San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
Agency overview | |
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Formed | 1999 |
Preceding agencies |
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Jurisdiction | City and County of San Francisco |
Headquarters | 1 South Van Ness Avenue, San Francisco, California |
Employees | 4,800[1] |
Annual budget |
Operating: $861M (2014) Capital: $525M (2014)[2] |
Agency executives |
|
Child agency | |
Website | http://www.sfmta.com |
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA or San Francisco MTA) is an agency created by consolidation of the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), the Department of Parking and Traffic (DPT), and the Taxicab Commission.
History
SFMTA was established by the passage of Proposition E in November 1999, a measure which amended San Francisco's charter and established the semi-independent agency to combine and run Muni and DPT. The measure, promoted by the transit riders' group Rescue Muni, among others, established service standards for the agency and made a number of changes to the laws governing it.
Prior to the passage of Proposition E, the Muni was governed by the Public Transportation Commission and the Department of Parking and Traffic was governed by the Parking and Traffic Commission. Both bodies were dissolved upon the full implementation of Proposition E.
Proposition E established a seven-member board to govern the agency, its members appointed for fixed, staggered terms by the Mayor of San Francisco and subject to confirmation by the city and county's Board of Supervisors. Board members are limited to three terms.[3] The SFMTA Board of Directors is responsible for, among other things, hiring the agency's executive director.
At its inception, the SFMTA's Director of Transportation (a position referred to, at various times, in practice and by SFMTA Board policy, as "Executive Director" or "Executive Director/CEO") was Michael T. Burns. On July 15, 2005 he left the SFMTA for a position with Santa Clara VTA. Deputy Executive Director Stuart Sunshine, a former aide to Mayor Frank Jordan and Mayor Willie Brown, and a former head of the Department of Parking and Traffic, served as acting executive director until January 17, 2006, when Nathaniel P. Ford, Sr., previously the general manager and CEO of MARTA in Atlanta, took over as the new executive director. On June 15, 2011, the SFMTA announced Ford would be leaving the agency effective June 30, 2011; shortly thereafter the SFMTA Board decided that Director of Administration, Taxis, and Accessible Services Debra A. Johnson would take over as acting executive director until a permanent replacement was selected by the SFMTA Board.[4][5] The board selected Edward D. Reiskin, the head of the San Francisco Department of Public Works, as the permanent executive director, effective August 15, 2011.[6]
The first chair of the SFMTA Board of Directors was H. Welton Flynn; he was succeeded by Cleopatra Vaughns. When Vaughns left the board, James McCray, Jr. was elected chairman. Like two of his then-colleagues, McCray previously served on the Parking and Traffic Commission, which was abolished when the department merged into the SFMTA. All members of the current SFMTA Board were initially appointed by Mayor Gavin Newsom[7] except for Directors Joél Ramos and Cristina Rubke, initially appointed by Mayor Edwin Lee.[8]
Only once has the Board of Supervisors exercised its prerogative, under the charter, to reject the mayor's appointees to the SFMTA Board, when then-Mayor Newsom appointed Hunter Stern to a vacant seat. The Board of Supervisors rejected Stern by a 7–4 vote on September 27, 2005. Stern was an official with the International Brotherhood of Electrical Workers.
Proposition E also established a 15-member SFMTA Citizens Advisory Council which must review the agency's budget and which makes recommendations on agency policy. The mayor appoints four members of the SFMTA Citizens Advisory Council and each member of the Board of Supervisors appoints one.
Proposition E allowed for the SFMTA to take over the functions of the Taxicab Commission. In 2009, the agency did so, as a result of legislation passed by the Board of Supervisors and signed by the mayor.
In November 2005, the voters of San Francisco rejected, by a margin of 35%–65%, a ballot measure which would have allowed the Board of Supervisors to appoint three of the SFMTA Board's seven members. In November 2007, the voters of San Francisco approved, by a vote of 55% to 45%, a charter amendment further expanding the power of the SFMTA Board, granting the agency more flexibility in its labor relations, providing more funding for the agency, and imposing new limits on downtown parking.[9]
In November 2016, The SFMTA wis hit by hackers, using ransomware, demanding $70,000 in bitcoins, with fare machines reading “OUT OF SERVICE”, resulting in passengers riding for free.[10]
Muni Transit statistics
The SFMTA Transportation Fact Sheet[11] (2010) gives the following statistics about SFMTA service and equipment:
Statistic | Number |
---|---|
Avg. Weekday Boardings (FY 2009) | 707,459 |
Regular Weekday Transit Routes | 75 |
Regular Fare | $2.25 |
One-Way Cable Car Fare | $6.00 |
Regular Muni-Pass Cost | $68 |
Bart/Muni Fast-Pass Cost | $80 |
Priority Bus Lanes | 14.8 Miles |
No. of Diesel Buses | 507 |
No. of Cable Cars | 47 |
No. of Historic Streetcars | 39 |
No. of Light Rail Vehicles (Subway) | 151 |
No. of Trolley Buses | 313 |
Total Service Vehicles | 1,057 |
Single Track – Light Rail Vehicles (gauge 4' 8.5") | 71.5 Miles |
Cable Car (gauge 3'6") | 8.8 Miles |
SFMTA Board of Directors
- Tom Nolan, Chairman
- Cheryl Brinkman, Vice Chairman
- Malcolm Heinecke
- Joél Ramos
- Cristina Rubke
- Gwyneth Borden
- Lee Hsu
Board Secretary: Roberta Boomer
- Policy and Governance Committee: Brinkman (chairman), Ramos, Rubke
SFMTA Citizens Advisory Council
- Daniel Weaver, Chair
- Frank Zepeda, Vice Chair
- Joan Downey
- Daniel Murphy
- Dorris Vincent
- Susan Vaughan
- Mark Ballew
- Alex Reese
- Stephen L. Taber
- Stephen Cornell
- Neil Ballard
- Cesar Magdaleno
- Barbara Bocci
(2 vacancies)
Council Secretary: Keka Robinson-Luqman
- Engineering, Maintenance, & Safety Committee: Zepeda (chair), Vincent
- Finance & Administration Committee: Reese (chair), Murphy, Vaughan, Ballard
- Operations & Customer Service Committee: Ballew (chair), Downey, Murphy
List of Directors of Transportation* of the SFMTA
Name | Service Began | Service Ended |
Michael T. Burns | March 7, 2000 | July 15, 2005 |
Stuart Sunshine (acting) | July 15, 2005 | January 17, 2006 |
Nathaniel P. Ford, Sr. | January 17, 2006 | June 30, 2011 |
Debra A. Johnson (acting) | July 1, 2011 | August 14, 2011 |
Edward D. Reiskin | August 15, 2011 |
* The city charter refers to this office as the Director of Transportation, though the alternate title "Executive Director" was more commonly used during the first decade of the agency's existence. In February 2006, the MTA Board adopted a resolution adding "CEO" to the title.[12] When Edward D. Reiskin took office in 2011, he opted to use only the position's official title.[13]
List of Chairmen* of the SFMTA Board of Directors
Name | Service Began | Service Ended |
H. Welton Flynn | March 7, 2000 | January 20, 2004 |
Cleopatra Vaughns | January 20, 2004 | May 2, 2006 |
Michael Kasolas (acting) | May 2, 2006 | May 16, 2006 |
James McCray, Jr. | May 16, 2006 | February 3, 2009 |
Tom Nolan | February 3, 2009 |
* Although the city charter specifies that the MTA Board shall have a "chair," Flynn, Vaughns, McCray, and Nolan have all opted for the style "chairman."
List of Vice Chairmen of the SFMTA Board of Directors
Name | Service Began | Service Ended |
Enid Ng Lim | March 7, 2000 | July 1, 2003 |
vacant | July 1, 2003 | January 20, 2004 |
Michael Kasolas | January 20, 2004 | March 1, 2007 |
vacant | March 1, 2007 | April 3, 2007 |
Tom Nolan | April 3, 2007 | February 3, 2009 |
James McCray, Jr. | February 3, 2009 | April 30, 2010 |
vacant | April 30, 2010 | May 4, 2010 |
Jerry Lee | May 4, 2010 | January 17, 2012 |
Cheryl Brinkman | January 17, 2012 |
List of Chairs of the SFMTA Citizens Advisory Council
Name | Service Began | Service Ended |
David Pilpel (acting) | July 6, 2000 | August 3, 2000 |
Linton H. Stables III | August 3, 2000 | July 11, 2002 |
Daniel Murphy | July 11, 2002 | July 11, 2013 |
Daniel Weaver | July 11, 2013 |
References
- ↑ http://www.sfmta.com/about-sfmta/careers/application-process
- ↑ http://sfmta.com/sites/default/files/pdfs/SFMTA-2013 Annual Report-Financial.pdf
- ↑ http://www.rescuemuni.org/final-final-amendment.html
- ↑ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/blogs/cityinsider/detail?entry_id=91900
- ↑ http://www.sfmta.com/cms/aexec/indxmtexec.htm
- ↑ http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2011/07/22/BA171KDIOJ.DTL
- ↑ http://www.sfmta.com/cms/chome/bordindx.htm#aboutsfmtaboard
- ↑ http://www.sfmayor.org/index.aspx?page=414
- ↑ November 2007 Proposition A
- ↑
- ↑ http://www.sfmta.com/cms/rfact/factindx.htm (p. 5 of linked pdf)
- ↑ http://www.sfmta.com/cms/cmta/MTABoardFebruary212006minutes.htm
- ↑ http://www.sfmta.com/cms/aexec/documents/ORGCHART-SFMTA-092911.pdf
Sources
- Collected agendas and minutes of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors
- Proposition E (November 1999), creating the Municipal Transportation Agency
External links
- San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency
- San Francisco Municipal Railway
- San Francisco Department of Parking and Traffic
- SFMTA Board of Directors
- SFMTA Citizens Advisory Council
- Rescue Muni
- The N Judah Chronicles
- Street cleaning schedule and map
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