February 13, 2007

Transportation Focus Group

The first meeting of a subgroup of the Western SoMa Task Force that will look at transportation, transit and pedestrian issues met on Tuesday, February 13. In attendance were Tom Radulovich, Kaye Griffin, Jim Meko, April Veneracion and Lisa Young from the Task Force, Charles Rivasplata from Planning, Megan Wier from DPH, Carmen Chan from AND and Matthew West and Michelle Reyes from San Francisco State.

Several members of the Task Force who had expressed interest in being part of the group were not present, so it was decided that we would hold off on an election of officers and a decision on what to call the group until the next time we meet.

We then discussed a work program and key policy issues.

Tom Radulovich described the Transit Effectiveness Program (TEP) as a citywide effort by the MTA to improve efficiencies and introduce service upgrades. Because of the potential for increased development in SoMa and the Eastern Neighborhoods, the TEP is particularly interested in coordinating their efforts with community planning efforts like ours. Peter Albert from the MTA had hoped to attend this meeting but had to attend the East SoMa workshop which was held at the same time. MTA staff will be present at future meetings.

Charles Rivasplata of the Planning Department described the SoMa area wide transportation plan that is being developed by the department. He identified four goals outlined by the Planning Department and MTA:

1. Plan a city that the city wants, then serve communities with transport;

2. Before the Eastern Neighbor process concludes, develop a scheme to comprehensively address mobility issues;

3. Work closely with sister agencies (Planning, MTA and TA) to integrate future planning. In the short term, three major efforts directly affect the area:

· Transit Effectiveness Program (TEP)

· Congestion Charging Project

· Better Streets Program

4. By May, make a presentation at the Planning Commission where issues and concerns are addressed. Working together, Planning and other agencies will unveil a detailed work program which goes beyond mere TEP completion.

Lisa Young, the Task Force member from the Transportation Authority, gave a brief update on planning for Folsom Boulevard. At the moment, it's taking a back seat to work on the Van Ness and Geary Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) plans.

Radulovich talked about how residents of specific alleys in Western SoMa might be given a tool kit to develop proposals for handling parking, traffic calming and design issues.

April Veneracion brought specific concerns about pedestrian safety to the discussion with one specific proposal for a four way stop at the intersection of Eighth and Market Streets. This highlighted the fact that transportation planning will have to overlap planning area boundaries, a fact that also came up when we discussed how Caltrans' highway system dominated South of Market's streets grid and even involved downtown and the Tenderloin.

It was agreed that a presentation from the MTA on the Transit Effectiveness Program would be a good start at the next meeting of the group. Asian Neighborhood Design was asked to begin to develop baseline traffic information and the Planning Department will produce a matrix identifying all the various agencies involved and the planning efforts underway that will affect Western SoMa.

Staff will poll members before setting a date for the next meeting.

submitted by Jim Meko, February 15, 2007