10 7 / 2008

When the TEP first started examining ridership patterns across all muni lines, I was really stoked that the MTA was undertaking such a project. Most of the routes and schedules are based on patterns last analyzed twenty or thirty years ago, and obviously population and usage has changed significantly in that time. And I think the TEP has done a really good job of attempting to solicit input from the stakeholders; I personally have been to at least three open meetings and participated in one of the ridership surveys (on the J line in September.) However, now that they’re beginning the process of implementing changes based on their findings, I think we should expect more of this kind of friction from the vernacular users. Muni booster though I am generally, I was personally irked by proposed changes on the 6-Parnassus (my pet line, the closest to my house, my one-shot route to the boyfriend’s place, my ski-lift up the hills of Ashbury Heights) and I couldn’t help but feel that for all their effort, the TEP had failed to capture the essence of the 6’s usefulness to its core body of users. And this is really the problem with community based planning: getting the people who will really be affected by changes to speak up and weigh in. I know for a fact that many of my neighbors were oblivious to TEP intervention on the 6, and most would have blown off opportunities to speak up regardless of how aggressively the TEP had solicited them. And of course there are limits to the resources any government body can expend, and certainly can’t be expected to go knocking on doors asking “Excuse me, may I ask you some detailed questions about how often you ride the bus, to and from where, and what times?” So I feel for these Glen Park residents who will be that much more isolated for the loss of the 26 (though they have BART, the J-Church, the 52, the 44, etc), and those SF State students who live on Valencia Street because it’s cool who will now have to take a more circuitous route to class. I really do feel for them. But I also feel like, the TEP is analyzing ACTUAL ridership patterns, so if you’re not riding the bus line, you’re not helping it continue to exist. No amount of protest is as valuable as actually putting your fare in the box and your ass in the seat. And of course I realize that the 26, like the 44 or 52 or so many other diesel lines that skirt the core in favor of the neighborhoods, run so infrequently as to make them less feasible as convenience methods. I get that it sucks to wait 43 minutes for the next one (which can be avoided altogether by nextmuni.com’s mobile site, but I also get that not everyone is there yet) so I acknowledge that spotty service is a contributor to low ridership. And I do hope some neighborhood organizing fosters involvement in the process from neighbors who may not ordinarily (a walk up Chenery Street was heartening in this regard, as there are at least a couple signs per block) and I hope the people who use the line can help the TEP understand its vitality and purpose. But I also feel like that will include a dedication to actually using it as much as possible, and if you’ve ever been on the 26, you know it’s rarely crowded.

When the TEP first started examining ridership patterns across all muni lines, I was really stoked that the MTA was undertaking such a project. Most of the routes and schedules are based on patterns last analyzed twenty or thirty years ago, and obviously population and usage has changed significantly in that time. And I think the TEP has done a really good job of attempting to solicit input from the stakeholders; I personally have been to at least three open meetings and participated in one of the ridership surveys (on the J line in September.)

However, now that they’re beginning the process of implementing changes based on their findings, I think we should expect more of this kind of friction from the vernacular users. Muni booster though I am generally, I was personally irked by proposed changes on the 6-Parnassus (my pet line, the closest to my house, my one-shot route to the boyfriend’s place, my ski-lift up the hills of Ashbury Heights) and I couldn’t help but feel that for all their effort, the TEP had failed to capture the essence of the 6’s usefulness to its core body of users.

And this is really the problem with community based planning: getting the people who will really be affected by changes to speak up and weigh in. I know for a fact that many of my neighbors were oblivious to TEP intervention on the 6, and most would have blown off opportunities to speak up regardless of how aggressively the TEP had solicited them. And of course there are limits to the resources any government body can expend, and certainly can’t be expected to go knocking on doors asking “Excuse me, may I ask you some detailed questions about how often you ride the bus, to and from where, and what times?”

So I feel for these Glen Park residents who will be that much more isolated for the loss of the 26 (though they have BART, the J-Church, the 52, the 44, etc), and those SF State students who live on Valencia Street because it’s cool who will now have to take a more circuitous route to class.

I really do feel for them. But I also feel like, the TEP is analyzing ACTUAL ridership patterns, so if you’re not riding the bus line, you’re not helping it continue to exist. No amount of protest is as valuable as actually putting your fare in the box and your ass in the seat. And of course I realize that the 26, like the 44 or 52 or so many other diesel lines that skirt the core in favor of the neighborhoods, run so infrequently as to make them less feasible as convenience methods. I get that it sucks to wait 43 minutes for the next one (which can be avoided altogether by nextmuni.com’s mobile site, but I also get that not everyone is there yet) so I acknowledge that spotty service is a contributor to low ridership. And I do hope some neighborhood organizing fosters involvement in the process from neighbors who may not ordinarily (a walk up Chenery Street was heartening in this regard, as there are at least a couple signs per block) and I hope the people who use the line can help the TEP understand its vitality and purpose.

But I also feel like that will include a dedication to actually using it as much as possible, and if you’ve ever been on the 26, you know it’s rarely crowded.

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