transportation authority. i'm here to say thank you for your continued leadership considering this lp a. as the director aptly put it, it is an alternative of the current alternative. we believe it will demonstrate the full opportunity for this new mode of transit for the city brt, and not on the for the city, but for the region and our nation as we struggle to do more with fewer resources. we want to pledge our continued support together. you're the previous speaker that the item had been deferred. i would characterize that as procedural. we did receive some late correspondents yesterday and did not have an adequate time to brief the stakeholders. then the authority board will

consider policy action in the joon plans and programs meeting. and i just want to clarify that we do expect the center running alternative to maintain% throughput will have so many -- maintain person throughput. we will have some any more people on buses. the fewer left turns and signals will benefit traffic appeared thank you for your of leadership and your support. >> thank you. thank you for all of your work on the mta wit -- with the mta on this. >> good afternoon. i am the director -- executive director of walk san francisco. i'm here because walk sf strongly supports this as an elegant solution to the mta and

t a's earlier differences on how this could run. it was a mean faster public transportation through a major central corridor in our city and it is something that people in our city really deserve and that something -- and it is something that san francisco should be leading on. we are excited to be hearing about widening of this ought -- of the sidewalks so that people have a shorter crossing distance. reducing left turns. putting audible countdown signals through the entire corridor as well as lighting, so that folks can see and be seen. this is a step forward for better public transportation and, really, 21st century sustainable transportation. i also want to say congratulations to the mta on getting 181 schools sounds done since august.

it is a really big deal. i should have done it at the general comment, but i have 40 seconds. san francisco is the first big city in the state to do this. the media is very interested in helping other cities like l.a. -- is very interested and hoping other cities like l.a. will do this. thanks. >> thank you. ben kaufman followed by eric williams. >> ben kaufman with the san francisco transit riders union. i want to echo what a lot of folks have said on the ta and the mta in collaboration. i thank you for putting your head together outside the box. we wholeheartedly support center writing brt with right door

boarding. i want to acknowledge mr. wong's comments that the stocks should be maybe given a little more thought -- the bus stops should be given maybe even a more thought in terms of accessibility. but as far as projects, this is a great one. it is an investment in our future. it is a connector to an isolated neighborhood, or a group of isolated neighborhoods to transit. and it is the first example of bus rapid transit coming to san francisco and we hope it paves the way for many more in years to come. correct erik williams. the last person to turn in a speaker cards -- >> erik williams, the last first person to turn in a speaker cards. >> if we are talking about the

alternative on the right-hand lane and making it a transit- only lane, saving the agency millions upon millions of dollars for operations, i think one would think about that first. we are giving the police department $16 million to make sure lanes are open, make sure bus lanes can't follow accordingly -- can follow accordingly. tuesday that it is going to help with traffic, to say that it is going to help all of the above -- at what cost? this agency is going to hemorrhage millions. we are going to invest again. i appreciate the effort by whoever put this in again, but we are hemorrhaging millions already. we can just make that right hand lane bus only with the

enforcement that we give $16 million a year to. let's think about this. are we seriously -- and i hear from the public. i have to work hand in hand with the public and the agency, but honestly, we cannot have both. the agency has wasted $850 million and it cannot even run on time. the next question, how much is caltrans putting into this project? how many federal funds are going into this project? and how much is coming out of the operations fund for the sfmta to get this done? really quickly, on the restaurants, they were spending $500 million on the -- $500,000 on one come out. that is the type of spending that has been going on.

>> thank you. last speaker. >> thank you. i am a taxicab driver. i do not know what you're talking about, but i basically- gregg's van ness. gregg's yes, van ness street. -- i do not know what you're talking about, but i basically -- >> van ness. >> yes, van ness street. i always take van ness street from 4:00 p.m. to 7:00 p.m. the traffic light system is all the way green lights. i never take franklin. franklin is so packed. and no parking on franklin streets. always too many cops.

i take van ness only at the rush-hour. i hope you will open any bus lane said that the taxi driver can use it because we never block any traffic lane. we go very fast. [laughter] but we try very fast, too. in a collision with a taxicab driver, the first question is, what that company? but that is what we asked. we always have chinese drive by muni. that is not always fair for you. i hope the police will take care of the street. sometimes they do their job and

sometimes they do not. rush-hour, they do their job. if you look at kearny and market street and always a big line there. >> thank you. >> madam chair, that is the last person to turn in a speaker cards and it does not look like anyone else is looking like they would like to address anything. >> director heinicke? >> mr. papandreou, emasculate few more questions? -- may i ask you a few more questions? as i understand it, there is not a lot of operating budget, if any, to go to fund this. i think it is a fair question and one that should be answered. >> absolutely. and thank you for the opportunity. as what's touched on this presentation in the staff report, the lion's share of this funding coming from this project comes from our federal program.

these funds are available for this program only. they are not coming to us for discretionary use elsewhere. we anticipate no mta operating funds to be used for this project. the balance of this fund is proposition k project funds, which was called out for this plan is physically and voted on. and to the extent that we can make muni more efficient and faster and increased writer ship come out it would ultimately be a positive for muni, not a burden. it is a positive from an operating perspective. we will make sure to circle back with mr. williams and twu so they are clear on the components of this. >> i agree with that.

as for state funding, we are aware of what is going on in sacramento and there are being revised budgets floating here and there. what i will simply say to our planners and directors is, if an ongoing program where we have counted on state funding now appears to be a situation where funding is not a ploy to and through, i would just -- is not going to be updated through, i would ask that the board be updated. i'm going to vote for this program. i like the solution now you have explained it in a way that i can understand it. but i do have a few other questions. i'm very glad to hear the pedestrian in input and the advocates for the pedestrian state -- favors this.

one question i have is about getting off of church on to the 22. when you see your boss and you at a station to cross to get it, what do you do? you should wait for the light, but some people understandably run for the boss. when you look at this model, especially when coordinating signal for the vehicle, you have several pedestrians that have to now cross lanes of traffic to get to racing will preference. i wonder if this is an issue that you have thought about and if there are plans to address that particular precedent. if drivers are paying attention, they will stop. >> i think you are exactly right. we have been looking at what we could actually do using the existing tool kits -- widening the sidewalks, shortening them

where possible. people might have to cross through the intersection, but the most they will cross is two lanes. it is very different from crossing -- in-line >> and if there -- and if they are crossing more frequently, maybe there will be more awareness. i just wonder if there's any outreach to the public on it. the van ness green project, i have not driven van ness in a while, but the last time i did i seemed to recall lots of nice trees with lots of signs touting our current the good -- lieutenant governor and thank him for all kinds of green. imagine that is going to be disrupted. the trend is our first priority,

but green stuff is good, too. what is the plan to deal with the plan beds that are on the northern slope of the van ness? >> the plan retains the bulk of the medians. by combining the aspect of alternative four, we are using the traveling adjacent to the median. there are many places where the median will remain untouched. when we get to the stops, that is where we will ankle and -- angle in. we will also be creating other spaces where we might be able to increase green's base. there will definitely be some impact to the medians. we will work to minimize those. that was one of the elements behind this optimized solution.

in either three or four, the ends of the medians would be converted to busways or stops. it is a similar scenario to what we would have had in alternative four, but the core of the medians well remain. >> thank you. you said there was a concern with the center lane approach of the buses perhaps being pinned in. is that because they can negotiate with the lateral buses? i did not understand that. gregg's this is where there ought were limited medians -- >> this is where there are were limited medians and that bus was basically crowd into two lanes. gregg's ok, got it. -- >> ok, got it. the final question i have is, is

there a plan -- the last time this came up i supported the center median, which is still the way to go, i think. is there a plan that is open to emergency vehicles? have we spoken to police and fire to allow them to use these lanes in an emergency? >> there is no design that would preclude that from happening. and we have not had a detailed discussion on all that they would need. correct and that brings me to my final point. -- >> and that brings me to my final point. i think this is wonderful. the groups that have said that we have just sprung this on them, i do not think that is the case. it has been going on for a long time. it is more a question of how we will do it, not whether we will

do it. and certainly, is a price worth paying to get expedited bus service through this very important corridor. the staff and i have talked about my daily ride is the underground rocks. i ride them in the -- right that muni metro. and this, we cannot tunnelled through all of it without a massive expense either way. my closest view -- in my view, this is as close to an underground subway as we will get. it will have dedicated lines. i'm very excited about this project. it runs in the center lanes with boarding options there. and this is going to be even better in this situation because there will be signal preference and that sort of thing. i think this is a wonderful project and a wonderful

compromise. i compliment you on it and i plan to support it. the cracks good -- >> good questions as always. any questions, director bridges? >> bebb kudos to you for your team and for everybody who came up with the spirit i understand there were some challenges earlier. your bright folks and i appreciate you coming up with this. to everyone who came up with a solution, thank you. i speak as a writer from experience who -- as a rider who worked. for you to say only five minutes, that is disheartening. there are many transit riders on that bus -- it feels like an

eternity back and forth, back and forth. i know people who were fired because they were wait -- late to work too many times. i sit on its -- i sit on it still and i heard a guy comment on how slow it was going. clearly, he was a worker that was worried about how long it was taking to get to work. this to me will mean that those workers will get to their jobs on there -- on time and not have to drive the way i would have to drive and then take up more precious parking spaces and cause more traffic. i understand the time difference is not substantial. we will not turn a 30 minute drive into a two-minute drive. but that five minutes will make a big difference to a lot of people. the increments that you found,

actually, i'm thinking it will be a lot more than just five minutes. i think the times that you have suggested it. -- that you have suggested, i seriously doubt that number. i think it is closer to something more significant. regarding the operations, i did have a question, and i do not expect an answer on this right now. but i hope it is something that you think about in the future. we've got our brt running so quickly with such great frequency and then we reach a point where some folks are going to continue to move along along mission street. i hope you are paying attention to regular mixed-flow traffic when you cross market and get

back into mission street. i am under the assumption that operations actually go down, operation costs per passenger actually go down because the efficiencies and the amount of riders by u.n. with brt, and the -- a that you win with brt, and the relationship with the transit riders in other districts, it supports this across the board. they are much less stress because theyand they can get soe regularity in their schedule. to hear the operator, the president of the operators even be not supportive of this -- i'm hoping we can get to a place for they are more informed as to what the benefits bring.

i also wanted to address the comments that we will be putting somebody to walk five blocks would suggest the stations would be 10 blocks apart because she would have to walk five blocks to get to a station. i don't think anybody is proposing a system where there is 10 blocks between the stations. you would never have to walk from one station to the next station five blocks. you might find yourself in a position where you have to walk to a half blocks because you are in the middle of stations that boarding and the ramps that this is going to be a benefit to people in wheelchairs' and i

hope we can get some universal access built into this and i suppose that we will. i am really looking forward to seeing how this improves everyone's experience. i am totally a fan of this and i'm looking forward to seeing this happen and moving it along as quickly as possible so we can do it in other places in the city. we will go through the motions and put it in where it is most needed. kudos to your great work and let's get this thing going. >> thank you. it is good to have your experience from all the working of dead and that's really -- really appreciated. we have a motion to approve and a second. all in favor?

all opposed? the item passes. i think you have come up with a really elegant solution. thank you. next item is i don't 12, approving the new muni route as the met -- the mid market express. we do have a number of the public to witches -- who wishes to address you on this. >> do we have a staff report on this? let's go ahead and take public comment. >> i may need three minutes on this item. the calendar item i got only referred to operating inbound from 7:00 to 11:00 and i am questioning whether this action actually feeds the scope of the notice provided.

i would note that on the substance of this, i do support this route proposal and i think it's a good idea and will likely be a winner, but i still have some procedural concerns. i support the expansion so that it's not just serving market streets but the commuters taking tell train and the people who live in the area going to cal train and those who work at city hall and the state buildings in this general area have better access beyond the market street corridor. i still think we need a better process for proposing and evaluating changed services. the staff report i saw did not totally route costs and claims the part-time operators will pay

for it. my understanding is part time operators and other savings were to reduce the budget deficit and not to expand service. it's a bit of a mixed message. i would suggest the board asked for a report on this service combine back to see how it is doing and as recently as last night, there's a run that was not filled. i would argue that it is at the expense of existing services and i'm wondering if there is more of a priority that's going to be given to this service as opposed to existing services. i would ask that you follow bonds of these points. >> thank you. anyone else?

>> i do have one concern on this. as we look on the map where it makes its one turned a round of vision, i would ask that -- so that people can actually get on and off at that point -- the first leg of the journey is about 0.75 miles if my math is correct. it seems to me like that is going to add to some ridership there. i'm wondering if we can amend this to add a stop there and that look at it in awhile.

it becomes a self elimination. >> i think the recommendation to come back and report on this service is a good one and will be monitoring the service and is meeting the expectations closely. with regard to the addition of a stop, i would like to request rather than giving it on the fly here that you would give us authorization to go back to what the connection routes are and what the assumptions were. i know there is a lot of growth in that area as well so i see your point on that but rather than agree to it here -- i

prefer the ability to look into an old war. >> i think we can go ahead and pass this and it will give the flexibility to go and do this and look at adding us up on that. >> one thing that was not discussed and i guess that beast 60 some odd times during the year, we're going to of a baseball game there during the night time. it is a connector from civic center to the ballpark. have there been any considerations about what the scheduling of a ball game would to to capacity on line and are there traffic considerations at or near a ball game that would affect it that need to be taken into account? >>