sculptures.

within selected 130 to be taken and stored -- we then selected 130 to be taken and stored and stabilize to be reinstalled on the park is reopened. it is no small feat to stabilize wooden structures in a damp park. they have to be cleaned out, debugged, and then a protective coat is put on them so they will be able to be in the park for years to come. it will continue the landmark status of this park. in addition to the conservation work, there is the new public art commission.

eric was inspired by demi's work and has created these gateways sculptures that feature vignettes drawn from these works. the design echoes of how the plant life enhances the sculptures overtime. crowning the opening day, it will have the name of cayuga on it. it will announce the injury to the park. it will be adorned with birds and wings. we're pleased to be part of a new park, new public commission, and preserving the work that came before us. thank you. >> thank you, susan. projects like this are all about

partnership. i want to call up the director of public works. we work closely with them. we are incredibly grateful to you and your staff for all of your support, the engineering work, and your assistance with the construction management of the project. thank you. >> it is always a pleasure to join the parks department, arts commission, cayuga improvement association, and community to celebrate this ground-breaking. we did relocate the street that leads into the park. as part of the design, there are a number of unique features. the first one is the living rooftop garden similar to ortega. dole be adding more green space

and areas for butterflies and other creatures to enjoy. when i was raising my children, i came to the spark -- this part many time with the kids. we watched demi carve many of the sculptures. there are many hidden trails along the hillside and all- around. those will continue. tdx will be the builder. it is a contractor we have worked together on a number of projects. they just finished the library at bernal and another library. they are a very good contractor. they work very well with the community. we have our team of architects, landscape architects, and the

whole team along with our construction management team they will all make sure the project is finished on time and on budget. thank you for being here today. i am looking forward to the construction to start. >> last but certainly not least, i want to bring up chris dillon , the president of the cayuga improvement association. they have been involved in the design and planning process from the outset. this is a neighborhood park. we will engage in our best efforts to make it what you want it to be. >> i wish i had the mayor's ability to speak so beautifully. i am going to lead. my comments are getting in thankfulness. this is testimony to the fact that collaboration among all stakeholders is possible and of the greatest value to the community. i am thankful that demi share

his philosophy of life with the community. he transformed our failing part into a beautiful sanctuary full of amazing art. he has renewed our committee and created a beautiful community in our park is treasured by the residents of the neighborhood. it is recognized throughout the world as a uniquely sacred site. his powerful design and philosophy are validated by the fact that there are many stakeholders that come to the park seeking peace, renewal, fun, exercise. it cannot be categorized. as a volunteer, i have witnessed the community to flourish. i am thankful for marvin yee's leadership. he embodies the best qualities of a civil servant. he has put together an expert team to focus on our shared vision. as a former leader, i know it is an almost impossible task.

he has done it successfully. he has made this work appear easy. he is not only a consummate professional, he is a friend in our community. because of his leadership, every aspect of the project has been blessed by a spurt of respectful collaboration. he has never wavered from the mission of enhancing our sanctuary well-respected and protecting demi's vision. i also want to acknowledge others for their many years of advocacy on the behalf of the park and playground. i am profoundly thankful to barbara and jesse -- josie the hours of hard work on this project. they have listened to committee members, they have mastered and grasp technical material. they've gone to meetings and hearings. they have made reports for our members and the committee.

they've stretched far outside their comfort zone at times. as demi's chose an apprentice, josie has provided a vision for our team to work with. barb's communication has been indispensable to the project. if they had not volunteered for the project, it would have been diminished. our community is a special part of the city. words cannot capture the magic of our part. it is a park in unique sanctuary. our community has been blessed by demi's vision, spirit, and artwork. we're blessed by community volunteers and residents. we're blessed to be served by our great city prepare to the park is at the heart of our

city. -- request to be served by our great city. cayuga cairo the park is at the heart of our city. >> let's break some ground and cut the ribbon. marvin? [unintelligible] the shovel. [laughter] are we ready? all right. [applause] >> so exciting. [applause] [laughter] >> where do you want it, marvin?

[laughter]