Transit First or Bicycles First?

Photo from Streetsblog

A letter to the editor in yesterday's SF Examiner:

No more cash for SFMTA

Mayor Ed Lee is a skilled politician and he apparently hopes voters will forget why San Francisco needs a $500 million transit bond in the first place.

San Francisco voters voted for “transit first” and instead got “bicycles first.” The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency thought it important to request and obtain a $400 million federal grant to make San Francisco safer for bicyclists---who are only about 3.4 percent of commuters.

Also, the SFMTA and several generations of mayors accepted federal funding for the Central Subway, which requires matching funds by The City. Meanwhile, public transit and road maintenance are deferred. Then voters are asked to vote for a transit bond that appears to be in control of the same interests who contributed to the transit debacle in the first place.

Lee lost on the 8 Washington St. proposal (Propositions B and C). Maybe the mayor needs to lose on the transit bonds issue until transparency and accountability are introduced into city government and transit policy and practice.

Fiona McGregor

San Francisco