San Francisco MTA unveils budget

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which oversees all transportation in the city, including the Municipal Railway (Muni), released staff’s proposals to balance the agency’s upcoming two-year budget. The proposals make a significant investment in maintenance that will increase Muni’s reliability, reduce overtime through adequate staffing and focus on key initiatives such as the Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP).

The staff will present proposals to the SFMTA board of directors early next week.

“These proposals represent a significant investment in maintenance,” said SFMTA Director of Transportation Edward D. Reiskin. “For far too long, our maintenance operation has been understaffed and underfunded, which adversely affects service reliability on a daily basis. These proposals will allow the agency to invest in our infrastructure, including the buses and trains, the track and overhead lines, and other aspects of the system so that we can address any issues before service is impacted.”

This budget would support an increase in maintenance and direct funds to key service initiatives by amounts of $17.5 million in Fiscal Year (FY) 2013 and $29.1 million in FY 2014. The fiscal year is July 1 to June 30.

Other key components of the operating budget proposal include all door boarding, additional safety and traffic personnel free Muni for low-income youth, labor concessions, modernizing antiquated parking policies and expanding current parking management, offsetting state citation fees and implementing management efficiencies.

“While we’ve made tough decisions in order to develop a responsible, balanced budget, we are doing everything we can to avoid fare increases and service cuts. These proposals reflect our commitment to the city’s Transit First policy and allows for improvement in all modes of transportation,” said Reiskin.