enthusiasm when she was a supervisor in those years in the 1970's when she declared the city to be a transit-first cityat was a wonderful thing because that has guided us for so many generations, and it has guided me to today that we are still a transit-first system. this is why we invest in our chances system. while we are going to make sure it is not only serving all of us, but that it welcomes in the new route we are creating that mayer brown has worked so hard to get established. now, with the help of senator feinstein and the help of so many of our delegation and state representatives, we will start and finish that central subway that will also be the complement of the third street light rail. that will be another admission that we look forward to our transit system representing, to connect up eventually to what we have already started at the transbay terminal so that all of our muni transit system can connect up to the wonderful world of high-speed rail. that will be in our lifetime. not just a wish. we are taking steps to make sure that is a reality. that is our future. we cannot risk the inabil

we do not -- it helps the city reached being a transit to first city. [applause] >> [reading names] >> good afternoon. i am here today -- i am an appointee on the youth commission. i come here today to support a free pass for all youth. the budget is tough, but we have to think about what it could mean for investment in our future. congesting, drunk driving, these are problems in our city. they are not because of cars. they are because people are not comprehending how great public transportation can be. or adult generation has been exposed to a life style in which cars are the only option. this is going to continue until we make a change right now. transportation is cool. i think transportation is cool. i have some type of fun. [laughter] this enlightenment of public transportation needs to be for everyone. i want everyone in the audience to have a clipper card like mine that has the plastic torn off because that means everyone is respecting muni and everyone is really into just the idea of public transportation. so, yeah, this will help the environment

we are a transit-first city, so we certainly don't encourage individuals renting cars and going about the city on their own. but maybe there are more productive ways in which we can engage muni around this issue, and also, i think there should be further discussions around the routes, the hours, the noise levels, of course, and the impact that it has particularly on neighborhood commercial districts and residential districts. so maybe there should be different rules that apply in residential districts and maybe certain considerations given to neighborhood commercial. i know that there have been times when i've gone down haight street, which is where these tour buses frequent and it's 1:00 in the afternoon and you're dealing with delivery trucks and you're dealing with tour buses, and you're dealing with pedestrians, and you're dealing with all these different people who are just trying to move around haight street in the middle of the day. so i just think that we have to look at it more comprehensively than just d-3 or alamo square or whatever, because i do believe that it has to be l

if we are a transit-first city we need to make it easier for individuals from out of town and people who are not like my in- laws, people from the suburbs to learn how to ride so they can see our fabulous city. this comes down to safety. we have massive tour buses that are letting people across the street at the top of the hill. and then the cars try to pass the buses while they are headed up the hill. we do not want this to turn into a fatality issue. we want people to come to our neighborhood. we want people to walk to the parks. thank you. >> i am kelly edwards and i live at the northwest corner of the alamo square. i am the caretaker of the historical landmark, westfield home. i live at the crest of three hills. you talk about how you listed the system and everything like that, that is b.s. you have not extended the olive branch. you are lying. this morning, you yelled at a guy for talking too loud. it is not only dangerous. there is a cement factory, cement trucks coming up the street. to supply albertson's. it is three times as high as you did it. these engines blow up. not to

because san francisco is a transit first city, we urge the board to undertake all possible efforts come at -- efforts to preserve federal funding. i am sure this is not a controversial recommendation here, but we felt it important to underscore the importance of pursuing that federal money given all the tax money san francisco sense to washington. we also recommend the sfmta board request from the city attorney and memo outlining the constraints on the mta to regulate or charged franchise fees on tour buses, a charter buses, a private shuttle buses, a private educational institution buses. there has been a lot of discussion about what is and is not legal for us to do. what is and is pre-empted by state regulation. these buses interfere with mta's operations. in some cases, they do not. we need to have a real discussion about a word that fits in and whether they should be paying their fair share -- about whether that fits in and whether they should be paying their fair share. we think to have that discussion, we need to know the parameters of what the city can do about this, if anything.

we hear that the recommendation is for free muni for low-income use, but san francisco is a transit first city. but this needs to be for all youth, as you know, san francisco is very expending -- expensive. this can all add up quickly. the sec lead to a crisis. san francisco currently has the smallest child population of any major u.s. city, and while it is a complex issue that involves a tremendous amount of things we can do outside of the realm of the mta, including affordable housing novel around work, bringing jobs to working-class families and other things, you know, a very small investment that we can do here in the city today, right now, is this investment in making it free for all young people. in comparison to what that can get you for affordable housing, that would give you 17. we could say to the thousands of families in san francisco that we care about them, that the city really, really wants them to be year, and we are taking steps to alleviate the suffering that they are going through, so i urge you to make a historical statement today and make muni free for all youth. secretary

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 amazin

we are a transit-first city and we should also be supporting the muni bus system which surrounds our park. we should be encouraging visitors to use our public transit to reach destinations like alamo square. the real economic benefit from tourism comes from interaction between visitors and local businesses and neighborhoods. the tour bus companies are instead usurping our residential streets to meet the ends of our business model. thank you. >> thank you. i'd like to open it up for public comment at this time. dean, followed by mali, jesus perez. >> and we'd like to -- let's limit the testimony to two minutes per person. there's a buzzer that goes off with 30 seconds to go. please try to keep comments brief, if you can, folks. >> mr. chairman, this is for all three items, both on the two pieces of legislation i'm sponsoring as well as the other hearing. >> ok. >> good afternoon. my name is deanne. i am a current intern for the community action network. i am concerned about the fact that tour buses are able to get around local regulation, because they sometimes cross the golden gate b

we need to unify our youth again and we need to be that leadership city which we are and promote transit, be the first transit city of san francisco. i know we have a great, efficient city and need to continue to promote that leadership within our peers. thank you. and i appreciate all your willness to hear us today. and appreciate your willingness to work for this and let's just remember secure and invest in our future youth as sometimes financial burdens may not outweigh the outcomes if our peers interact with each other. thank you. >> thank you. do we have any more public speakers? are i think that was our last one in which case we declare public comment on this item closed. thank you very much. you're very patient to wait all this time. we appreciate it very much and appreciate hearing from you. yes? >> i want to thank everybody who spoke and who came and left and wasn't able to speak, and all those who wanted to be here. a lot of good comment. i just want to try to offer some clarifying comments to some of the comments that were made or some of the themes that were brought up, and then just had o

while we embrace transit first in the city and it will be forever our number one priority, to the extente vehicles, at some of us have to to get around in different schedules, that we do so in the most environmentally supportive way. it is a reminder that we can get off of oil. the reason why i think the popularity of these charging stations are coming at such a fast pace is because people like the assemblywoman have done what they can on the legislative side. she has passed a very valuable law that allows these stations not to be considered as utilities. that incentivizes the private sector to join the public sector. i want to remind everybody, i know that they have this on his mind. hydroelectric power is the cleanest power you can possibly have has a source. for us in the bay area, the strongest source of that has the dam. it is the one that we value the most because it produces clean and efficient energy. it is transmitted throughout the bay area. it preserves and generates the cleanest energy. it is not only the present use for the charging stations, i believe it will also be consid

transit first has been a monitor in this city that has been adopted and practiced. in those as transit first until somebody starts complaining about parking and that it is transit last. we are happy to see a transit first policy implemented this year. we support this budget because of the very thoughtful components that are implementing to make buses more reliable, and new sources of revenue including sunday parking, there has been a steady in seattle that shows that businesses are benefiting from sunday metered parking in the extended hours. the transit riders union is behind you and we thank you for putting this budget together. >> [reading names] the last three people to turn in speaker cards >. >> i'm nathan dweary, i have been the cab business for more than 30 years. i drove a yellow cab, all of this stuff. i am here to talk to you about this vehicle for higher code penalty schedule. i happen to hold an m.a. from san francisco state and the pride myself understanding the english language. i read some of these things and i have no idea what they mean. i want to d

we are charged with implementing the city's transit first policies. there is an argument to be made that the traffic companies supports both of those charter goals of this agency. in terms of making sure that transportation in the city is safe and enforcement works to the benefit of safety and the benefit of transit. there is a nexus for the use of mta funds for the service. there is also as many public speakers indicated, a justifiable position that the city's general fund should pay these costs. that is not a decision that we can make unilaterally with the this -- at this board. it is something i have discussed with the mayor, would some of the members of the board of supervisors, and with the mayor's budget office. the challenge is, the reason why the decisions were made, the traffic company, and the way and work orders are allocated, was to protect general fund dollars there providing safety net services to our most challenged populations. the decision about mta police department work order was one of those decisions. the city is looking at the nex

and the safety of our system and other things that i think are fairly consistent with the city's transit first policy. >> we have had a presentation and two weeks ago, the vice chair close to meeting with the recognition for the interest -- will hear it from the public the same as we did from the other issues. do members have anything to say? >> i will read several names as -- at once. the first three speakers. karen olivetto, david brown, and others. >> as pastor of one of the largest churches in san francisco which requires double parking to accommodate parishioners, including sunday parking enforcement proposed in the budget would be a logistical nightmare and have a devastating affect not only on our celebrations but the capacity to provide needed services to the most vulnerable and marginal in the city. if we have to worry the entire -- it is hard to imagine this city without the undergirding of joy that glide brings to it. participants are moved to volunteer in our programs. without their help, the aid we give others would be greatly diminished. our meals program would be hampered by a d

. >> we are charged with implementing the city's transit first policy. in order for transit first to work in san francisco, we need excellent taxi service. as much as we would like to see you hot on muni, your bike, or what we need to go, sometimes you need a car. from a transportation perspective, the most efficient way for us to meet that need, one of them is through taxicabs. i think presidents chiu's experience this morning manifest that. with better service, his girlfriend can get rid of her car. to the extent we can meet that need in san francisco with cleaner vehicles, then we are achieving environmental goals as well. paul's reminder to us, with those sobering statistics, it is really important. it is not just his use of oxidation reduction reaction, which is a phrase that you do not often hear in a press conference. those numbers are why a lot of us are doing the work we are doing. this is extremely important, not just to san francisco, but to our planet. i want to thank paul and our former mayor, lt. gov. gavin newsom, for your leadership, cour

plan, the department feels it is consistent on balance with the overall general plan and the city's transit first policy. with that, i'm available for questions. thank you. thank ycommissioner wu: thank y. public comment on this item? kraska afternoon. i'm a resident of district 2. supervisor mark farrell is my supervisor. i have been working with his office and the planner regarding this legislation as it impacts the park and i read all these pages, 300 + pages and i have gotten most of my issues regarding jordan park's concerns addressed. i am putting on my other hat. i am a member of the japantown organizing committee and we had a meeting and i invited -- asked planning to please explain some of these things to the japantown team. after going through a lot of trying to get people to show up, i was told that tom is the expert on this. he is the only one who showed up to help the japantown organizing committee. he was very helpful on some of the questions we had. one of the things you're discussing today is the limited corner commercial use and in japantown, i think the legislation reads current

city. throughout this centennial year, we're taking moments like this to look back at the first 100 years. our transit system is like none other in the world, to celebrate where we have been and where we plan to go in the future. muni was a contributions to san francisco will continue to do and very challenging times. tomorrow, and unique, and the entire and she returned to the task of increasing mobility options -- muni and the entire mta return to the task of the increasing mobility options. the intrepid spirit of the people of san francisco epitomizes the city's municipal railroad and its work through all these years. while our challenges are great and daunting, our determination is even greater as we begin our second hundred years. thank you very much. [applause] >> thank you, tom. who is this a ed -- this ed reiskin everyone is talking about? he has provided a brand of leadership that will take the sfmta well into the coming years. he will be launching the agency's new strategic plan this july 1. san francisco, a great city, and excellent transportation choices. please welcome ed reiskin. [applau

in a city that is possible transit first there will be more paving and more lights. it is something to contemplate as we celebrate earth day, what we're doing to golden gate park and ocean beach with this project. over the last few months we have distributed bulletin's giving background on the draft environmental impact reports. public comment at hearing often gives little time for thoughtful communication about the myriad of issues surrounding any project. these bulletins are our effort to more fully inform the citizens of san francisco and our city officials about this project. it is probable negative impact on golden gate park, the plaza in the draft an arm of impact report, an alternative to the project. we expect a final comments and responses for the environmental impact report to be issued on may 9. we're going to be some documents which we hope you will read and keep them in mind as you read the report. we would also like to say that members of our group would like to meet with each of you individually to discuss not only the project but also alternatives whi