48hills – Lurie is damaging transit, the environment—and democracy—on Market Street
The mayor is undoing the will of the voters and opening the street to Uber, Lyft, Waymo—and others are sure to follow
See original article by Susan Vaughan at 48hills
Mayor Daniel Lurie is damaging democracy, the environment, and public transit in San Francisco, and very few people seem to have noticed. How is he doing this? By undoing Better Market Street through his decision to welcome Waymo, and Uber and Lyft Blacks, onto Market Street between 10th and Steuart Streets.
At the same time, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, faced with a looming $320 million budget shortfall, is starting to reduce service: the 5-Fulton, the new 6-Hayes/Parnassus, the 31-Balboa, and the 9-San Bruno, now turn around when they reach Market Street, forcing passengers going farther to transfer.
Lurie’s invitation amounts to the privatization of transit for private gain at the expense of the general public. And you can be sure that Waymo, Uber, and Lyft are just the first private, for-profit services that want access to Market Street—Tesla, Amazon’s Zoox, and other companies are sure to follow.
Better Market Street is a set of road diets approved by the SFMTA Board of Directors in October 2019 and implemented in January 2020. Prior to approval, the program underwent years of planning, environmental review, and public outreach. A major aspect of BMS has been the elimination of private cars. The purpose? To make downtown Market Street safer for pedestrians and bicyclists and to speed up Muni service. As the city has recovered from the pandemic, statistics indicate the improvements are working.
However, Lurie is making his decision to undo Better Market Street unilaterally and without environmental review.
This is not how it’s supposed to work, and that’s according to the will of the voters: our charter, our Transit First Policy, and the 2007 Proposition A.
Proposition A, which passed with 55 percent of the vote, gave more power to the members of the SFMTA Board of Directors in order “to increase the efficiency, effectiveness and autonomy of the Municipal Transportation Agency and to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from San Francisco’s transportation sector.” Also, one of the arguments for Proposition A in the Voter Information Pamphlet was: “keep Muni free from excessive political interference.”
Members of the Keep Market Street Moving coalition oppose the subversion of Better Market Street and have created a petition and a letter for people to sign and send. They are also planning to attend the September 2, 2025 Board of Directors meeting and give public testimony. That meeting takes place in Room 400 of City Hall at 1 p.m.
See original article by Susan Vaughan at 48hills
