To the SFMTA Board:

I am writing to strongly encourage you NOT to make any changes to the Mission Street transit lanes that would slow down service.  

I am a frequent transit rider who lives in the Haight and often visits the Mission, especially to shop and visit friends, either via the 33-Stanyan, 22-Fillmore, BART, and other Muni routes, plus via bicycle and the occasional auto trip.  I often visit Mission Street establishments including Sycamore, Noisebridge, Balancoire, Mission Pie, La Taqueria, El Farolito, Cancun, Alamo Cinema and Drafthouse, Duc Loi Market, and many more, most often by mass transit or bike.

In my experience the transit lanes are working exactly as designed – speeding service for myself and the other 67,000 daily riders with limited inconvenience for auto drivers, and also improving conditions for the thousands of pedestrians who walk on Mission daily.  This is exactly what we have voted for repeatedly, all the way back to the first Transit-First Policy in 1973!

There’s always room for improvement, of course.  I would encourage the SFMTA to improve signage, especially for northbound drivers who should be using South Van Ness, only two blocks east.  Transit lanes should not be confusing for anyone.

But please do not bow to the complaints of a few and take away this major improvement in transit service for tens of thousands of riders – most of whom are also pedestrians and shoppers in the Mission.  Keep Mission Red!

Thanks,

Andrew Sullivan