we knew where one might region were not able to pass it during the recession in 2009. we knew we were not able to pass it in 2009 because of the recession. mayor lee and i were a bit distracted last year. i want to thank supervisor w iener for stepping up and doing the work to get the bond measure passed. it is not easy. i want to thank him for the fund-raising work he did, for being such an able spokesperson all over the city to explain why we need to do this. we all know that in addition to the bond, your elected officials as well as everyone who's part of the capital planning committee and city leadership, we know we need to find an ongoing source to make sure the money we get is going to be a down payment on keeping our roads paved and working over the next decades of our city. we're all committed to that. the excitement of being able to attack the 800 miles of streets,

the 300 building structures, the ability to make our roads safer for our seniors, the disabled, kids, pedestrians, cyclists, and drivers, i could not be more pleased. i look forward to signing this of the mayor's new desk and look forward to working with you as we see improvements in every single district and neighborhood of the city. thank you very much. [applause] >> part of the program is dedicated to improvements that will bring benefits to the many muni riders. a key part of that is the mta. during his tenure, the bond was brought to life and successfully passed. it is my pleasure to welcome the director of the mta and former director of dpw.

>> it is like the former director gathering. [laughter] having spent four years doing right of way infrastructure work in san francisco, it is not sexy, it is critically important to the economy and quality of life for those of us in san francisco. this bond will make it easier and safer for people to get around san francisco on foot by improving sidewalks, intersections, better striping, countdown signals it will make it easier and safer for people to get around on bicycles by improving and adding more bicycle lanes, making them safer, separating them from traffic wherever we can. it will make it easier and more efficient to get around on

transit because we will be improving our traffic signal controllers so the traffic signals talk to the others so that the buses move faster. this will be helping -- happening on the smoother pavement that these dollars will bring to san francisco. it is an important investment in infrastructure. you put those things together making it easier and more attractive to walk, bike, and take transit. that is how we meet the goals set back in 1973. it is only with this kind of investment that we can become the transit first city we all want to be. i want to thank the leadership standing behind me, particularly a supervisor wiener, without whom the spawned would not have passed. i want to thank some people who worked hard behind-the-scenes to do the legwork, analytical work,

the packaging of this. i want to acknowledge douglas legg, gloria chan, and others from dpw. we stand ready to work with dpw, stakeholders, and the public. we're ready to go to work to invest for san francisco and create jobs. thank you very much. [applause] >> power agency also works very closely with the san francisco -- in our agency also worked very closely with others to address pot holes and provide smooth rides for bicyclists. we depend on the bicycle coalition and its members to give us information, assessments, and conditions of the streets. i would like to introduce the executive director to say a few words. [applause]

>> you know we will tell you what we think. we will keep on that. i want to thank the political leadership behind me and the amazing leadership of the family around me. we're so proud to be part of the bond passing. i bike regularly on 17th street. this is a very welcome news of the bond funds to repay the 17th street. it is a great example of how far our money can go. these planes were strike less than a year ago. we have seen noticeable increases in the number of people biking on the street. this has happened throughout the city. every time we have dedicated space to biking, we see increases in the number of people biking. we will see the same kind of improvements and changes in safety when our roads are paved and smooth. it could not matter more to

someone on a bicycle. the numbers of people boking in san francisco -- the numbers of people biking in san francisco are skyrocketing. that is good for our environment, public health, and quality of life. it is also good for our local economy. more people biking and walking means more people visiting our commercial corridors, shopping, eating, in the local economy. that is for all the neighborhoods in our city. there is a great new study by -- i have to get the name right and give them credit. the political economy research institute in baltimore. the new study shows infrastructure projects around biking and pedestrian projects create more jobs than traditional road projects. on average, the projects create

11 to 14 jobs per $1 million spent. traditional road infrastructure projects create on average seven jobs per $1 million spent. we are really proud of that. we want to make sure we're pumping more money into our local economy with more jobs, more people biking, and frequenting our commercial corridors. we look forward to repaving 17th street and many more. [applause] >> one more important partner. we've touched on improvement for drivers, transit riders, and bicyclist. this bond will also repair sidewalks all over the city. what san francisco is premier pedestrian advocacy organization. i would like to introduce the executive director.

[applause] >> walk s.f. is eager to see new investment in wider sidewalks and smarter street design throughout the city. in san francisco, even though we all walk, we still see 800 people here get hit by cars. that is too much. thanks to the mayor's pedestrian safety task force, we know that only 7% of our streets are where over half of all of the serious and fatal injuries occur. that means we know where to focus our resources to save lives. smart investment will pay off for everyone in the city because more walkable streets means more foot traffic. that is better for local businesses. that means safer streets for

kids to walk to schools, families to walk to parks, and for everyone to enjoy lives, works, and visits san francisco. thank you. [applause] >> i will now turn it over to mayor lee. i will ask all of us to gather around as he signs the legislation at his ne >> today is 2/3. one there.

i only have one of these pens. if i had more, everybody behind me would get one. they're valuable things. otherwise, the tallest person. [laughter] [applause] >> thank you very much. >> let's get to work.

captioned by the national captioning institute --www.ncicap.org-- >> good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen. welcome to the january meeting of the san francisco and this will transportation authority board. >> [roll call] >> director heinicke will not be

able to be with us today. three announcements, the ringing and use of cell phones or pagers or sound producing electronic devices are prohibited. any person responsible for one going off in the meeting may be asked to leave the room. cell phones that are put on by great do cause a microphone interference. the board respectfully requests that they are turned off. approval of the minutes of the july 3 meeting. >> any further discussion? >> no. >> item #five. communications. item #6, introduction of new or unfinished business. >> one clarification. we talked about this at the last board meeting and have the presentation that showed the different agencies in the region and what percentage of turnover they have had.

i pointed out that one of the ferries have reached klipper use and it occurred to me that we serve a different population, the one that has in uses credit cards with all to reload. i do not think that we can use that as an apples to apples comparison. after i thought about it, it felt insensitive and i wanted to point that out. >> i wanted to point out that it is possible to get -- when was the last time that we saw an update on the tollways in terms of accounts to validate that used tollways sums are necessary at the times we have them slated for. i am looking at tollways. i have a question, is there any reason we have made them tollways? is the traffic count still the same? >> if the board wishes, we can certainly report back on these

zones and how we evaluate the data. >> one thing that i would like to look into, directors, i would like to see what it would cost, financially, to put the program on the clipper card. we do not have klipper available for paratransit customers. i see no reason, except the cost. i want to see what it would cost to put paratransit on the clipper card. >> ok. members? ok. >> item 6.1, the election of the chairman and vice-chairman. >> are there nominations for vice chair?

>> i nominee tom nolan. >> are there any other nominations? no speeches? nothing? ok. [laughter] i will ask the role to be called on the election of the chair. >> all right. director bridges? aye. bring to mind? aye -- [vote called] it is unanimous. >> are there nominations for vice president? -- vice chair? >> this is my last year, it has been an honor. i think that in order to strengthen the dynamic of the board, i think we need to get some people exposed to it. i would like to nominate cheryl brinkman. >> and the other nominations for vice chair? we do not need roll call, do we? seeing no other nomination, all

of those in favor? >> aye. >> unanimous. congratulations. >> thank you. gerry has given me all kinds of tips. >> i would like to thank director leave for serving as vice chair in this past year. -- lee or serving as vice chair this past year. >> the executive director's service report. >> an afternoon. members of the board, public, -- could afternoon, members of the board, public, -- good afternoon, members of the board, public, and staff. a couple of capital project updates. one of them is switch replacement on the light rail lines. switches are what enabled the trains to move from one course to a different course and switched the direction on the tracks. -- switched the direction on the

tracks. mta -- switch the direction on the tracks. m.t.a. was successful in securing stimulus funding from the government for this project. this past weekend they completed the first of 19 switch replacements. this past weekend it was at 35th and 36. we will be moving through the system, the light rail service system, largely to do these. it is generally a one day shutdown that is required. we will be doing these over the weekend. sometimes we will piggyback with other construction works to minimize disruption. this is to let folks know that this is good, not and bolts repair work that the federal government in this case is largely funding, but important for the liability -- for the

reliability of the system. as i said, we will be doing it in conjunction with other construction projects, the biggest of which we have going is the church and boat project. a quick update on that, our next closure is not this coming weekend, but next weekend, january 27. we will be closing westbound market at church street, church street at market in both directions, with parking restrictions. we have all kinds of muni service, additional and enhanced, all around there to get folks around the construction of the j, f, and 22. this is just another of the plan sequences for the project, which is by and large moving along

budget and schedule. a critical junction for us. basically, nothing new to report. things are going as planned and the next shutdown is in two weeks. the only other thing i wanted to report on is the centennial. mr. chair, you had asked about this at the last meeting. a brief update. we have a communication plan for the event in terms of putting the word out about the çcentennial and orchestrating these events throughout the year. everyone, i hope, knows that it is december 28 of 2012, marking the 100th anniversary of the public transit system that is publicly -- the first publicly owned public transit system in the country. we are happy to be celebrating that. we are coordinating a kickoff event. the plan for the actual day of the anniversary is december 28.

we have one year's worth the celebration to tout our great muni system. we are coordinating with the mayor's office to kick off the event. we will establish an honorary committee to bring in folks from the outside to help to shepherd this event. we are dovetailing with other efforts, like the port of san francisco 100th -- sorry, 150th anniversary in april. we are partnering with the market street railway, primarily among others, two-stage trolly festivals in neighborhoods throughout san francisco and the fall, and through the holiday season of 2012. we will have display units that featured the video vintaged photo archives. we have tremendous archives of old photographs in the system

that our communications folks have been working diligently to archive and annotate. we will be putting those up in libraries, schools, government buildings, retail locations, and community events. we will photograph and document the great history, the rich history of muni. we have a kind of employee advisement aspect of the celebration. it is the employees today and for the past 100 years that have made me work. we have had -- we will have special editions of the employee news late -- newsletter. we will have a brown bag lunches and other communications with employees. muni was known as the people's railway. they were the first line of people to make the railway work.

we will be doing customer appreciation events, having sponsorships and joint promotions in terms of documentaries, newspaper inserts, customer appreciation days, really working with -- particularly the tourism industry and others, which you and i rely on in terms of the services that muni provide. we will have a comprehensive, wed to 0.0 media presence in terms of social -- web 2.0 media presence in terms of social communication that better allow us to reach the people of the bay area. all of us lovers of the many system, ways that were not available to us 100 years ago. as we are developing a more specific schedule of the events, we will bring those to the board for your review. but it is something that we are

very excited about. it is not every day that began to celebrate our 100th birthday. we have a great appreciation for our muni system. >> thank you. i look forward to continuing the progress reports. any way that the board can be helpful, i am sure that we are looking forward to it. it is many of these folks in the audience that make me any possible every single day. members of public, any comments on the border directors report? >> i have not seen any comments. item number eight, the citizens advisory council report, but i do not see mr. murphy. item number nine, public comment, allowing members of the public to address the board on items that are not on today's agenda. we have a number of people who have expressed interest. [reads names]

if anyone else would like to discuss, please turn in a speaker cards at this time. >> i would ask you to adapt freely the term reasonable accommodation. this problem of clipper card tagging and the stats that you get are distorted and biased, because it is all bus tagging cards. but at the front, there is often in error. i had to do it six times today. this month is the last month for paper passes. in february, 800 to 1000 people who are seniors or people with disabilities will have to rely on this. people standing near the front are vulnerable or fragile because they are afraid of being a tic -- getting a ticket, but they are afraid of falling because the boss may jostle or move. there it -- bus will jostle or

move. that is where the crowding happens. i am asking considering two things. that there be communing -- community education starting in march. if someone seems like a senior, someone with gray hair and a disability, tell them. they may not be aware. beyond that, there needs to be something done. if i get a ticket in february or march, because this did not register, i am risking my safety. something needs to be said to a hearing officer's, that they become aware. until klipper is more reliable, if i choose my safety over getting a ticket is a cause i should not have to bear. thank you. >> thank you. next speaker, please? >> jon kyl?

>> good afternoon. i am here to speak against the installation of parking meters in my neighborhood, as per the 17th consultant parking management plan. i live on the 3200 block of 18th street, between fall some and charlotte. -- full some -- folsome and charlotte. parking has always been a bit of a challenge, but it is not impossible. it all works out and we can coexist. this plan will lot ease the situation for the residents at all and it will place a greater burden on us through meter rates and finds that will come from the inevitable for getting to feed the meters. this plan does not create any additional parking spaces. but it will increase competition for those parking spaces. the initial plan calls for a low

rate meters, 25 cents per hour, with no time limit and are payable in advance. this will then buy computer usage into the neighborhood. as it is also noted, this neighborhood is richly served by transit. so, this plan will only make it worse, residents. provisions for the residents are inadequate. we should remember that there are people that work there that are also residents of the neighborhood. on some blocks, there are no provisions for residents at all. there are 10 stages on my side of the block in the plan calls for residential parking permits, if requested, but there is nothing to stop anyone from parking at those spaces. i would like to say that those 10 spaces served 16 different units, many of which with roommate situations rather than traditional families. the input outreach on developing

this plan was adequate. i did not learn about it until late in november. >> thank you. >> herbert weiner? followed by in the peer -- andy. >> i am a former member of rescue you need. there is a problem with the one california bus. sometimes you have to wait a very long time for the bus, then three of them will show up. this has been going on for some months. last night, as of yesterday, i had to wait for a very long time, suddenly there were buses following each other. i wish that something could be done to look into this. this was not a problem before, but it has been going on for about