| Muni overhaul: A hit | | Print | |
| Written by The Lowell Staff | |
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A plan to improve Muni, sponsored by mayor Gavin Newsom, seeks to
reduce service in areas where fewer people take Muni in order to fund
expansion of more popular lines. “Consolidating less-traveled routes
will allow Muni to focus on the 15 lines that carry 75 percent of its
passengers,” Newsom said, according to a March 27 article in the
Chronicle. The first overhaul of the Muni system in nearly 20 years,
according to the Municipal Transportation Agency, the plan may take
effect as early as summer 2008. Oil prices are well over 100 dollars a barrel. Gas prices are threatening to break the four-dollar threshold, making cars less practical. In the face of such rising costs, one viable alternative to individual fuel consumption is and has been public transit. However, with Muni’s on-time rate slipping to 69.2 percent, which falls short of the 85-percent on-time rate San Francisco voters voted for in 1999, according to a March 21 San Francisco Chronicle article, even that option may be impractical. A plan to improve Muni, sponsored by mayor Gavin Newsom, seeks to reduce service in areas where fewer people take Muni in order to fund expansion of more popular lines. “Consolidating less-traveled routes will allow Muni to focus on the 15 lines that carry 75 percent of its passengers,” Newsom said, according to a March 27 article in the Chronicle. The first overhaul of the Muni system in nearly 20 years, according to the Municipal Transportation Agency, the plan may take effect as early as summer 2008. While this plan might reduce service to a few areas, these changes are common sense. The basis of this plan is the idea that the needs of a majority supersede the needs of a few individuals. Muni’s problems with reliability often discourage people from choosing public transit over driving. By increasing the frequency of the 15 lines that carry three-fourths of all Muni passengers, Muni will be able to positively impact more people. Most of the consolidations are common sense. For example, the 3-Jackson will be removed, and the 1-California, which runs parallel, will enjoy more frequent service. Some Muni riders will need to walk an extra block, but this cost does not compare to the vast benefits that come with increasing frequency. An increase in the frequency of popular bus lines will mean that more San Franciscans might finally see Muni as a reliable alternative to driving. This may finally convince people to opt for the more environmentally friendly option. With the price of driving a car increasing and political and environmental tensions rising, the city must restore faith in public transit. The mayor and the SFMTA’s plan will fund a long-awaited solution to many of the problems that have kept the public from believing in public transit again. |
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