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JAN 1 2 2001 san francisco public Library Summary Executive December 2000 m 5/8 GOVERNMENT INFORMATION CENTfr SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY SAN FRANCISCO PUBLIC LIBRARY REFERENCE BOOK AUG 2 200? I Not to be. takenfrom (he Library FranciscoCountyTransportation Authc 100VanNessAvenue,25th Floor San Francisco, CA94102 Website:www.ci.sf.ca.us/sfcci Phone:415-522-4800 Fax: 415-522-4829 San Francisco CountywideTransportationPlan SANFRANCISCOPUBLICLIBRARY Executive Summary 3 1223 05876 0316 INTRODUCTION Transportation is one of the most critical and controversial issues in San Francisco - it is key to our economic well-being and cele- brated quality of life, and yet it continues to rank as one of the City's most serious problems. Not surprisingly, transportation problems are in theheadlines almostevery day Traffic congestion, unreliable transit, shortage ofparkingandunsafe streets are allcon- cerns of San Francisco residents, workers and visitors. San Francisco has an impressive multimodal transportation system compared to that of otherAmerican cities. Unfortunately, its per- formance level is less than acceptable. Mobility in San Francisco shouldbe efficient,convenientandsafe. However, the factremains thatitis amajorchallenge togetto anydestination inSan Francisco on time, no matterwhatmode of transportation is used. It is dis- hearteningtohearthatmanypeoplewhetherwalking,bicycling,rid- ingtransit or driving, feel unsafe. The City's growing transportation problems should not come as a surprise. While San Francisco has been experiencingsignificant job andpopulation growthoverthe lastseveral decades, there has been too litde investment in improvingthe City's transportation system. Under these conditions the growing severity of transportation problems was inevitable. Moving forward, it is imperative that we compensate for the years in which we have neglected and underfunded our transportation system and invest in its improvement. If we do not, our City will not only be inconvenienced, but suffer economically, socially and ExecutiveSummary December2000 San.Francisco CounlywideTransportationPlan environmentally. This document, the first long-range transportation analysis prepared by the San Francisco CountyTransportation Authority, recogni2es the challenge of chartingadifferentcourse to an improved future and recommends an approach San Francisco may follow to improve mobility rather than limit it. SFCTA logo CTP Purpose The purpose of the San Francisco CountywideTransportationPlan (CTP) is to provide an approach to planning transportation improvements by analyzing transportation needs and resources About the over the next 30 years. The plan's goal is to identify an approach that focuses on enhancing the City's livability and economy in a Transportation Authority manner that is equitable to all. In November 1989, San Francisco voters In 1997, the Transportation Authority directed staff to prepare a approved Proposition B, authorizing a new long-term transportation plan for San Francisco. The City's one-half cent sales tax for transportation General Plan establishes the overall planningpolicy framework for purposes. The Proposition, which was expected to generate nearly one billion dol- San Francisco, includingtransportation planning However, it does notprioritize transportationpolicies or identify, in afinanciallycon- larsover20years,includedadetailedexpen- ditureplan,andrequiredcreationof theSan strained context, transportation improvement recommendations. Francisco County Transportation Authority The CTP fills this gap by proposing priorities and including a to administer the tax. detailed financial analysis. The Authority was designated as the San Francisco's CTP is different from many other county trans- Congestion Management Agency (CMA) portationplans. Itis designed to provide information on long-term for San Francisco in 1990. In this role, the transportation needs and resources for use by the Authority and Authority has been able to leverage up to other City agencies in makingfuture fundingdecisions, rather than five dollars in state and federal transportation dollars for each dollar in Proposition B being the vehicle that 'makes' these decisions. In other words, the sales tax revenues. The Authority also CTP does notactually program funds butratherprovides informa- trackstransportationsystemperformanceto tion to help guide future programming decisions. By providing ensure that San Francisco gets good value transportation planning and financial information, it is designed to for its transportation investments and pre- dovetail with other San Francisco and regional planning efforts, pares a long-range transportation plan to including departmental capital improvement plans and regional guide San Francisco's future transportation transit agency plans, to help guide future decisions. investment decisions. Main Finding and CTP Recommendations In 1992, the Authority was designated Program Manager for the Transportation FundforCleanAir (TFCA). Inthisrole,the As outlined above, the purpose of this CTP is to analyze San Authority approves funding for transporta- Francisco's long-term transportation needs and resources with the tion projects that directlybenefit airquality. objective of providinginformation to guide future investmentdeci- _ sions and policy-making From restoration of historic streetcars to construction of the new Embarcadero The CTP's main finding is that San Francisco is and will be faced Roadway, from wheelchair ramps to bike with critical transportation maintenance and expansion needs. Yet, lanes, from street resurfacing to new Muni there is not enough fundingto simplymaintain ourexistingsystem. buses, the Authority plans and funds proj- The CTP serves as an essential tool to manage limited funds wise- ects that contribute to improving mobility forSanFranciscans everyday. ly and take the next steps to identifyadditional fundingnecessaryto support the required improvements. Executive Summary December2000 SanFrancisco CountywideTransportation Plan The CTP recommendations are as follows: • Proposed Investment Plan - The CTP's investment plan pres- ents aproposed guide to investingtransportation funds assumed to be available to San Francisco during the next 30 years. Importantly, this plan only includes funding that can reasonably be assumed to be available. Given San Francisco's huge rehabilitation needs, there are very limited funds available fornewproj- ects and therefore the CTP focuses on maintenance and rehabilitation of the existing system, particularly on Muni given San Francisco's Transit First Policy. • Planning Initiatives - The CTP identifies the following seven planning initiatives as priority next steps following adoption of the CTP: 1. Muni Strategic Expansion Plan; 2. Transit Preferential Corridor Strategic Plan; 3. Supercorridor Feasibility Study 4. San Francisco Caltrain Implementation and FinancingPlan; 5. Activity Center Plans; 6. San Francisco and Regional PlanningPartnership; and 7. New Revenue Plan. Given the obvious huge short-fall between what we must invest in - rehabilitating our existing transportation system - and what we would like to invest in - expanding transportation systems to truly improve transportation conditions, these next steps are focused on identifying cost effective and short-term improvements to better transportation conditions, such as implementing transit priority measures; continuinglong-term planningandprioritization of capital intensive projects to seize funding opportunities as they arise; workingwith partneragencies to encourage land use initiatives that change travel behavior; and lastly, identifying more funding to implement all the transportation improvement actions included in the CTP. ExecutiveSummary 3 December2000 SanFrancisco CountywideTransportationPlan CTP PLANNING PROCESS This CTP is the first long-term analysis of San Francisco's trans- portationneeds. As such, this effortrequired us to assess the base- line conditions and develop an entirely new set of analysis tools. This provided an opportunityto take afreshlookatSan Francisco's transportation needs and desires as well as newways of lookingat solvingproblems. As outlined above, the CTP produced a proposed investment plan, recommendations for further studies and a call for improved regional transportation planning and increased funding These productsweredevelopedusingthree sourcesofinput. Theyare the transportation principles, capital funding assumptions, and transportation capital needs. Transportation Problem Input 1: San Francisco Transportation Principles Principles Definition The most important input to the CTP was the transportation principles that guided plan development. The principles were devel- opedby consideringexistingand future transportation problems as well as the transportation policies in San Francisco's General Plan and Charter. Existing and future transportation problems were Funding VTransportationY' -^Funding identified in the public input process and in the plan's analytical Needs A Priorities A Inventory, transportation analysis. The firststep in this processwas an ambitious public outreachpro- gram. As partof this program,Authority staff metwith thousands of San Francisco residents,employers andvisitors inaseries of for- mal meetings and informal presentations to obtain their thoughts on operations of the existing transportation system and ideas for improvements. This public outreach effort was an extensive and critical part of the process. InvestmentPlan and The public raised three main points about transportation in San Recommendations Francisco. One, Muni service is unreliable - improvingreliability is a critical need. Two, transportation conditions are reducing the City's quality of life - neighborhoods should be protected from the CTP Planning Process negative environmental impacts of traffic by introducing traffic calming measures, improving alternative transportation such as bicycles and transit, and by reducing the need to travel by automobile. Three, it is gettingharder and harder to travel around the city safely - transportation conditions for all types of travel need to be improved. The second step in evaluatingtransportationproblems consisted of using a computerized transportation forecasting model to analyti- callyevaluate existingand future transportation conditions. Results Executive Summary i\ December2000 3 1223 05876 0316 » SanFrancisco CountywideTransportation Plan TRANSIT FIRST POLICY Charter Amendment Adopted by San Francisco Voters in November 1999 1 Toensurequalityof life andeconomichealthin Bicycling shall be promoted by encouraging San Francisco, the primary objective of the safestreetsforriding,convenientaccessto tran- transportationsystemmust bethesafe andeffi- sit, bicycle lanes, and secure bicycle parking. cient movementof people and goods. 7 Parkingpolicies for areas well served bypublic Z Public transit, including taxis and vanpools, is transit shall be designed to encourage travel by an economically and environmentally sound public transit andalternative transportation. alternative to transportation byindividual auto- mtroabnislite,s.byWbiitchyicnleSaanndForannfcoiostcom,ustrtavbeelbanyaptutbrlaicc- New transportation investment should be allo- cated to meet the demand for public transit tive alternative to travel byprivate automobile. generated by new public and private commer- cial andresidential developments. 3 Decisions regarding the use of limited public street and sidewalk space shall encourage the useof publicrightsof waybypedestrians,bicy- 9 The ability of the City and County to reduce traffic congestion depends on the adequacy of clists, and public transit, and shall strive to regional public transportation. The City and reduce traffic and improve public health and County shallpromote the use of regional mass safety. transit and the continued development of an integrated, reliable regional public transporta- -] Transit priority improvements, such as desig- tion system. nated transit lanes and streets and improved signalization, shall be made to expedite the 1 TheCityandCountyshallencourageinnovative movement of public transit vehicles (including taxis and vanpools) and to improve pedestrian solutions to meet public transportation needs wherever possible and where the provision of safety. suchservicewillnot adverselyaffectthe service providedbythe Municipal Railway. D Pedestrian areas shall be enhanced wherever possible to improve the safety and comfort of pedestrians andto encourage travel byfoot. of this modelingeffortindicate thatif nothingis done, transportation conditions will continue to worsen. Specifically, congestion willincreaseon Citystreets andhighways,surface transitservicewill become more unreliable as it is caught in street congestion, and regional travel to and from San Francisco will continue to increase resultingin more automobile dependency.. L^timately, the public input and transportation forecasts were integrated with San Francisco's adopted transportation policies, (most importantly, the Transit FirstPolicy, adopted by San Francisco voters as partofProposition E in 1999) to develop avision and eleven principles for improvingSan Francisco's transportation system: the San Francisco Transportation Principles. Executive Summary 5 December2000 SantFrancisco CountywideTransportationPlan SAN FRANCISCO TRANSPORTATION PRINCIPLES Vision : San Francisco's transportation system shall be safe, efficient, equitable, andenvironmentallysustainable andcon- tribute to improvingthe city's economywhileprotectingitscelebratedqualityof life. Principles: -] We and ourvisitors shouldbe able to travel Our city departments and regional agencies aroundthe Citywithout usingacar. should work together to solve transportation problems and coordinate land use and transportation improvement decisions. While San Francisco's transportation system "<~J' shouldemphasize useof alternatives tothesin- gle-occupant automobile, we should be able to Our transportation system should serve all use a car when transit or automobile alterna- neighborhoods and populations equitably tives are notviable. including the economically disadvantaged, children, elderly and disabled. ^ Our streets should be safe andpleasant to walk and bicycle upon. Our transportation system should serve chang- inglifestyles andwaysof doingbusiness, espe- cially changes in goods distribution and Our neighborhoods should be livable and pro- changes caused byinformation technology. ,j tected from the adverse impacts of transportation including noise, air pollution, and traffic congestion. Our transportation system shouldpromote efficient and safe intermodal movement of goods to businesses. ? Our regional transit system should be good enough to attract the majorityof trips made by local visitors to San Francisco and trips made Addressingtransportationproblems in acityas bySanFranciscans travelingoutside the City. complex and diverse as San Francisco will require citizens and businesses to develop sub- area and multi-modal corridor plans that Our local and regional transit systems should address transportation, land use, economic 1^ be given priorityin conflicts with private trans- development andotherissuescomprehensively. portation. The CTP's San Francisco Transportation Principles were used to help develop a prioritization scheme for transportation improvements and to identify areas thatwould benefit from more planning and analysis. Progress towards attainingthe goals supported by the principles will be measured regularly through the Congestion Management Program (CMP), updates to this CTP and other Transportation Authority planning studies. Executive Summary December 2000 SanFrancisco CountywideTransportation Plan Input 2: Capital Improvement Needs Inventory The second input to the CTP was the capital improvement needs inventory. Capital improvements are physical enhancements to our transportation system, including transit vehicles, roadway paving, bicycle facilities, traffic signals and sidewalk curb cuts. The inventory includes all the improvement projects identified during the CTP development process. It includes projects from department and agency Capital Improvement Programs (CIPs) as well as projects identified in the public input process and technical analyses. The following specific sources were used to develop the inventory: • Public Input • Muni Strategic Plan and CIP • Department of Public Works CIP • Department of Parkingand Traffic CIP • BART Strategic Plan and CIP • Caltrain Strategic Plan, Rapid Rail Plan and CIP • Technical WorkingGroup The most interesting finding from development of the project inventorywas the huge magnitude of San Francisco's rehabilitation and replacement needs. The City's transit and roadway systems need a significant amount of money to recover from years of deferredmaintenance and lack of capital investments. Rehabilitation and maintenance is a critical part of of keeping the transportation system functioning propedy. One cause of Muni's problems was a systematic disinvestment in rehabilitation that revealeditself in service deterioration yearslater. Muniis onlynow catchingup with its most critical rehabilitation needs. Once this inventory of capital projects was developed, projects were categorized into four components of the CTP: 1. Maintain and Sustain ExistingSystem 2. Priority San Francisco Enhancements 3. Regional and San Francisco Expansion 4. Market-Based and Innovative Actions ExecutiveSummary- December2000 SanFrancisco CountywideTransportationPlan These fourcomponents,describedbelow, are not alterna- Exhibit E-l Components 1 and2 Costs tives for improving the transportation system, but rather Forthe30-YearPeriod,FY01-30 (in2001 dollars) four parts of one plan. The purpose of developing the components was to classify specific transportation Component1 Component2 ToolCost improvement actions into groups of similarprojects. See Program Cost • Cost millions) ($,millions) ($,millions) Exhibit E-l for transportation improvement costs for SanFrancisco MuniTransit J>J,oUO o/Jd ci /:r\1 components 1 and 2 by program. RegionalTransit(SFShort) 54 55 SanFranciscoParatransit 600 600 LocalStreetsandRoads 1.262 289 1,551 1. Maintain and Sustain Existin9g Svstem - RegionalHighways(SFShare) Bicycle 2 50 52 This component includes actions necessaryto keep the Pedestrian 44 60 104 existing transportation system operating, including TransportationManagement 35 35 replacing and renovating Muni vehicles and physical andPlanning infrastructure, rehabilitating regional transit systems, TOTAL,Expenditures $5,804 $1,194 $6,998 maintaining San Francisco's Paratransit Program, and resurfacing streets. This Component also includes Phase 1 of the Third Street Light Rail Project and funding for bike and pedestrian improvements. Total cost for the transportation improvement actions in the Maintain and Sustain Existing System Component is $5.8 billion. 2. Priority San Francisco Enhancements This component consists of the New Central Subway to Chinatown (Phase 2 of the Third Street Light Rail Project), increasedMuniservice andplanningforrailtransit, transitpref- erential streets, and bicycle corridors. It also includes funding for bike, pedestrian and traffic calming improvements. The total cost for the Priority San Francisco Enhancements Component is $1.2 billion. 3. Regional and San Francisco Expansion This-component includes Muni rail extensions within the City (e.g., Geary, Chintown/ North Beach andVan Ness Corridors) andmajorimprovementprojects to the regional transportation network (e.g., BART's system capacity expansion and 30th Street Station projects, Caltrain's electrification and downtown extension projects, and the San Francisco Bay Crossing project). For the Regional and San Francisco Expansion Executive Summary December2000