Getting paid when theyre not in school. Also, so many teachers tell me how they have to take so many to help students get to school and back home to commute. Its a very unfortunate thing that i hear all too much. The 70 youth discount is just not enough. Every other city provides Free Public Transportation to and from school except this city. Also, its very difficult for a family of four to send their kids to school when theyre low income and they have to send all four children to school. That becomes very, very difficult. Also, some students end up not going to school because theyre too embarrassed to ask for the school. We have the resources, we have the support from the community, we have the support from the ftma. All we need is for you to make the right decision and to invest in the children. Although you might not have five children of your own and you might not be low income yourself we expect you to have compassion for those that are. Thank you. You. Next speaker. Good morning.
Link. Other systems also are struggling with the issue of the cost of youth transit, both monthly passes or individual fares. I raised two kids in the Public School system. They took muni. If i hadnt been able to get a free pass for myself throughnoje muni Access Committee i would have had great financial difficulty. I think you need to stop and look atykjy whats been overlo. Youth cant work. They dont get a job if youre 8 years old. We heard the discussion that maybe seniors and disabled should get free passes. You know, im part of that constituency, but seniors and people with disabilities can get access to some money sources. Maybe a Social Security pension, maybe ssi, Social Security disability insurance. The fact is youth dont have that access to money. We, who are seniors, or have a disability maybe we can work part time. Account even though two mayors, brown and newsom talked about free muni for seniors they did nothing to really push for it. The last page of the preparation sho
But working in collaboration with the mayors office, supervisor and members of the community to address those needs. If you look at how transit is currently affecting youth yud know there are tremendous needs out there. Increases incessant coupled with budget cuts is putting our youth further behind. We know these needs exist and we know theyre obvious. We saw ed2mj[u risken present te is a 40 drop in ridership. If you needed more evidence that this is an issue youth is experiencing its there before you. We want to emphasize on behalf of the Youth Commission that access to transit month should not only be privileges for those who can afford them but are a right that should be enjoyed and benefited by everybody in the city and county of San Francisco. We also feel that by supporting the muni for Youth Program what you are doing is investing in a new generation of transit ridership. If we are a transitfirst city then we need to own up to that and this is an exact opportunity that we can
People with disabilities can get access to some money sources. Maybe a Social Security pension, maybe ssi, Social Security disability insurance. The fact is youth dont have that access to money. We, who are seniors, or have a disability maybe we can work part time. Account even though two mayors, brown and newsom talked about free muni for seniors they did nothing to really push for it. The last page of the preparation shows that only maybe 24 of the allotment would go towards this Youth Support program. Thats important to keep in mind. The resolution doesnt say all for maintenance, it says prioritize. You could look at munis plans and say theyre consistent with the resolution. But please dont push for all of it. Youth cant work and im going to say also, too many elected officials at city hall dont have kids, or dont have kids that really need transit because their family can drive them. We want to change the youth mind that they dont think about needing to be driven to and from school
Going to school because theyre too embarrassed to ask for the school. We have the resources, we have the support from the community, we have the support from the ftma. All we need is for you to make the right decision and to invest in the children. Although you might not have five children of your own and you might not be low income yourself we expect you to have compassion for those that are. Thank you. You. Next speaker. Good morning. My name is gallegos i work with lavos latina we work in the tenderloin and we work with many families, im not sure you know the high concentration of children that do live in the tenderloin. And i find it quite shocking because i grew up in a town where bus, schools, yellow bus you were iew bib which tus and the fact they have failed our children is a disappointment. Many youth and families that youll hear from shortly use sometimes they cant afford, they have to choose, two kids can ride muni and one cant. That shouldnt have to be a choice in todays da