Monday, September 12, 2005

THE FARE STRIKE IS ON!
PAY MORE TO WAIT LONGER? NO WAY!

NO MUNI FARE HIKE!
NO MUNI SERVICE CUTS!

The fare strike continues, and goes on until Muni reverses its fare hike and service cuts. Basta!

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BELOW:
* New service cuts scheduled for September 24?
* Update on Muni revenue
* Muni thuggery revisited
* Wages down, fares up, Burns gone

NEW SERVICE CUTS SCHEDULED FOR SEPTEMBER 24?

Many riders have noticed that they are waiting longer and longer for the bus, and that they are more crowded when they finally show up. But trying to figure out what is going on is not so easy.

Last week, Muni quietly posted a notice on their website that a new round of service cuts is scheduled to take effect on September 24. This posting included two charts, one showing "changes in routes, and hours and days of service" for several lines, and an even longer chart showing lines that will have fewer buses running at longer intervals. These charts had been up on Muni's website, in one form or another, for months, although without the specific implementation date.

Then, sometime over the weekend, the longer chart showing which lines will have fewer buses disappeared from the website. Has Muni suddenly had a change of heart? Did they find a big pile of cash? Or are they trying to hide something from us? We don't know. And who knows what will be on Muni's website when you read this bulletin. Check it out yourself, at http://www.sfmuni.com/cms/rptpub/SFMuniProposedServiceAdjustments.htm#routing.

UPDATE ON MUNI REVENUE

Muni management blew a gasket after our last bulletin, which exposed the fact that the September 1 fare hike has not yet produced any new revenue at the farebox, and that farebox revenue actually appears to be dropping, according to Muni's own figures. Muni has tried to spin this fact away, but when the fare goes up by 20% and cash revenue stays flat or goes down something is very wrong.

One argument Muni management is now making is that more people may be buying fast passes, and thus not paying the cash fare. This may or may not be true, but at this point it is pure speculation. There is no way for Muni, or anybody else, to know how many September passes are being sold until they collect the unsold passes from the vendors later in the month. Even if it turns out to be true that more people are buying passes, it is hard to imagine that this alone will make up for all the missing cash revenue.

More significantly, what about the riders who can't afford a $45 fast pass at the beginning of the month? What about riders who don't ride every day, and for whom a fast pass just isn't a good deal? And what about people who buy the weekly pass, which has been raised from $12 to $15? These riders are getting the shaft, no matter how many more fast passes are being sold.

What role is the fare strike playing in all this? It is hard to calculate how many people are actively participating in the fare strike at this point, but it certainly is more than Muni wants to admit. The dirty little secret that many Muni riders have discovered is that, right now, the vast majority of drivers don't seem to give a hoot whether or not a rider pays the fare. Nor do they seem to care whether we board in the front or the back, despite all those signs on the back doors. You are not going to read this in the Chronicle or the Examiner (or, for that matter, in the Bay Guardian), but that doesn't make it any less true.

On Friday, last week, we asked Muni for any new figures they have on Muni revenues after Labor Day. That was the last day for which we had figures at the time of our last bulletin. We were told that we now have to direct all information requests to Maggie Lynch, Muni's public relations officer. We've left a couple of messages, but so far, Lynch isn't answering our calls. We will let you know when she does, if she does, and tell you what she says.

MUNI THUGGERY REVISITED

The Bay Guardian weighed in this week with a scatological piece about the Muni rider who was arrested on the first day of the fare hike after a Muni security guard pulled him out of the bus by the seat of his pants. In a sensationalistic article more fit for a Hearst paper, some of the essential facts got waylaid. In any event, the arrested Muni rider was arraigned last Tuesday. His assault charge was dropped from a felony to a misdemeanor, and he was ordered released on his own recognizance. Nevertheless, the men at Bryant Street didn't release him until late Wednesday, which is a clear violation of the law, and may cost the City a few bucks, according to our legal team. We'll keep you posted.

WAGES DOWN, FARES UP, BURNS GONE

Average wages in California did not keep up with inflation for the second year in a row, according to a report from Bloomberg News carried in the SF Examiner. "It's pretty strange to see a second year of falling wages in the third year of a recovery," said Arindrajit Dube, a researcher with the University of California at Berkeley. Not only that, but there are still fewer Californians with jobs than there were before the recession began in 2001.

News like this only rubs salt in the wounds of those working class folks forced to pay more for less Muni service. But, then again, Michael Burns, who amazingly still has a job, got a raise from $280,000 to $290,000 when he jumped ship at Muni headquarters and headed to San Jose to mess with their transit system. Let's see, that $290,000 would be 1.16 million quarters...

THE FARE STRIKE IS ON!
PAY MORE TO WAIT LONGER? NO WAY!

NO MUNI FARE HIKE!
NO MUNI SERVICE CUTS!