Should private businesses be required to fund mass transit?

[Brian Howell]

San Francisco is considering imposing a "Transit Sustainability Fee" on large scale residential construction. The City needs a lot more housing to accommodate its growing population and there's nowhere to go but up. This increases density and concomitant demand on already overwhelmed public transit. So the city wants developers to pay an annual fee towards maintaining the city's public transit infrastructure. The fee is pro rated upon building parameters and is relatively benign. Is this an idea whose time has come? Especially in urban areas with already high—and increasing—density? (I'm thinking of L.A., Boston, NYC...)

http://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2015/07/san-franciscos-humble-request-to-luxury-developers-pitch-in-for-public-transit/400133/

[David Fetter]

On Mon, Aug 03, 2015 at 07:48:46AM -0700, Brian David Howell wrote:
> San Francisco is considering imposing a "Transit Sustainability Fee"
> on large scale residential construction. The City needs a lot more
> housing to accommodate its growing population and there's nowhere to
> go but up. This increases density and concomitant demand on already
> overwhelmed public transit. So the city wants developers to pay an
> annual fee towards maintaining the city's public transit
> infrastructure. The fee is pro rated upon building parameters and is
> relatively benign. Is this an idea whose time has come? Especially
> in urban areas with already high—and increasing—density? (I'm
> thinking of L.A., Boston, NYC...)

The question, essentially, is "should cities (or other entities) levy
taxes in order to provide services?"

I invite people who think that the answer isn't an unambiguous, "yes"
to decamp without fanfare to some failed state, of which Honduras is
an excellent example as of this writing.

Cheers,
David.
--
David Fetter <da...@fetter.org> http://fetter.org/
Phone: +1 415 235 3778 AIM: dfetter666 Yahoo!: dfetter
Skype: davidfetter XMPP: david....@gmail.com

Remember to vote!
Consider donating to Postgres: http://www.postgresql.org/about/donate

[jack saunders]

I'll accept that with unlimited money we could farm the surface of the moon.  But what is the nature of BART's "overwhelmed"?  If money were plentiful, could BART run more trains, longer trains, more frequently?  Or, at some point, do you just have too many people wanting to do too many things?

 

---

From: Brian Howell <bdho...@gmail.com>
To: Ipse Dixit <Ipse-...@googlegroups.com>
Sent: Monday, August 3, 2015 7:48 AM
Subject: [Ipse Dixit] Should private businesses be required to fund mass transit?

San Francisco is considering imposing a "Transit Sustainability Fee" on large scale residential construction. The City needs a lot more housing to accommodate its growing population and there's nowhere to go but up. This increases density and concomitant demand on already overwhelmed public transit. So the city wants developers to pay an annual fee towards maintaining the city's public transit infrastructure. The fee is pro rated upon building parameters and is relatively benign. Is this an idea whose time has come? Especially in urban areas with already high—and increasing—density? (I'm thinking of L.A., Boston, NYC...)

http://www.citylab.com/cityfixer/2015/07/san-franciscos-humble-request-to-luxury-developers-pitch-in-for-public-transit/400133/

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ipse Dixit" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to Ipse-dixit+...@googlegroups.com.
To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/Ipse-dixit/f6535eb6-a507-4fcb-a30a-6615f3a5ce6c%40googlegroups.com.
For more options, visit https://groups.google.com/d/optout.

[Brian Howell]

Both BART and SF Muni are running at capacity. 

BART is carrying crush loads week-daily. (closing on 450,000+) and is predicted to be carrying 500,000 million people daily by 2018. Its cars are the oldest major transit fleet in the U.S. (25 years is a typical lifetime; some of BART's cars are over 40.) It needs new, higher capacity cars and more of them to be able to run more and longer trains, so as to be able to meet increasing demand—and it's getting them: https://www.bart.gov/about/projects/cars 

BART and the surrounding neighborhood could benefit from an infill station at 30th and Mission. Demand is there and the addition would almost certainly stimulate the regional economy.

BART is considering adding outboard platforms to Montgomery and Embarcadero stations, the system's most heavily used stations (they currently each have a single center platform and are the entry and/or exit points for 1/3 of the systems' riders), so as be able to better handle rush-hour congestion, which is beginning to see occasional back-ups into the plaza levels of those stations. 

http://64.111.127.166/ridership/ (shows 427,000 daily riders for 07/15, but July ridership is always lower than yearly average because of vacations)

http://sf.streetsblog.org/2014/12/01/bart-will-study-second-transbay-tube-west-side-extension/

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/matier-ross/article/BART-considers-rebuilding-2-SF-stations-4267383.php

http://www.masstransitmag.com/article/11461267/understanding-development-around-rail-transit-stations

Muni Metro trains are also running crush loads. Oftentimes, passengers at key stations/stops have to wait for several of "their" trains (regarding the various lines) to pass, before one comes that they can board; to be clear, passengers push and shove to board already crowded trains and many are left waiting for the next ones(s).

http://sfbay.ca/2015/04/03/muni-steps-up-to-curb-commute-crowding/

http://sfbay.ca/2014/07/24/muni-to-test-more-trains-with-new-seat-layout/

http://abc7news.com/traffic/sf-mayor-ed-lee-announces-expansion-of-new-muni-fleet/473729/

The point is, the saturation of these systems leads to discomfort and inconvenience for their patrons. Consequently, they turn to their automobiles, which also increases congestion, not to mention pollution and GHG emissions. Better mass transit (with regards to accessibility, periodicity, reliability, and comfort) means fewer cars on the road (comparatively).

http://sanfrancisco.cbslocal.com/2015/02/05/bay-area-relying-less-on-public-transit-new-figures-show-metropolitan-transportation-commission-bart-caltrain-bus-muni-ridership/

http://www.sfgate.com/bayarea/article/S-F-traffic-Numbers-don-t-show-why-it-really-6268436.php

--

Brian Howell
www.linkedin.com/in/bdhowell

[jack saunders]

BART is also chocked at the parking lot level.

The only times I can use the Rockridge station is before 7 am, after 4 pm and the few minutes while the extra stalls that open at 10 am last.

Otherwise, it's drive there, then drive on to final destination.

 Last week I drove to ATT Park.  30 minutes to get there.  2 hours to get home.

---

From: Brian Howell <bdho...@gmail.com>
To: Ipse Dixit <Ipse-...@googlegroups.com>

Sent: Monday, August 3, 2015 9:57 AM
Subject: Re: [Ipse Dixit] Should private businesses be required to fund mass transit?

--
You received this message because you are subscribed to the Google Groups "Ipse Dixit" group.
To unsubscribe from this group and stop receiving emails from it, send an email to Ipse-dixit+...@googlegroups.com.

To view this discussion on the web visit https://groups.google.com/d/msgid/Ipse-dixit/CAAq%2BNfcefTmkMHzfxE5%3DhDfnzgnHfiP-kcazkwetg1iWp3XXdg%40mail.gmail.com.

[Brian Howell]

We're talking transit development within San Francisco, Jack, a city that prides itself that 90% of residents live more than two blocks from a Muni stop (train or bus). And nearly 100% live within three blocks. So, bettering Muni efficiency, such as creating or improving feeder lines to BART and Muni Metro, in part through the implementation of BRT, could encourage more people to take transit—and enjoy it more—leading to fewer cars clogging The City's often narrow and winding streets.

http://www.sanfrancisco.travel/getting-around-basics

[jack saunders]

The week I went to work in SF for the first time in my life (1983) I met two people who had both sold their cars.  Parking was the issue.  I felt they were mad.

Now it's a commonplace in SF.

Times are changing.

 

---

From: Brian Howell <bdho...@gmail.com>
To: Ipse Dixit <Ipse-...@googlegroups.com>

Cc: bdho...@gmail.com; jack...@pacbell.net
Sent: Monday, August 3, 2015 8:36 PM

Subject: Re: [Ipse Dixit] Should private businesses be required to fund mass transit?