MTA Calls Slow Street Safety Improvement "Paralysis by Analysis"

The Confusion

A meeting at City Hall on Tuesday discussed the climbing political pressure to bring about a quick fix to pedestrian danger. The problem has long been established and addressed, so what's taking so long to solve it?

Well, according to MTA's Board of Supervisors David Chiu, "We are experiencing a little bit of paralysis by analysis." With so many different agencies conducting studies and presenting plans and statistics, Chiu claims that it is the bureaucracy that is preventing any real action.

Deputy Director of Planning for the SFCTA (San Francisco County Transportation Authority) Tilly Chang calls this problem a problem of "fragmented responsibility." And it is unsurprising that responsibility is so difficult to delegate because, in the SFCTA's "Update on Citywide Pedestrian Safety Efforts", the Authority is listed as "one of 12 agencies currently participating in the City's newly-established Pedestrian Safety Task Force." Despite the confusion, Chang says that the responsibility falls mostly on the MTA because they are "arguably" the lead agency on pedestrian safety.

Meanwhile, Elizabeth Stampe of Walk SF doesn't think it's that simple, saying, "In some ways having the MTA be the agency where it's centered makes sense, but in some ways the work that the other agencies are doing gets translated into real action on the streets faster and in a way that satisfies people more."

But while everyone is trying to figure out who's running the show, reps from all agencies agree that immediate action needs to be taken--if not because it's been long overdue, then because the political pressure is getting to be too much.

A Few Results

From the meeting's confusion arose a few key ideas for improvement:

1. Data integration.
2. Better enforcement efforts by the SFPD.
3. Reducing the speed of automobiles. According to Rajiv Bhatia of the SF Department of Public Health, "We've calculated that serious injuries could be reduced by over 50 percent from a 5 mile an hour reduction in the travelling speed." However, he also noted that traffic laws might impede the realization of the plan. And I think it's safe to say that we don't need anything else impeding real action.

Source: http://sf.streetsblog.org/2011/03/22/san-francisco-pedestrian-safety-efforts-mired-in-city-bureaucracy/

Nathaniel Ford: Soon to be jobless?

Last we heard of him, Nat Ford was on his way to being the new head of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority. But, according to theWashington Post, late Wednesday, Ford received a message from DC informing him that they've "reopened the search" for potential candidates.

And should they deny him the position, it is not guaranteed that Ford will continue as the director of the SFMTA. In fact, many board members are now questioning his loyalty and dedication to the SFMTA.

According to SF Streetsblog, Supervisor Scott Wiener said, "I like and respect Nat Ford but it's also very important that we have an executive director of the MTA who is completely focused on the agency, and who wants the job. And it seems like Mr. Ford is looking elsewhere and we need a complete focus on MTA."

Chairman Ross Mirkarimi also pointed out that the pay history of directors has risen because they "are always looking for the next best thing." He said that this system is a "self-perpetuating cycle [created] by the transit directors themselves and by the industry that supports the rotation of these transit directors so that they keep earning more money each time they relocate, and there is no end in sight. The theory behind this is, in order to get someone that's competitive and comparable to the industry standard, we have to spend $50,000 more each time we get a new director. Pretty soon we're gonna be at $400,000 for a new director. I find that absurd."

It seems that members of the SFMTA board itself are fed up with their directors' preoccupation with their wallets rather than our transit system. If Nathaniel Ford is booted from the SFMTA, let's hope that his replacement won't just be another addition to this self-perpetuating cycle.

New Chief of the SFMTA?

A month from now, Nathaniel Ford will be finding out whether or not he has been offered the spot as the new president and CEO of the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority.

Should he get the job, the city will have 60 days to find his replacement.

According to the SF Chronicle, the top candidates for replacing him as the future chief of the SFMTA (and future earner of the highest salary on the city payroll) are:

1. Edward Reiskin - Director of the SF Public Works Department who "has no direct transportation background but a deep well of management experience is well liked by supervisors and the mayor."
2. Carter Rohan - Deputy Executive Director for the Municipal Transportation Agency and and former Capital Projects Director, described as a "a veteran transportation executive."
   
3. Stuart Sunshine - Currently working for a "private-sector construction management and engineering firm" and "held several senior positions in city government, including the top job at Muni on an interim basis."
4. Debra Johnson - Director of Administration at the MTA who is "leading contract negotiations with Muni operators."

The SF Chronicle article also goes on to list the several, multi-faceted problems the new chief would face in this time of transition and scrutiny for the SFMTA. To read more: http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/03/06/BA7T1I4CJO.DTL

Who do you think would be the best chief? What qualifications and experience should we expect from them?

Bike-Friendly Candidate for Mayor

On Monday, President of SF's Board of Supervisors David Chiu announced his candidacy for mayor. Running on a platform of improving "sustainable transportation", Chiu declared on the steps of City Hall: "We're the city that invented the cable car, but while we call ourselves a Transit-First city, we are sick of gridlock, we are sick of potholes and we're sick of Muni."

Chiu is presenting himself as the "candidate for mayor who doesn't own a car, who gets to City Hall either on the number 49 or on [his] bicycle" and as the candidate who firmly believes that "we can do better" when it comes to public transportation and protecting pedestrians and cyclists on the streets.

We'll be sure to keep an eye for what he's got planned!

Source: http://sf.streetsblog.org/2011/02/28/bicyclist-supes-prez-david-chiu-announces-bid-for-san-francisco-mayor/#more-263793