Richmond District residents are going to have more transportation choices in the next few years, including car, bicycle, electric moped and scooter-sharing services. In a district with so many senior citizens this has some worried.
The SFMTA’s board of directors voted unanimously to approve the Geary-BRT Phase 1 plan as recommended by staff. The plan allows vehicles with 10 or more passengers to use Muni transit lanes and eliminates the #38-Geary Rapid stops in both directions at Geary and Spruce.
The GBRT would strip Geary Boulevard of its traffic islands and trees and replace them with long stretches of bus-only lanes, painted red, along much of the major transit artery for the Richmond. An average of 52,000 passengers use the #38-Geary bus line daily.
Opponents of the Geary Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) project planned for Geary Boulevard released in May the opening arguments in a lawsuit filed against two San Francisco transportation agencies to derail the BRT.
Experts in various transportation modes came together at a Planning Association for the
Richmond (PAR) forum to discuss the future of transportation.
Lately, I have been wondering why the city’s transportation agency has been running
roughshod over merchants and local residents across town, and acting in total disregard
for the wishes of most San Francisco residents.
Whether it’s the Geary Bus Rapid Transit (BRT), or the L Taraval streetcar line, the public
and local merchants are ignored as being minor disruptions to the agency’s self-proclaimed higher ideals.
The Planning Association for the Richmond’s (PAR) bylaws set out its mission, which is to
develop and implement policies for the maintenance and enhancement of the physical
and social dimensions of life in the district.
In the ballot pamphlet supporting their position, the 10 supervisors said, “Proposition E
will make Muni much more accountable for service delivered. It will take strong steps to
reduce traffic by finally making transit a real alternative to the automobile, and it will
ensure Muni is fully funded to meet the City’s transit needs for years to come.”
None of those goals have come to pass.
