It looks like we are getting our way! THANK YOU David and Dan, who have led this effort.
Andrew
$10 Increase in Fast Pass Derailed by Willie Brown
Edward Epstein, Chronicle Staff Writer
Wednesday, August 12, 1998
©1998 San Francisco Chronicle
URL:
http://www.sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?file=/chronicle/archive/1998/08/12/MN40014.DTL
Mayor Willie Brown pulled the plug yesterday on the Municipal Railway's plan to
charge customers who ride BART within San Francisco $10 more a month for
their Fast Passes.
His decision means that for the foreseeable future, holders of Muni Fast Passes
will still be able to ride BART for no additional fare within the city.
Brown denied that politics had anything to do with his decision. But it was
obvious his supporters on the Board of Supervisors who are up for election didn't
want to have to vote on a fare increase for some Muni riders.
If the Public Transportation Commission had approved Muni director Emilio
Cruz's proposal to charge $45 for a monthly Fast Pass good on BART and Muni,
the plan would have been sent on to the supervisors and Brown for their approval.
``I don't think there will be a vote on the agreement tonight,'' Brown said
yesterday morning. When the commission, made up of Brown appointees, met in
the early evening, members postponed a vote on Cruz's plan until at least
September 8.
Under Muni's existing agreement with BART, every time a holder of a $35 Fast
Pass rides BART within the city, BART gets 76 cents from Muni. In the last fiscal
year, Muni paid out $6.5 million, a figure that has increased steadily in recent
years.
Cruz said the situation had become intolerable because the payout was rising so
much, with the money coming out of Muni's operating funds. BART wanted
more, mainly because directors from other counties objected to the bigger subsidy
being given to Muni riders than to other BART patrons.
The proposed agreement would have paid BART 73 percent of the revenue from
sales of the $45 so-called Fast Pass Plus. Cruz expected to sell about 17,000 of
them.
Both Cruz and BART spokesman Mike Healy said the current agreement, due to
expire at the end of September, will remain in effect as long as progress is being
made on a settlement.
Brown promised that ``ultimately, there will be a worked-out agreement in which
there will be no need for an increase in the price of a Fast Pass.''
Supervisor Mabel Teng, who chairs the supervisors' Finance Committee,
expressed relief that the fare increase won't be coming to the board before the
election.
She also said the city already pays BART enough. ``BART is outrageous. We're
subsidizing them, with all the people we carry on Muni who come in from the
suburbs.''
Cruz said he doubted BART will budge from its position, which means Muni will
have to continue paying more. He would prefer not to continue tapping Muni's
operating budget.
``If there's a way for the overall budget to be compensated so I don't have to take
operating funds, we will do that,'' he said.
In other action, the Muni commission authorized Cruz to enter final negotiations to
piggyback onto an AC Transit bus order and buy 45 new diesel buses. The buses
would cost $12.5 million, with all the money coming from city funds.
©1998 San Francisco Chronicle Page A17