different height limit than parcel c3.1. and along avenue c, it's a little bit shorter. >> lastly on the replacement, again a little clarification here. are we matching -- i mean, we are providing affordable housing, we're not necessarily matching four bedrooms before and now you're going to be getting four bedrooms. that's not -- we're matching approximately to what you can get. because, yeah, is that -- >> i mean, we have to -- per the d.d.a., there's a certain number of households that have replacement unit benefits. and those units need to be matched based on the unit sizes. but moving forward, once everybody receives their benefit, it's more typical to both the market and what's typically seen in affordable housing. >> commissioner richardson: city wide. city policies that guarantee one

for one-on-one replacement. you're going to have something. but if you were in five bedrooms before, that does not mean you're going to have five bedrooms. we need to be questioning that. this is a city policy. they guarantee you'll not be moving off the island, if choose to, pre-d.d.a. so we need to make sure we clarify that. if i have four bedrooms before and i'm expecting that, not necessarilydy might end up in two bedrooms. >> the d.d.a. has a whole section that's very explicit about what the opportunities are. but i defer to others. >> commissioner richardson: commissioner, dunlop and tsen? yeah. just using your areas and then you use. >> commissioner tsen: thank you very much for that presentation. and you're right.

my issue is only to look at the design for development and zoning, to provide more flexibility, if needed, for the developers. both ticd, as well as non-profit developers. and we have such a need for housing in the city. so if there's a way to on the same site build more units, then i think that would be worth looking into. what the case study shows is only a change between what the cost would be for type 3, versus type 1, type 1 being a steel construction. you can go more vertical. obviously it's more costly. but i would like to look at if we are able to do type 3, which is the prevalent type of construction for more affordable housing, and if we're able to do

it within the current height limits that we have, you pointed out a case study, which has a 125-foot height limit on up with side of the side. but, in fact, there's several blocks and especially on the southern side of the blocks and the one, for instance, which -- so it's a plow share and ccbc are building on. that height limit is i think 65 feet. is that correct, mr. beck? >> the height limit on the western side of the -- the height is 40 feet. along the shared public way. >> commissioner tsen: then it steps up to 65 feet. >> 75 on that one. 70. >> commissioner tsen: 70. okay. so my -- and it may be too late for that particular project, because it's already been designed.

but we have a master plan, which has angular streets and there is a reason for that. it was the thought of the master plan to help with blocking the wind. so not only do we have a difficult angle that has to be dealt with and results in some triangular shapes on the corners, which actually does, in fact, make it more expensive to build. and if we were to use modular technology, in fact, there have been sudden changes in the building codes, which allow within the type 3 structures, to do three stories of podiums and five stories of wood frame on top. the modular units actually require more height. because you're stacking units and usually the height of the modules can be higher, which is

actually a nicer type of arrangement for people who live there. you can get, you know, 9 1/2 feet, 10 feet. and when you stack them, it, in fact, provides more sound insulation. but it requires at least 10 feet per unit. and sometimes more, because there's spaces in between. so if you're going to use that type of technology, which is allowable, and you're using modular, in fact, if it's a three-story podium, with five stories of modulars on top, you are now getting to beyond 80 feet. now from the ground level, there's not much difference to the person passing by, a pedestrian, as to what that perception of height is, whether it's 70 feet or 80 feet. it's not going to be noticeable from the ground level, which is very important.

you know, what is the experience of pedestrians. but if we can actually add another level of development, within not switching to the type 1 type of construction, but keeping within what the affordable housing developers want to use, which is using a type 5 or a type 3. so then, given the new changes in technology, you would want to have a height of more than the current 70 feet or the current 65 feet in some cases. and even just a 10-foot height, which allows that type of technology to be used, but yet get more units on the precious land that we have. so it was more just to look at that issue, as to whether or not -- because, you know, the master

plan was set in place before these new technologies have come, and changes in the building codes. and actually even now there is, you know, new products on the market, which you can build out of wood. the wood laminate, which then you can get more height. and it is just to make sure that we have flexibility in the design for development plan, to allow for us to be absolutely the most efficient, in the way that we use our precious land. and if the maximum heights are precluding us from looking at those new technologies, which i think it did in the first, you know, project -- ccdc project. they had to actually look at different design modules, in order to fit on that site. because not only is it not of same height level for all of the

sites, it's step you -- up. it's 40 feet and it goes up to 65 feet. and with modulars you want to be able to take the space most efficiently. so those are basically my thoughts on the filming. and i'm glad to see flex-zoning is working for ticd, on your site, certainly vertical is the way to go for the type of housing that you're looking at. and we want to make sure that the best for the island, does, in fact, support your ability to be able to build on the island. but my thinking on the zoning was really based on that shared right-of-way, the height limits along that shared right-of-way and then the maximum and what we can do in terms of the new technology that's coming along,

to make sure that we're flexible enough to allow that to occur. >> commissioner richardson: thank you very much, commissioner tsen. commissioner dunlop? >> commissioner dunlop: i'm glad you brought up the issues. first thing, sort of a general question. i know there was sort of a fight about height limit, not necessarily these lower ones, but on the towers. and did that get resolved? i thought we had to bring down our planning for the towers? >> no. there was some discussion. i forget what the original proposed height for the main tower site was. that was all resolved in 2011, when the -- when the design for the development and special-use district regulations were

finalized. >> commissioner dunlop: great. as far as the cost gap, does the modular help that considerably? >> yes. yes. >> commissioner dunlop: like -- >> yeah. >> i think it can. yeah. right now the comps are showing general compatibility in terms of the costs. but there's also savings. and also there's still in pre-development. so they're vetting all of their different proposals. but i think the whole glory of modulars will be to look for a true cost savings. >> and we'll be able to see a comparison or whatever. >> we can certainly ask. but i don't know if -- we can see what they are able to present in april. i'm happy to ask if they are able to. >> commissioner tsen: we look forward to the presentation in april. generally the modular projects are about 15% lower in cost.

but the modular industry is certainlier in the infancy right now. and i think what we want to do is to certainly make sure that the savings, that would come from modular, would be reelect fleck -- reflected. the cost of construction is sky-high right now. we need to find all of the ways that we can to reduce the cost of housing. >> the master. it is faster. >> commissioner dunlop: that's great. then this just sort of a -- gosh, i don't know, maybe a little from the public meeting a while back. but do we have some sort of topography map of the bedrock, where the bedrock is around there? it seems like we would. >> we have some -- the bedrock drops very rapidly, as you go

north of yerba buena island, so that the -- by the time you get north of california, where the tallest tower will be, bedrock is between 250 and 300 feet below grade or below sea level. below grade. and so that -- but that tower will have piles to bedrock. but it drops very steeply on the north side of yerba buena island. so, yeah. >> commissioner dunlop: okay. thanks. just one more question. as, you know, i'm not all that aware about costs from type 1 to type 3 and quality. is there a change in quality that will be asking tenants to accept or not? >> type 1 versus type 3

construction is really internal studs, the framing that's within the walls. and so it would be -- it would not be a differential to the tenants. so that wouldn't change the interior finishes in any way. >> commissioner dunlop: okay. thank you very much. >> commissioner richardson: just quickly here, natalie, the parcel seeks -- case study. so for housing in the presentation to tida, a couple of months ago, the average cost of one unit is over $750,000. and this is based on land, parcel that are owned by the city, like us, we own treasure island outright. so we're looking. so with modular again $750,000 and beginning here i think at this point, beginning to really see what costs are we talking about, based on the limited

amount of funding that we have. so if the going rate is 758k, we're escalating construction project. what are we looking at? is it possible for us to say at least 125k and maybe commissioner tsen here, given everything we are trying to do here, you know, making sure that we decrease entitlement and the policies, are we ever going to again be able to say 175k per unit, because at the growing rate of 750, it's still extremely very costly to produce. commissioner tsen? >> commissioner tsen: extremely costly. there's no such thing as low-cost housing, affordable housing. you can have low-income housing that is directed for those who cannot afford. but there's no such thing as low-cost housing. and that's why because we own

the land at treasure island, it is basically given to the project, so that we can meet the affordable requirements, for those affordable housing projects that are built on treasure island, which is not the case on other parcels in the city, where they have to acquire the sites. acquire the sites for whatever the land cost is, and then build the affordable housing. and so there's a great i think reason to build on treasure island first, because we certainly have the land, let's take advantage of it and then with looking at the zoning, be able to make sure that we can get the most maximum number of units from that precious land that we have. >> commissioner richardson: this is very interesting. so reality check for the city now to pursue aggressively city-owned land and definitely will be talking to the mayor and

the supervisor to realize their house, you know, rather than purchasing parcels in, you know, looking at over $1 million per unit. it's crazy. okay. thank you, commissioner. any other comments from the commissioners, please, before i -- okay. public comments on this item? seeing none. thank you. thank you, natalie and kevin. and you, sir, thank you. >> clerk: item number 6, e2 update. >> so directors, i just wanted to give you an update. caltran has been moving forward with the pier e# it, the last pier on the eastern side of the former bay bridge. and they were wanting to enter

into a maintenance agreement with tida to maintain those improvements after they're constructed and bada is proposing to fund our maintenance efforts. but because we will be coming in next month or two with a maintenance contract to the board, i just wanted to give you an update on the status of the project. so pier et as i mentioned, it's the last pier, just east of treasure island. yerba buena island of the former bay bridge alignment. and the proposal there is rather than demolishing the pier all the way down to the mud line of the bay, as was in their original bcdc permit, caltrans has proposed and bckc has approved removing the upper portion of the pier and then constructing access from the shoreline out to the pier, as a

public access improvement to bring people out on to the bay and give them a different experience along the shoreline. so this is where pier e2 is relative to the east end of the island and the new bay bridge. and this is some shots of the construction in progress. you can see they've already taken the pier down to the intended level and back to the shoreline they've cruxed it. -- constructed it. and planned view of how that will tie in with the proximity to the torpedo building and access back to north gate road. because caltrans needs to do some environmental work in the vicinity of area where the parking and bike racks are indicated, there will be a

phased improvement to the site, with some initial improvements and then caltrans needs to complete the circle, a process to come up with a proposed plan to address the remediation that needs to occur, just south of that parking and bike area. so the outer portion there will be concrete access path out to the pier, with a crushed rock area adjacent to it, that's the area in tan. and bringing in -- and then the lower portion there's also existing pump station there that's providing access, too. and just shows bed access from mccollum road down staircases being constructed by the caltran

project, through the great whites and the future stormwater improvements being constructed by tcdc to the site. and closer-up view of the plan. and proximity again to the torpedo buildings, potential to be a great asset to the activation of the torpedo building, when we're in a position to do so. i mentioned there will be a phased completion in commissioning of the facilities. the first phase is under construction right now. the second phase may be two to three years away, depending upon the proposed remedy that caltran adopts for the cleanup circle process. but again caltran is looking to

tida to operate and maintain the facility and bata has agreed to reimbursing us for the costs. initially during phase one, we're preparing an interim o&m plan that's a year tenderloin year agreement. and we would adapt that as we go forward and then moving to a longer-term agreement once we have some experience with the site. and the final improvements are in place. so as i said, the next month or two, we expect to bring to you the proposed maintenance agreement, and so it will be a pair of agreements. one, an agreement between tida and caltran, an agreement to maintain the facilities. and then a parallel agreements between bata and tida, whereby bata agrees to reimburse us for those costs. >> commissioner richardson: thank you very much.

commissioners, questions? i know you have a lot of questions. >> i think any time that we can open up the access to the water's edge and to the bay, and have that publicly accessible, it's wonderful. i think this is a great project for us. again it's something that treasure island, particularly in its spectacular location, can use. and i'm glad to see this. i have a question, mr. beck, which is there another working pier which can be used during the construction project, where materials can be loaded and unloaded? i'm thinking in terms of all of the housing housing that will b, all of the road work that will be done. actually for the modular units, for instance. it's something that possibly could be brought in by boat and to use that form of transit,

water transit rather than to bring it in by truck, which would have some impact congestion on the congestion on the bay bridge. so do we have a working pier, where it could be utilized during the construction process? it's 8,000 units that we will be building on the island. >> yeah. pier one, which is at the southeastern corner of treasure island, is a working pier. and it's in good condition. it was upgraded by the navy in the 1980s. so it's still in good condition. and ticd's vertical team is actively looking at the possibility of bringing in construction materials, aggregate for concrete, perhaps having a batch plant on the island. and utilizing pier one for access. as it would happen, monday

miriam and i had a meeting with the labor -- i'm sorry, the carpenters' union and we're discussing the modular facility on the island. and one of the things that they have there is the ability to ship modular units by water. so that is something that also we would need to study for any particular modular project working with that partner. the relative costs and benefits of shipping via barge, versus by truck. >> commissioner richardson: thank you. commissioner dunlop. >> commissioner dunlop: yes. pier one, isn't that navy opened? >> pier one has transferred to tida. so we own it. we have a commercial lease with bay ship and yacht. and they do -- so they're doing some vessel maintenance, with third parties out there.

but that is -- has been transferred to tida and it's under our management. >> commissioner dunlop: great. and back to the project on hand, i mean, boy, that does sound wonderful. and we can get more -- just more public space and something so beautiful, giving a very expansive view of the bay. is there any potential costs to us on that? or is it pretty much -- >> at this time caltran is retaining ownership, so they have the long-term responsibility. for the facility and bata is agreeing to reimburse us for the maintenance costs. so right now there's no cost exposure under the proposed agreements. >> commissioner dunlop:. >> commissioner richardson: quick question, mr. beck, with regards to the pedestrian access and some of these are really very steep areas, you know,

around mccollum road and you're going to be having vehicular access. have a special treatment to the a.d.a., how are we implementing that in into all of these plans. we had asked before, we would like to see some of those areas treated. and so i -- maybe that cannot be answered here. but again it is still of great interest to this commission. yes, very steep roads. on one hand we have bicycles, we'll have the vehiculars and then pedestrians. so in the next plan, let's try to make a notation as to how we are embarking on going to this, please. >> and caltran is providing a limited amount of parking down by the pier, as well as --

including a concrete apron with an a.d.a. parking space. an then the other thing that's under discussion is part of the operations is -- on the weekends, we've been operating a shuttle from the vista point down to mercier, the great lawn for bicyclists or pedestrians coming across the path on the bay bridge. [ please stand by ]

>> no further comment, commissioners, before i open it to the comment? and a public comment on these presentations? seeing none, thank you. >> item number 7, early in blue update. -- early in the loop update. >> just a brief update today because we are planning on starting the payments to the previous residence next month,

as mentioned previously, the transitional housing rules and regulations for the market right residents of the villages that were here in 2011 do provide -- did incorporate the early opportunity for an early payment not triggered by a notice to move in the expectation that it may take quite a number of roles before they are offered a replacement unit, and that there should be an opportunity for them to exercise an opportunity to leave the island if they so choose, rather than waiting for the offer of a replacement unit. the early in the loop would the same provisions as the payment offered in the time of move,

which is the same method of calculation for the payment and the same effect of the election, which is they would be required to vacate their existing unit and would not receive moving assistance that would be part of the payment. accepting the early in lieu would mean they would no longer be resident on the island and eligible for a transition unit or unit purchase assistance options. although they maybe placed on the premarketing list for the units for sale. that's just one of the things i really wanted to emphasize is that they establish a series of benefit options that are required to move which is the opportunity to move into a newly constructed unit where the down

payment assistance towards a new market right unit, or purchase of a new unit. or in lieu payment household, the replacement elects to move off of the island. it is a single choice of these three options for the household as a unit. this early in lieu option is like that, a household benefit. if part of the household is electing to leave and the other portion of the household is electing to stay on the island, that household would be -- would not be eligible for the in lieu benefits because unless the entire household is taking the benefit of the portion of the house -- and the portion of the household wanted to stay on the island and pursue a replacement unit in the new development, then the only household unit

that would be leaving the unit just like any other people who had been moving off the island in the past would be treated the same. the payment calculations, we have discussed different household size and composition, and only considers eligible pre d.d.a. persons in the household, although spouses, children, and eligible caregivers for household members are also factored in. the values using the calculation come from the san francisco rent board schedule for relocation payments for no-fault evictions and those were just updated at the end of february, and that fed into our timing for offering

the early and new now after the figures were just updated a couple weeks ago. so we are in the process right now of updating our outreach materials based on the newly adopted figures and we will be issuing letters to pred.d.a. households in early april and we will have an informational table set up at the april on island board meeting, and tentatively planning to have a drop in session later in april where people can come in and ask questions as well on a saturday, and then the option would be available to households beginning may 1st and ending february of next year. if we've made an election at the end of february based on continued interest to extend the window further, we went update

the outreach materials and reissue them to residents, so that is our timing update, but i will take any questions that you have. >> commissioner dunlop? >> thank you, very much, madam chair. i wasn't here last weekend, so my apologies. was there a discussion last week regarding the meeting that was on the island a week before? because this kind of feeds right into that and some of the concerns of the people on the island. >> yeah, there was some discussion and supervisor haney attended last week chop chop meeting and wait in with his thoughts. i will be meeting with him to brief him further on the transitional housing programs that are parts of the d.d.a. for

both what one treasure island households and households of the villages. we'll be going over that this week. >> and moneywise, we haven't, it was promised, it's available -- >> if people choose to take the in lieu payment, then those funds are available in our budget, and their replacement housing as part of the projects that we are working on with mercy and catholic charities, in particular will be our first opportunity for replacement housing. also, at the april board meeting , naturally mentioned earlier that we will have updates on both the shares and catholic charities buildings, but also a presentation on the first market right mac building that will be constructed.

which will be the first -- which will include inclusionary affordable units that will be for sale so there will also be future information on the pre marketing opportunities and when that window will be for pre d.d.a. households for people to purchase either a market right or affordable units within the development. >> and the affordable, that is 5% of the units on why b.i.a.? >> yes. it is 5% of the figure overall. in this particular building, we'll include all of the affordable units, so this building will be more than 10% affordable. >> i see.

there was a lot of concern from people who do fit into the market right mac currently bubble fit into market right down the road just because prices have gone so high. has that been discussed, will that be discussed, there's a lot of people who are very concerned on the island. >> for the pred.d.a. households that are offered replacement housing, their rent will be tied to their current rent, so they will not see a big change in their rent for their households. >> and purchasing a certain amount of people might have been able to afford it five years ago , we really have no idea right now is that kind of true.

>> and we don't have control over the market cycle. >> we just don't have any figures from t.i. c.d. on the purchase pricing. >> maybe we can talk later about last week's meeting. i'm so sorry i missed it. >> i have some questions. from the last meeting, and i know commissioner dunlop, yes, you were absent, staff provided the outreach and it was quite impressive. we had indicated all along that it is very important and you are doing a great job out there and you need to demonstrate that because sometimes, especially when we have a new supervisor and nailed this matter now, is nearing conclusion, which started this outreach years ago and listed a consultant to help us, and every meeting we have had a tighter regular meeting

and also in the infrastructure transportation, we will be asking for updates on this. that was very informative, and i'm sure that the supervisor has one. in fact, i would think that knowledge should also be available to tenants. sometimes you can have 200 households, all it takes is one or three people. they will show up and say no, they didn't hear anything. we know it is unfair, but at least you can produce and say, this is what we have. we have all these opportunities, and we are still engaging with them. so that's going to be very important. secondly, a lot of misconception that's why when we engage the public, give the history for treasure islands. no one on treasure island has been evicted. in fact, the truth and mercy generosity of san francisco,

they set aside some of the tenants, they called them pre-d.d.a., about 200 of them, and given them generously with the benefits that we are talking about here. nobody should be entitled for anything but the city of san francisco is very important. when we go out there and we talk and we talk about a supervisor and we keep keep them up-to-date because they do not know, because the residents are doing this, and we do not explain it, even to the press and everyone. what happened is we keep passing misinformation down the line, that is not what is happening here. other things that i need to do here is that -- we need to define what we mean by caregivers, and we see all the documents and we know it is very important when we communicate that people know the composition

and the household. san francisco has a policy that is set aside and we are bound by as a sitting agency for public housing tenants. there is a lot of policy in there. we need to define that because we are still bound by that. although, these issues that i have, are we making available to the pre-d.d.a. households about housing opportunities in san francisco? they're also san francisco residents. as you see now, they have their names and everything should be in there. why? to develop. again, we have all the restrictions. if i'm looking for it, and san francisco is developing everywhere, they should also be aware of that because there maybe a percentage that are not

going to be waiting for many years more before we complete the funding and get things done. i want to make sure it is great to be treasure island and housing is in there so we let them build. there's all this opportunity in san francisco, don't put your eggs in one basket. i think we can own that. at the end of the day, they have all of these options and to utilize, to stay on the island or move out of the island based on their needs. again, i wanted to put that out there. so basically that is what we are doing here. so make available the outreach so that everybody has access to that. i think it will be very helpful for all of us here. the staff did a great job in updating that log, and we need to continue to update that.

i noticed that the outreach was to june, it precludes all of these other discussions somewhere. today we talked about that, we talked about that last week for the city. there should be another log attached to that so people can see the breadth and scope of how much time we have devoted to this particular issue than any other issue. believe me, it will happen at some points. down the line and a few months, you will read about it, and even the media are inquiring about this particular process. we better be getting all of the information to them so they understand before any misinformation is published. we will say it right here. no other comment from the commissioners, let me ask the public. do you have any other further comments on this matter?

next item on the agenda, please. >> item number 8 is discussion of future agenda items by directors. >> okay. , a couple of things. commissioners, please jump in this laundry list. we need to have a presentation on the m.t.c., an update on the bicycle bridge that is westbound that it talked about. it would be great to bring them back to the questions. i think it maybe time for an update. t.i. m.m.a., i think they need to come back. and we have a new supervisor now , and we need to re-energize the discussion all along because 2021 is the first housing on the island and we still have no

results. timma issues a lot of information out there, and it maybe possible if we educate the supervisor that they should be going to the legislature. t.i. d.a. is only do compliance here, this matter was mandated by the state, again, based on the reality for treasure island, not being accessible from the bridge, and that we are going to have to buy a fairy. and the city and county of san francisco would not buy that unless there was a toll, and unless they wanted to revert back to cancel the toll and purchase a fairy. i think let's talk about that right now and we need to jump on this discussion. and issues regarding water transportation in general, i think for 2019, tida would like to be involved in the overall discussion so we might be

ringing this back for further discussions. anything as you would like to put on the agenda for consideration? okay. >> two quick things. to matt and the pole -- timma and the pole got a lot of things excited. perhaps that can be a citywide cause because it is a citywide benefits. just looking towards the future, secondly, the issue about the testing, and so if we could have some information as soon as it's available, we don't know about treasure island, but certainly there has been some conversation

about the company over hunters point. we do have some information, and certainly not before. >> thank you so much. thank you for joining us for your time. thank you to all of our guests and the staff today. this concludes the, is that correct, meeting. see you next time. thank you. [♪]

>> thank you all very much for coming out on this rainy san francisco day to help us celebrate a landmark project for the people of this city. my name's ed reiskin. i'm the transportation director here in san francisco, and really glad to be able to be here today to celebrate long-planned improvements for one of the most important corrid corridor in our city. it was more than 30 years ago that some folks were looking at our city and thinking about the future of it and back then identified the geary corridor as one of the most important corridors for transit in our city looking forward into the future, and they were right, because fast forward 30 years

later, the geary corridor is one of the highest if not the highest bus ridership transit corridor in the western united states. it's -- you have -- it's pretty impressive. it's alone -- if the geary transit were its own transit, it would be among the largest transit systems in the bay area, so the folks back then had it right when they recognized the importance of the geary transit system to san francisco. so fast forward to today. we at the sfmta have been maded improvements over the years within the constraints of the street as it is to try to add more service, to try to improve the service. but the project that we're breaking ground on today really takes that a quantum step forward in terms of not just making improvements to muni but also upgrading the infrastructure, modernizing the infrastructure and making the street safer, which is really

pulling together a number of different city priorities and bundling them into one project here that we're breaking ground on today. that kind of project, hitting that many city policy goals, doesn't just happen. it takes a lot of work from a lot of leadership, a lot of our community partners. you'll hear some of them speaking today, but it also takes policy and political leadership, so i want to acknowledge the sfmta board of directors, our chair heinicke and director torres, art torres is here. it takes the board of supervisors who sit as the transportation authority board, and vallie brown is here, the supervisor from this district.

it takes leadership from the top, and from the time she took office, three priorities of the mayor have been upgrading muni, and making our streets safer. it wouldn't be the same without here, so please join me welcoming our mayor, mayor breed. [applause] >> the hon. london breed: hello, everyone. exciting day to be here. every time i come to the neighborhood, i think about my childhood, and i actually grew up right down the street. and we used to take certain routes when we were kids. we would hangout -- i mean, i went to rosa parks elementary school, but we would hangout and jump the fence and play on the playgrounds. then, we would walk across geary beforehand, and we would not necessarily walk across the lights. i think the video game frogger

was probably designed because we would leapfrog through the streets which were definitely not safe as kids, and that's why this project is so important. we would head over to japantown and hangout at japantown bowl. and back then, things were a lot different. we had fun as kids, but we got into trouble probably some here and there by crossing the streets where we shouldn't have, and we really want to focus on trying to make san francisco a better, more safe place, and make our public transportation system a lot more reliable than it had been in the past. i think about, you know, just what we've been able to accomplish in this community. you know, a lot of great improvements in our public transportation system. in fact, when i served on the board of supervisors, because there was a geary limited, which is now the geary rapid.

i didn't understand why the fulton and the 510 and all these buses that came between the west side and the east side transportation, why we weren't thinking more about our transportation systems and thinking more about the 510-r. thank you to the sfmta because it's been a great addition to our public transportation system. but i also think about the past. if we had built all of our transportation systems underground, it would be even a more amazing system with not only better transportation but safer transportation. this project today as we break ground on what i think is going to make such a significant impact on this community but also folks who live in the west side of the city, people who rely on the 38 geary, whether it's the rapid or the regular 38 geary, to get to school, to get to work, to shop, and to do

the kinds of things that so many people want to do on our public transportation system. providing the geary b.r.t. i think is going to change how people are getting around, making it a lot more efficient and making our public transportation system much more reliable than it had been in the past, and that's what this project is about. it's also about safety and improving access to our public transportation system for people who are seniors and those with disabilities. i know that this community wanted to save the laguna street stop because we have a lot of seniors who use that stop, and going up and down the hills are not necessarily an easy thing as you get older, and we were able to do that because of this community. we also know the laguna street -- the webster street

bridge is something that was important to this community and particularly to the rosa parks elementary community. so we've been able to do things and making sure your voices were heard as we move forward public transportation here in san francisco for all residents. so i'm excited to be here today because this is a long time coming. yes, when we did the central subway, and we visited the -- there was this big machine called big bertha, and we got a chance during that ground breaking to write, you know, messages on big bertha, the -- what do you call it, the thing -- tunnel what? the tunnel boring machine, the thing that's driving the hole underneath the ground, and i wrote on big bertha, see you on geary boulevard. well, my dream project is to go underground on geary boulevard,

but the money is not necessarily this to do that. but we're doing the next best thing. we're providing bus rapid transit service on geary boulevard with the goal of improving public transportation on one of the busiest corridors of our city. it's going to make an impact, and i'm excited because it's going to be a challenge. congestion is a problem in san francisco. people are frustrated. there's a lot of construction that's happening. and what i want people to know is i gueet that we have challenges, and we're going to be doing some short and long-term fixes to address those challenges. but just imagine before any of us was born, some of our leaders made a decision to go underground then and were inconvenienced at that time how we would be dealing with a better transportation system

now. we have to make some tough decisions to improve transportation for future generations. that's what this is about, improving our system for the future so that the future generation of san franciscans are not pointing the finger at us and blaming us for not doing the right thing and making our system better for all of us. i also want to take this opportunity to talk just a little bit about safety and safety on our streets because we know, sadly, more recently, there have been a number of fatalities that have happened because of collisions. and part of what we need to do, yes, is improve our public transportation system, but more importantly, improve our infrastructure so that people are safe on our streets. and also one of the things that i am pushing for is making sure that our police department, they're issuing more citations for those drivers who are basically creating a bit of a

nuisance on our streets, the people who are driving too fast, and that is just really a problem. so i know none of us want to get a ticket, so i want you all to slow down. people are walking, people are riding bikes. seniors are trying to make it across the street and may not make it across before the light changes. we have to do more as a city to protect residents, and that means making improvements to our infrastructure and holding people accountable who are out there, creating challenges on the road. not an easy thing to do, but a necessary thing to do as we improve our infrastructure. i know congestion is frustrating. i know that people want to get from point a to point b, but i ask you to be patient with us. i ask that you slow down, and i ask that you continue to support these projects that are going to make our city better, make our public transportation,

and make our city safer in the long run. with that, i want to introduce someone who has had an important role in helping me who, when i was on the board of supervisors, we were able to secure funding for this project, as i said, we were able to save the webster street bridge, and we were able to save the laguna street stop. and as someone who has played an important role in this community and all the challenges it's faced in the past and will continue to face in the future is your supervisor, vallie brown. [applause] >> supervisor brown: i just want to thank everyone for being here today. i also would like to thank the rosa park elementary school. mayor breed, you missed their performance, and that would have been your favorite part of this. that was an -- amazing. i usually don't quote famous figures, but i think mark twain

has a good quote for this particular day. good things come to those who wait if you don't die in the meantime. and i think a lot of us have a few gray hairs since prop k passed in 2003 for the b.r.t., the geary b.r.t., but here we are, and i'm really excited about this, and i'm really excited to look around the room and see so many people that were part of this process. and i know i've talked to a few of you, and you all remember the meetings that we would have year and year, and they were up in the cathedral, and i think someone reminded me, one meeting -- community meeting, someone stole the comment box. so -- yes, yes. so this has been a journey. but i'm very excited about this project.