A Spoonful of SF Muni Delays, Cafeteria Squabbles, and Bubble Tea Straws
Week of July 23, 2018 — San Francisco by the municipal spoonful
A spoonful of detection behind exceptionally long Muni wait times
If you’re a regular Muni rider (like myself), you may have noticed much longer wait times at your regular bus stop(s) these past few weeks. The good news is that the mystery behind your morning Muni frustrations is mystery no more. SF’s most-used transit system is suffering from an operator shortage due to a combination of training backlog, the Twin Peaks tunnel shutdown, and disgruntled Muni operators quitting over poor pay and benefits. With some 30 Muni lines missing over 10 service hours each day (and that’s the lower end), the city-wide Muni slowdown can be felt in wait times of up to 48 minutes and overful busses flying by stops altogether. And it’s not just your average Janes who are suffering — even state Senator Scott Weiner took to Twitter to air his Muni grievances. The bad news is that the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) seems to be taking a “let’s wait it out” approach to the problem. Yes, they’re supposedly adding more training staff and trying to lure back retired operators, but Muni head of operations John Haley pretty much said the light at the end of the tunnel is, quite literally, the light at the end of the Twin Peaks tunnel…when it reopens at the end of August and frees up more operators.
#CafeteriaBan: Sending tech workers out to lunch
Frankly, there is a lot of pending local (and state) legislation that could be rubbing SF tech companies the wrong way (read: privacy, TNC tax, homelessness GRT). But the one that seems to be causing the most grumblings is a proposal to ban in-house cafeterias in all future San Francisco office buildings. Why is the city trying to take away tech workers’ free lunch? The bill’s sponsors, Supervisors Ahsha Safaí and Aaron Peskin (with support from the Golden Gate Restaurant Association), argue that company-subsidized chow is keeping all the tech bros in their kennels rather than sending them — and their dollars (crypto currencies?) — out to local restaurants. Those towing the other side of the aisle, however, ask, ‘Since when did it become the responsibility of tech companies to look after neighborhood restaurants?’ Still others argue that tech’s infamous in-house cafeterias fuel the local economy, just not the restaurant biz, by employing a good number of San Franciscans to keep all the food operations running smoothly. Perhaps one takeaway we can all agree on is not to underestimate the passion food can inspire.
When ride-hail dreams don’t actually become traffic reality
Born in SF, rideshare companies Lyft and Uber took off in other U.S. cities with grand promises to radically transform urban transportation and cut down on congestion. The first claim is true — some 24–43% of Americans have used one of the ride-hailing apps (see the reason behind the big percentage gap here). On the second point, however, the two tech companies are feeling a bit sheepish and defensive after a recent study revealed that Transportation Network Companies, or TNCs, have actually put more cars on the road and increased traffic in nine major cities, including SF. According to the report’s author (and newfound Lyft/Uber nemesis), Bruce Schaller, the real problem arises from shared rides (i.e. Lyft Line and UberPool). In a fit of sheer laziness, people now opt for a cheap ride with a few strangers over an extended walk or bike ride. Both Lyft and Uber have contested Schaller’s findings, but remain reticent to share data (more on that in an earlier post), so we don’t know exactly what this all means for our beloved city.
Bubble tea woes in the wake of straw ban
Receiving first-round approval by the Board of Supervisors, the ordinance to ban plastic straws, stirrers, and toothpicks in SF looks close to passing. Among those most concerned about the ban, which would go into effect July 1, 2019, are the city’s bubble tea shops. Boba, aka bubble tea, is practically a fixture of SF, with some 250 local businesses selling the Taiwanese drink. And now that the trademark 11-millimeter straws used to slurp up the tapioca pearls are under imminent threat, SF boba retailers are racing to find a cost-efficient alternative. This is proving to be quite the challenge as plastic is easy on the pennies, if not on our penguins. Looks like paper and seaweed-based straws may be on our bubble tea horizons.
Spooning out the Dough
Ever thought about renting SF’s historic Palace of Fine Arts for an evening of fun? You can…for a mere $272,000. Granted, that’s high-season pricing (holiday partays!), but the 100+ year-old building ain’t cheap at any time of the year.
