Will be an available parking space. So maybe the City Attorney can just is it unanimous is it fine to amend the motion or can we just add that extra language, so to speak . You can do either excuse me. Deputy City Attorney susan cleveland. You can do either. I just think you want to make sure that the direction to staff in whatever form it is is clear, and i think whatever the commission the board secretary was just clarifying with director brinkman about the motion. So as long as we have that, we can amend the resolution or you can just add that in an undocumented motion. Madam chair, what i have right now is a motion to ask staff to explore closing octavia street from fell to linden street and explore additional Parking Management on that street. Continue to explore additional Parking Management in the area, not just on octavia street. So in the project area. Yes. I dont even want to call it in the project area necessarily because it sounds like the project is only buffering patricias green, where its the surrounding blocks. Okay. In the hayes valley neighborhood. Yeah. Okay. So the motion that i have right now is a motion asking staff to explore closing octavia street from fell to linden and explore additional Parking Management in the hayes valley neighborhood. And lets also im sorry include looking at closing additional blocks of hayes street and making them transit only okay. Slow down. Im sorry. I think thats i dont thats was there an agreement from everybody to look into that. I mean, thats not to explore additional transit only streets on hayes. Okay. So the motion would be to explore closing octavia streets from fell to linden, additional Parking Management in hayes valley, and closing additional blocks of hayes street and making them transitonly lanes. Transit and taxi only. Okay. So i think that sounds like an amended motion an amended proposal. Well, i mean in terms of what was noticed to the public, its a little bit different. It may. Given the scope of what the board sounds like its action, it may just be best to have this be direction to staff. It sounds like youre in general agreement and have you all just focus on the motion the resolution thats in your packet. I think if youre all on the same page, staff can take that. And i think that was definitely my intent was this part is a direction to staff. All right. So what i have then is the board provided the minutes would then reflect that the board provided additional direction to staff to explore closing octavia street from fell to linden street, additional Parking Management in the hayes valley neighborhood and closing transit street and making them deck transit only street. Okay. Board as an appetite today. Okay. Let me just one more time, so, the direction to staff is to explore closing octavia street from fell to linden, additional Parking Management in hayes valley neighborhood, closing additional blocks of hayes street and making them transit and taxi only lanes and additional pedestrians measures, Safety Measures on linden. Thats right. Okay. Thank you. Great. All right. So we had a motion and second on the original motion. If everyone is fine, well take a vote. All in favor . Any opposition . Motion passes. Were going to move on to item 12. Item 12 thank you to the staff. Did a great job on that. [agenda item read]. Good morning or good afternoon, i should say. Almost good evening, directors. Sean kennedy, transit planning manager. And before i go through this, i just want to take a moment to thank ed. I arrived at m. T. A. Bright eyed and bushy tailed seven years ago with the directive to implement the transit effectiveness project. In the first week, i was in eds office updating the Controllers Office on the impact of the project. And he told them what a great project it was going to be. And ive taken that with me since that day, and i just want to thank you for the leadership youve shown. As director borden was saying, its proved very true. We are the envy of many of our transit peers. Thank you so much for your service, and we will watch to see where you go next and what city benefits from your service there. So that said, i want to talk about 12 folsom. [please stand by]. And thats really five major neighborhoods, the 12 serves those five major neighbors, all the way from the north to the south. This slide just kind of shows some examples of who we talked to and what we did in chinatown specifically. But essentially, like any new project, we met stakeholders and Community Members where they are. We did open houses at the stops and on the sidewalk. We want to communities, we went to backtoschool nights. We want to Service Providers in the area and talked through the options, what we saw as the benefits as well as the negative aspects of it, and collected over 1200 surveys throughout this process. We did on board process, as well. Majority people on was 57 chose option a, and 37 or so when the other option or remaining group was undecided or didnt really have an opinion. So from a staff perspective, we really had two goals we were trying to achieve. Obviously, the first was to improve Transit Service to rincon hill and then to the entire line. We are recommending what you see before you today, that is taking advantage only of transit only lanes on sacramento and clay and also takes advantage of the folsom Streetscape Project on folsom that will be including things like turn restrictions, and we put all those things together, and although it looks like a longer route, we actually think its going to be a little bit quicker and save some time because were not only using our Transit Authority improvements but taking them out of where we have some congestion problems on 2nd street. There are things around that legislation that involve stop changes, also a few yellow metered spots and turn restrictions. But with these changes, were hoping to make vast improvements, like i said, not only to o. T. P. , but for the entire line. Were super excited how this came out. Implementation as we work with folsom streetscape, theres going to be a lot of construction on there. Were looking at winter 2020 before we get the route change, and that will kind of ebb and flow depending on the construction schedule, but thats a rough timeline as of now. So super quick. I know its been a long meeting, so i wanted to go fairly fast, but im glad to take any questions or answer any issues you all have. Just one quick question. This is a big route change for the people using that bus, and it sounds like the outreach you did in advance of it has been really good, and thats great. I would just ask that we make sure the week or two before we actually change that route that we do some really good outreach for those stops that are going to be removed because i can see a future where somebody only takes the bus every couple weeks or so would walk out there and be complete disoriented out there and not know where the bus is. Other than that, i think its great because its going to not only serve more people in a growing area, but speeding it up. Great. Are there any other comments . Okay. Public comment. Is there any Public Comment . Barry and michael. Good afternoon. I just need a clarification. It does i dont want to i dont like complaining because allowing us to be able to make the turns, as well, is a great thing, but its a little confusing. Under f, is says no right turn other than muni. I think its on the east side, so theres two sides of essex. Theres the west side and the east side, and i think the west side goes straight to the freeway. So if we go on the west side, then, we can make the right turn on to harrison from essex, so i dont so im im a little confused here as to why were were why were not getting some of these other exemptions, too. But i appreciate you still continuing to let us make the the left turn from folsom to essex. So i just need clarification why under f, we cant do the same thing unless it creates too much conflict there, that would be too dangerous. That would be great to find out why we dont have that exception. Staff can address that at the end. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Hi. My name is roman catau. I voted in the outreach myself, so im glad it was chosen. In the presentation, i think staff mentioned 7,000 or 10,000 new residents that live in the area . I would also like to point out that theres several big tech offices in that area, as well, and in particular, were now going to with this project, were going to have a 12 folsom stop right outside the google sf office, so i hope that google will be willing to do some outreach to workers and let them know they can ride muni to work. Any additional Public Comment . Vice chair borden and members, alita dupris for the record. I feel i should speak on this. I prafl in the eastern soma rincon sill area a lot, and this will give me a few more options to get through that area because i generally commute across either by b. A. R. T. Or by a. C. Transit bus to the temporary transbay terminal. So with this, instead of trying to navigate through all that traffic on 2nd street, which ive done on a bike. Its very difficult. Theres a lot of construction down there this will allow me to get down to embarcadero and then down to harrison street or its a short walk for me from the transbay terminal parking lot and also from the new transbay terminal, and we can get that open. So this is something that will help me to navigate moreasily. I think it is worthy of your passage. Thank you. Thank you. Herbert wiener. One question. I realize you are going to remove the bus stop to 2nd street, but how is that going to affect the passengers on that corridor . On the corridor that you remove this bus route, how is it going to affect them . Will they be rudely inconvenienced . What will be the impact of these changes . Any additional Public Comment . Seeing none, Public Comments closed. Directors . Go ahead. Motion to approve . Second. If there are no other questions. Is there a second . Director torres, did you have a comment . I just wanted to go back to what the last speaker said about the impacts, and do we know what all the impacts are going to be . Hi. Yes, sir. So the 10 line will continue to serve 2nd street, so therell still be a service line on 2nd. Personally, im happy. I used to take the 10, and from samsung and bush, it was like, no. Okay. Any other comments from directors . There was a motion to approve and second. All in favor . Opposed . That motion carries. Were moving on to clerk madam director [agenda item read]. Directors, following distribution of the final calendar item, staff discovered that one part of the code is mentioned twice in the transportation code, so they request an amendment to delete a section of the code that section of the code that is duplicated. It is a section of the code that discusses the evaluation of a permit application. Its just listed twice. So well make that want to make that notation when we make the motion . Okay. Govern, directors. Tom mcguire. Im joined by jason hyde whos managed the Scooter Share Program since the beginning. Its hard to believe that its been more than a year since scooters first launched with that authorization last spring, and it seems that weve been back before you many times talking about the Pilot Program, and the sixmonth report on the Pilot Program, and now were making the move with shared scooters and motorized bikes. I want to remind us of the journey that weve been on since the scooters launched back in april 2018 when we had one of the largest unauthorized launches in the u. S. , and we moved very quickly to a Regulatory Pilot Program that is the model for other big cities in the u. S. And now weve got an opportunity to make that permanent without losing the accountability that we have to scooter operators. With that, ill turn it over to jason. Thank you, tom. Good afternoon, directors. Im a senior planner in movable sfmta, here to talk about the next phase of the scooter permit program. So just a little bit of background. The Program Actually launched in april 2018 as a twomonth pilot with two permittees, scoot and skip. Each at the outset were authorized to operate up to 625 scooters each and with the possibility to double their number at the midpoint. So this was framed by the guiding principle for emerging services and technologies . These transportation code changes are also framed by that policy framework, specifically focusing on safety, accessibility, accountability, equity, and sustainability. [please stand by]. With that in mind, we still plan to give preference to operators who propose Innovative Solutions to owners who make helmets mandatory for rental. Questi we acknowledge theres still room for improvement and continued Education Needs to happen. So with that in mind, in the next round of applications, well be committing to companies with robust Education Programs and incentives for improper riding, like sidewalk riding in particular. And while we think that this is a beautiful thing, we being national it create acknowledge it creates additional demand for bike parking, and so we are proposing a rack fee for the permittees that is commensurate with the number of scooters that would be permitted. So the proposed transportation code amendments also seek to address several issues that were identified in the pilot around user and operator accountability. So in particular we are aski asking from receipt through resolution. We think that thisll improve rider accountability. And additionally, were proposing an alignment of the fines and fees with stationless bike share . And finally, were also requiring more robust education on safety reporting procedures, particularly if users are involved in a collision so that we can have more accurate crash data associated with the program . So we definitely learned from our experience with the pilot that we need to be more prescriptive about our Service Areas, the availability of scooters, as well as the distribution . And so the proposed transportation code amendments before you would allow the sfmta to establish the service area rather than the permittees as was the case in the pilot . And we hope that this will prevent a clustering of devices downtown and encourage them to be more available in parts of the city that have more availability options. Were were less availability options. Well also consider using whats called a dynamic cap which looks at the demand for scooters and the usage, so the trips per scooter per day, and well have a target for that. And if the permittees are meeting all the terms and conditions of the permit and also exhibiting demand for the scooters, we will consider a commensurate increase in their permitted fleet size. So equity was definitely was definitely identified as a key area for improvement in the midpilot evaluation, and especially when it came to outreaching key communities of concern as well as lowincome planned participation, and so to address some of these concerns, we plan to ask permittees to release a cull right lanely sensitive outreach plan thats really tailored to each neighborhood that takes languages, consideration, and needs into account. Were also asking them how they plan to promote their lowincome plan in their company as well as other plans, and additionally we are asking the companies to consider how theyll encourage local hiring opportunities and as well as hiring for disadvantaged individuals such as formerly incarcerated people and immigrant communities. In terms of our user capability, showed that scooters may reduce vehicle and private t. N. C. Use, but some were switching from more sustainable modes, like walking and biking. At the same time, around a third of the scooter riders used transit on their most recent trip . However, we want to continue stressing this mobility option as a lastmile solution, and so were asking applicants to pair trips with transit. And one of my favorites is tracking miles travelled associated with tracking, rebuilding and main nance. And theres a whole operation going on behind the scenes that a lot of people dont really realize, but weve seen fairly substantial none. M. T. Reported during this pilot, and we want to drill down on that so we can understand the full impact of this on the Transportation System . And so weve actually worked with the department of the environment to did you right lane op sustainability guidelines for the program, and those would be a requirement of the permit. Weve also worked with the department to make sure our Program Aligns with our citys zero waste and alignment policies, particularly when it comes to disposable of hazardous things like batteries. Next, were requiring that companies ensure that their data is live so that were collecting data on day one of operations. So in the coming weeks, we plan to finalize and realize our new permit application . And were targeting a selection and announcement of the permittees in september in time to issue new permits before the current pilot expires on october 15. And as mentioned earlier by roberta boomer, finally, we would like to correct an inadvertent language in the legislation. And we plan to remove the duplication in section 916e3 upon approval. There should be language in your board packet that will show the language being removed. Thank you. Thank you. At this time, directors, do you have any questions or would you i have a question. The map you show on page 5 of the handout, is that actually the scooters can be anywhere in the city . They dont have a narrowed down area . Yeah, sorry. So the that map actually shows a snapshot of the average device distribution at 8 00 a. M. . And so it doesnt have the service area on there, but oh, okay. Inevitably, some scooters make their ways outside of the Service Areas . Generally, scoot and skip, theyre concentrated in the Southeast Quadrant of the city, but they do expand into the bayview, as well. And are they going to be eventually available in all areas of the city. There are. I think another toppography, theres no reason we shouldnt be able to serve the entire city. Thank you. I go over to oakland with some regularity, and the scooter litter around some of the b. A. R. T. Stations is breath taking, so i think weve done a very good job, and i had just a moment listening in there, thinking oh, if we could have done the same thing with t. N. C. S, what a different world we would have. Thank you. Are there any additional questions for directors before go ahead. So how many permits will be issued in the next so the number of permits will be issued is at the discretion of the director of transportation . We plan to issue a limited number because just [inaudible] i cant comment on the exact number . We havent determined that . But i would yeah sure. So jasons right, the legislation doesnt specify like last time there would be a maximum of five permits. We would like to, number one, put in play the principle during the pilot. So we have two operators in the pi Pilot Program. There are cities that have four and five Pilot Programs and are having the problems that were described. And then having some really high standards in that application so we want to put the bar really high and only accept the operators that are going to meet our standard to operate in San Francisco. Were steering this program in the direction of a limited number. So what criteria will you use to expand . Well, i think when you say all these adjectives, what does that mean . We want to challenge the scooter operators who want a permit with us to balance opportunities, so they dont cluster downtown, and continue to innovate, and dont cluster them on the sidewalks. That will determine the number . Ultimately, that will determine the number. Now, what are we doing to keep these people off the sidewalks because thats all ive heard is complaints, especially from Senior Citizens who are ill at ease walking at pedestrians, and all of a sudden, scooters come behind them. We want to encourage the permittees to innovate in terms of educating their users as well as create incentives and penalty structures. The one that were really proud of is a shared database for complaints so we can track all of these from receipt to resolution and that way, well have a better sense of how many complaints are actually receiving them and how theyre addressing them . So one of the suggestions that i received is perhaps these scooters should have an i. D. Numbers to identify them more easily . Yeah, that is one of the requirements of the program, to require two identifiers on each of the scooters. What about lights to signify turning . Thats not something we considered. We generally go along with the requirements that are specified in the california vehicle code. So just hand signals for scooters. Correct. Thank you for providing an incentive for these operators to provide helmets. Im so angry that the legislature amended my law that allows people 18 and over to get out of wearing helmets. I really appreciate you doing that because its a real important Public Safety issue with respect to the riders. The last point is sustainability. Miss brinkman talked about that earlier, and i agree with her because i work in oakland at an agency, and ive seen those b. A. R. T. Steps when i get out, and theyre not pleasant. But what are we doing with the backlog of old scooters . Whos picking them up . Are they just being put at salvage yards or are they being recycled to repair these vehicles. Yeah, so we have pretty robust sustainability guidelines this go around . So were going to be requiring a life cycle for the entire scooter as well as life requirements for each part of the scooter . So thats something that each permittee will be required to submit to us . With regard to disposal of hazardous batteries, were going to have sort of a oneday workshop where the permittees come and they learn about the site, where its this is why its important to disclose of the Hazardous Material . We look at the current metrics around the number of scooters that are disclosed each month, the number that are recycled or reused, so were just sort of beefing up the current sustainability requirements in the new program. Ive also reviewed it last week thank you, madam chair. [please stand by]. Are there any other afraid so . I guess i have a confession to make on this because im a bit of a skeptic on thoese scooter period. They seem to be a solution in search of a program. I think the best description ive heard is theyre a last effort. I share the concern that director torres has. These vehicles, theyre motor vehicles, dont belong on a sidewalk, but you throw them into the street without pel mets, and helmets, and theyre hard to see, and i think youre just creating an environment where accidents are going to happen. Now theyre a fact of life, theyre staring us in the face, so what do we do . You know, one thing would be staying in some kind of pilot phase and not going prime time. At the very least, i wouldnt support removing the cap on the total number of these vehicles that weve got. And as i understand it, thats what the proposal does. The second point i wanted to make and this is a bit of a funny story on me, but since i retired in march, ive been playing some golf, right . If you go to a golf course these days, theyve put gps on the golf course, and if you go off the golf course, the engine kicks off. Even if you go on parts of the fairway they dont want you to, the engine kicks off. Could they put something in there like that, some kind of geofence that prevents these guys have using them on sidewalks. So my understanding of Gps Technology is its not Accurate Enough especially in the downtown where theres buildings that might be blocking the signal with the satellite . Youll see trips sometimes that go out to the bay, which clearly isnt happening, but its a misfunction of the gps, however, that isnt to say that it wont be prevented from proposing those Innovative Solution if there is a proponent that has that sort of technology . We will certainly look favorably upon that. If we dont have that Technology Near term, weve got to figure out a better enforcement strategy. I was working in the middle of that zone where they were dumped, and those things were buzzing along the sidewalks constantly. So if we dont have a technical or a technological solution, it seems we have to commit resources to get these off the sidewalk if they dont have helmets. I just think were creating an unsafe condition for these folks, and im not sure were getting enough mobility benefit to outweigh that. Just wanted to share that with you because i know that you werent here for that. And i will just say in summary, i agree. When i was in paris and when i was in mexico city, i could not believe the number of scooters i mean, its like a global its not just here. People are really using them as a form of transportation, and while it completely freaks me out, i respect that if its a great last mile solution for a lot of people who are less inclined to to to you know, to to walk otherwise, then i think we ought to support it and encourage it. In terms of limiting the numbers, id be too concerned about competition. At the end of the day, i think people are benefiting from it. At the end of the day, when companies compete, people win. Thats the power over a lot of things when theres no competition. None of these companies have a path to profitability, so the likelihood is in a couple of years, a bunch of people who really like the scooters will have bought their own, and the rest of them, unfortunately, will be laying in a landfill. I think what i see around an oakland b. A. R. T. Station versus what i see around a San Francisco b. A. R. T. Station is working. You know, we dont have the problems here except for the sidewalk riding problem, which im not sure how were going to solve that one. So i think that one is working. I think were looking at peak scooter. Im not sure many of these are going to be around renting these things. [please stand by] this six one of your two operators. About nine months into the cities scooters are part of the progra skip continues to see success improved education, and the solution for parking. Skip lies emptys dedication to the success of this program. Their work along with skip promises to comply with regulations has built a foundation for micro micro debility in San Francisco. The demand for scooters and San Francisco. Skips dedication to the community and to equity has earned us that privilege. We continue to form Strong Community partnerships and advertise low Income Program particularly in communities of concern and in the southeast. Skip also renews its dedication to Sustainable Operations by repairing rather than replacing our scooters. Skip vows to continue local organizations that help advocate for or protected bike lanes and other important infrastructure. we support more transparent data to help mta make decisions about infrastructure. The proposal moments are great, we do see an opportunity to strengthen them further. In april, San Francisco in the form of a Monthly Subscription program. This was put in place to undercut the rules and regulations established by the mta. Without a framework to regulate Monthly Subscription programs for scooters. A slew of unregulated scooters throughout the city with no promises to follow the rules. To mitigate this we would suggest mta create a ratio up system. Operators that wish to have a Monthly Subscription service they can do so but only through a portion of their allotted scooters under the current. This will give mta the opportunity to effectively regulate all rentable scooters in the public rightofway in our application. Herbert weiner, actually i am concerned about safety on the sidewalk. That is from all vehicles, except for electric wheelchairs which are certainly necessary for the disabled. I really want to see people protected. For that matter, these standards should be extended to bicyclists as well. They ride on the what sidewalk, they strike people. You know, we need to have the uniform policy from all vehicles on the sidewalk. They probably should not be on the sidewalk to begin with. You really have to have a uniform procedure for moving vehicles on the sidewalk. You would not allow cars on the sidewalk. He would not allow motorcycles on the sidewalk, that is for sure. We need to have a uniform safety code, so the pedestrians can be protected. That is a an agenda agenda for walk San Francisco. People have to be protected on the sidewalk, as well as the intersection. I certainly support the idea of identification. I think when scooters violate the laws they should be subject to prosecution. We need to have the safety for all san franciscans. Otherwise its going to be a nightmare scenario where youre going to have sidewalks infested with all of these vehicles and even Board Members will be safe either. It will be screaming for help. Thank you. Next speaker, please. Good afternoon, board of directors. Unfortunately the apocalypse that mr. Weiner just predicted his art here. If you got to the west side you will have to look very far to find cars on the sidewalk. People park on the sidewalk all the time in the sunset. The city does nothing about it. If that is a concern, lets start there with people illegally parking cars on the sidewalk and blocking any access on the sidewalks on a daytoday basis. Im actually here to speak in support of these changes to the scooter program. I normally come to you to speak in support of bike and transit. Anything that gets people out of cars and gets cars off the road that gets people to support themselves in mutual ways. You ought to adopt them. I would like to think in particular, director brinkman asking about expanding the Service Areas to the entire city. I think that is necessary. What we see now with the conflicts of limiting a number of devices that operators are allowed and the requirements of certain neighborhoods we are seeing very contorted and twisted Service Areas. I dont think anyone can fit in their brain, if someone can explain to me when you actually allowed to write a scooter in San Francisco right now, less than 20 seconds, good luck. The way that we open this up is i think mr. Maguire is right we should not have seven operators, we should allow the operators we have to operate a lot more devices. I encourage you to support this. Thank you. Any other additional Public Comments . Please come forward. I am a motorcyclist. My name is paul breed. I am a motorcyclist, i ride it in the city regularly. I didnt want a car anymore. I have written them probably a hundred times now im very various occasions. They seem useful and productive for me to use. Specifically i have tried scoot, and spent as well. I no longer use scoot, because my opinion of the Business Organization is that it is problematic and predatory towards the people that are interacting with it. As i encourage the city to examine the providers that they are allowing in the city. I would ask them that they make for certain that, for instance, as scoot does not have the capability to they include an off button on the vehicle. Its not possible to end the trip or interaction with the vehicle given the buttons on the vehicle. To me, that seems nonsensical and it seems predatory when their billing rates are hundreds of dollars per day. Before we look to create quality of the larger population, i would encourage that we make these businesses more responsive to the consumer. I am concerned that by allowing only these limited monopolies in these businesses, we provide no incentive to have these providers thank you. Next speaker, please. My name is cole brennan. I was not planning on speaking on this, but since i am still here i would like to support the scooter Pilot Program as it continues to go forward. Its not my favorite mode of transportation. I think it is worth a shot. I would also like to ask if there is a possibility for an integrated access point for these shared mobility options. I dont want to download 45 applications for my phone, i would be much more likely to use these systems if i could tag them with my clipper card. If there was something that had either one app that i could use for these sorts of things, or if there was a better clipper integration i would love to see that in future Pilot Programs. Thank you very much. Any additional public comme comment . Public comment is closed. That clipper integration was really a good idea. Great to figure out if we can make that happen. I am happy to make a motion to approve. Whatever our personal feelings are about scooters, they are working for some people. Some of the commenters made a good point. It is our job to keep them safe on the streets. The best way to get them off the sidewalks is to make the streets safer and expand our network of bike and scooter lanes. Whatever our personal feelings are about them that is our job to keep everybody safe on the streets. Madam chair, before you approve i just want to respond to that. I do agree. I guess i come down on the underside of the question. I dont think we have clipped the safety problem. As long as we havent, i am not comfortable authorizing a move from a Pilot Program to a mainstream, no, how many ever we
comparemela.com © 2020. All Rights Reserved.