please stand by for the san francisco county transportation authority board meeting of april 23, 2024.

>> morning everybody. welcome to it april 23 meeting of the san francisco county transportation authority board. i serve as chair of the board. the vice chair and supervisor

melgar. i want to thank megan and the clerk yvette lopez jessop. will you please call the roll? >> yes, commissioner chan, absent. commissioner dorsey, present. commissioner engardio, present. chair mandelman, present. vice chair melgar, absent. commissioner peskin, present. commissioner preston, absent. ronan absent. commissioner safai, absent. commissioner stefani, present. commissioner walton, present. we have quorum. >> thank you madam clerk. i think you have a public comment announcement. >> yes, i do.

thank you. for members of the public interested in participating in the meeting we welcome attendance here in person in the legislative chamber room 250 in city hall. or may watch channel 26 or 99 or stream the meeting at www.sfgovtv.org. to make public comment the best way is dial 415-655-0001. enter access code 26646110156 then press # and # again. you will be able to listen to the meeting in real time. when public comment is called for the item you wish to speak on press * 3 to be added to the queue. do you not press * 3 or you will be removed from the queue. the operator will advice you have 2 minutes to speak. when the 2 minutes are up we will move to the next caller. calls are taken in the order received.

best practice is speak slowly, slowly and . public comment will be taken first from members of the public in attendedance and from the queue on the telephone line. thank you. >> thank you madam clerk. vice chair melgar is not able to be here today and asked to be excused. commissioner preston will be late and asked to be excused from the items he misses. i will grant both excuses unless anyone has objection. i want to invoke 3.26 from rules of order to limit public comment for 30 minutes. it is intention to give each speaker two minutes unless indicating otherwise at the start of the item. madam clerk, please call the next item. >> item 2, chairs report. information item.

>> colleagues, consistent with the connect sf long range program and srk f climate action plan, we are investing year round engreen house gas reducing products. in the transit system. these investments inhadclude caltrain electrification, new bart vehicles and sfmta fleet and facility electrification. every day bart riders save us 1.2 million miles of driving and 52 thousand gallons of gas they would other would use. my office is working with ta staff, mta staff and department of environment on ev charging facility program. the ta is supporting the port of san francisco on waterfront rehab and resilience and br yond the items we continue to support other transit oriented development, bike, pedestrian and tree planting projects. caltrain successfully conducted testing of the new electric trains

between san francisco and san jose marking a milestone in the lect rifaigz project. april 14 the new [indiscernible] 52 miles alignment. later this months caltrain will conduct live testing of complete san francisco to san jose corridor with electric trains reaching track speed of 79 miles per hour. the trains will be quieter cleaner and deliver faster and more frequent service including doubling freakancy on weekends. congrat ulations to caltrain and look forward to the start in the fall. the public is inviting to the san mateo electric train celebration in san carlos saturday may 11. thank you again commissioner walton for your service on the caltrain jpa.

i want to congratulate the upper market corridor safety improvement project recognized with local street and road comploot streets award by the california state association of counties. the project is located in my district on market street between octavia and castro and features pneumerate upgrades including 31 new curb ramps, cross walks, high visibility traffic signal and new bike ramps. including widen sidewalks, bulb outs and bording island with special railings. thanks to san francisco public works, sfmta, planning department and our own county transportation authority which provided sales tax funding for the project. i want to thank assembly members ting and haney offering regulatory bills and fire chief darious luttropp and tilly chang testifying at the assembly transportation committee yesterday.

also want to thank the committee i believe for forwarding these bills onward. important we update california laws governing the fast growing industry as continuing to join the market in san francisco and across the state. and also of course thanks to commissioner peskin for keeping all of us focused on this isue. with that, i conclude my remarks. i see no questions or comments from colleagues. is there anybody in the chamber who wants to comment on item 2? don't see anyone. any remote public comment on item 2? >> there is no remote public comment. >> alright. public comment on item 2 is closed. madam clerk, please call the next item. >> item 3, executive director report. information item. >> thank you. good morning chair mandelman, commissioners.

pleased to begin my prort with a add-on to chair mention about the av bills proceeding through the legislature this month. we learned this month zukes a av provider owned by amazon.com is authorized by the california dmv to expand the driverless testing operations to parts of san francisco this month. zukes has been testing with safety drivers since 2016 and obtained to test driverlessly in foster city in 2020. under the new april 2024 permit zukes will be allowed to conduct driverless operations in san francisco initially in the south of market neighborhood with a bidirectional autonomous vehicle with no breaks and no steering wheel. we are seeking additional details about the operational design domain or odd and understanding their permitted operations for all of san francisco. initial media reports indicate the authorization is for weekend

day time operations only, stow we'll keep you posted on the developments. turning to senate bill 1031, the connect bay area act, amended by senators wiener and [indiscernible] there is no language released prior to the senate hearing today. the amendments include revised language around transit agency consolidation, new language providing financial guardrails for transit operators related to regional network management and potentially fare integration and detailed revenue expenditure framework that insures minimum return to source of 70 percent to counties in the bay area funding most or all the region transit operator short-falls depending on the size of the revenue measure. this bill will be considered later today at the senate transportation committee meeting and tomorrow at the senate revenue and taxation

committee meeting and we will keep you posted. as you recall, we have a support amendment position on this bill. next turning to the local level, we have a update in the geary boulevard improvement project. earlier this month sfmta held open house to share proposals and seek feedback on community enhancements that foster a sense of identity and other enhancements in the corridor, community members weighed in on sidewalk pavers and decorative concrete, street trees and neighborhood identity markers to focus on locations where there is a opportunity to coordinate with future construction work for that bus rapid transit project. this is for the 38r and rapid bus stop locations to learn more about the proposals, please provide feedback at sfmta.com/projectupdates and

geary boulevard improvement project. next a update of delivery of quick build and muni forward projects. funded by the transportation authority. sfmta continues to make progress on quick builds including lincoln way that reached substantial completion this month. bringing pedestrian safety improvements to 3 miles of roadway alongside golden gate park. the improvements include cross walks, painted safety zones, left turn safety daylighting and up graded bus stops. on 17th street, along potrero avenue to pennsylvania avenue, the quick build project is scheduled to begin construction at the end of this month and those up grades include protected bikeway daylighting painted safety zones and curb management. last month sfmta board approved also red lane frz the k

inglesidelight rail mune route consistent with the mobility action plan last year. this is ocean avenue from [indiscernible] to lee and includes transit lanes markings, pedestrian bulbs and rapid flashing beacons so great progress on those fronts. at the sales force transit center we see wayfinding advances with phase one replacement work starting which is replacing 200 media players at kiosks throughout the center. this work will greatly enhance the digital way finding at the center improving reliability and functionality of the way finding sishm and community visitor experience by connecting folks to transit connections more easily to the public at the open space at the center roof top park and

elsewhere in the facility. finally, pleased to report that last week our staff welcomed middle and high school kudants from san francisco and east bay to the second girls in motion spring 2024 summit and annual event introducing girms to careers in transportation. this was sponsored and organized by the american council engineer ing companies and the california bay area chapter of women transportation seminar wt is rks, the san francisco bay chapter so we want to thank the organizers allowing us to host and share in the wonderful events. it featured panel discussion programming and planning and other aspects of the field and hands on activity the student designed multimodal intersection with teams and professionm mentors. i want to thank our whole staff

lead by cynthia fong, finance administration for working with acec and wts to organize the special event and we look forward participating in many more and grow the next generation of transportation leaders. thank you. >> thank you madam executive drether. i do not see comments or questions. see if there is any public comment on your report? anyone in the chamber wants to talk about the executive director's report, please come up. let's see if we have remote public comment on item 3. >> there is no remote public comment. >> public comment on item 3 is closed. madam clerk, please call item 4. >>etum 4, approve the minutes of april 16, 2024 meeting. this is action item. >> open the item to public comment. anybody in the chamber with comment on item 4, come up? i dont see anyone. let's see if there is remote public comment on item 4? >> yes, chair, there is. i'm going to the caller right

now. >> good morning chair mandelman, commissioners. [indiscernible] i like to brink to your attention the fact the minutes are not posted on the agenda on the west side so wondering if you can delay approval to the next regularly scheduled meeting of the authority. thank you. >> thank you caller. >> we have anybody else? >> there is no additional comment. >> public comment on item 4 is closed. as i look at the agenda, that looks correct to me. do we typically have the minutes on the website? >> on the website there isn't a separate link for the draft

mntsd, but the draft minutes are included in the link on the website. it is possible if we want to post it separately as well. >> do we care? you are saying there are other ways the public could find those minutes if they wanted to, but normally we would have a link under 4 which takes the public to those minutes? >> correct. >> there is a request. do i just to continue this item to our next -do we need a vote or just do it? >> you can just are do it. >> just do it and move to the next agenda. great. madam clerk, could you please call our consent agenda items 5-7? >> yes. consent agenda items 5-7 comprise the consent agenda. staff is not planning to present but is available for questions. >> thank you. is there a motion to approve the consent agenda? moved by dorsey, seconded by

walton. madam clerk, please call the roll. >> commissioner chan, absent. commissioner dorsey, aye. commissioner engardio, aye. chair mandelman, aye. commissioner peskin, aye. commissioner preston, absent. commissioner ronan, aye. commissioner safai, absent. commissioner stefani, aye. commissioner walton, aye. we have on the motion to approve consent agenda, we have 7 ayes and the motion is approved. >> thank you madam clerk. i received a request from commissioner safai to be excused from votes on the agenda which i'll grant. madam clerk, could you please

call our next item? >> item 8, next generation bay area free way update. a information item. >> good morning. just by way of a brief introduction to this item, which is a presentation by mtc, the lead agency for the next generation bay area free way study, which is meant to reimagine the role of freeway throughout the region in better meeting the climate and mobility goals that we have by looking at all lane tolling. this strategy for all lane tolling was included in plan bay area 2050, because without it the plan was not able to meet the green house gas emission reduction targets it needs to achieve. mtc is asking is there a equitable and effective way to implement this strategy to achieve our goals.

they have conducted midway through the study conducted several rounds of outreach, round of analysis, presentation to the mtc committee. they do run an executive and staff level advisory group we sit on to provide feedback. mtc will describe their schedule and what they anticipate to be their timeframe and what recommendations might look like, including 10 year implementation plan as part of what they bring forward through the study. with that, let me introduce mtc. >> hello, mtc. >> thank you. good morning commissioners and thank you for the opportunity for us to share about our ongoing study. the next generation bay area freeway study. i'm a principle planner in the

regional planning team and the project manager for the study as well. we began the study in 2022 in partnership with caltrans. the study is first implementation action of the freeway tolling strategy that is one of the 35 interconnected strategies in plan bay area 205o, the most recently adopted regional plan. we acknowledge that freeway congestion while rampant and effect many people on every dare day basis is not the most important problem the region is facing today in housing shortage, homelessness, the transit fiscal cliff, recovery down down crime and safety, however we know that it is not a simple policy and starting the groundwork and trying to explore whether pricing as a role to play in the future. we are working closely with two advisory groups, staff and executive level and this is composed of

not just government staff and non governmental staff from business, labor, citizen representatives and non profits. i meant to come to this slide now. long-term view is that bay area congestion problem doesn't stand to get better unless we shift gears. one thing our freeways are largely over capacity with drivers responding 100 hours in traffic. there is also a economic cost to this. workers who travel to multiple job sites spend more time driving between locations and less time to work and earn money. delay freight movement which increase the cost of goods. thecurrent state of freeways is exacerbating inequities due to higher housing cost, drivers are moving farther away creating longer more expensive commutes. all this mounting congestion is deterring from achieving the

aggressive climate goals a urgent need for us all. next slide, please. we address congestion over the years with a range of strategies. new lanes, express lanes, transit, commuter parking, transit oriented development and many still continue to be really important strategies in our tool kit to decrease the depenedance on driving but may not address the elephant in the room which is people want or need to drive alone and do so for a multitude of reasons. the jobs and housing imbalanced, the land use is across the region, transit options are inefficient and all this makes freeways a valuable public good. there is really strong demand for it. the current system is not equitable if those who absolutely need to use the freeway are not able to do so relibly so may need a shift in the uch future to change usage patterns.

why are we exploring pricing? first, pricing has the potential to lower overall miles driven and more specifically miles driven in congested conditions thereby helping advance climate goals. second, related, has the power fooshift driving pattern incentivizeing more efficient hethy sustainable ways to get around. the concept of freeway pricing is similar what utilities companies use. they charge more to use electricity in the peak hours with the hope you run your applianceing later in the night or weekends. capacity is constrained and we cannot build our way out of congestion so a similar concept with freeway pricing. the goal is to not shift everyone out of the cars, it isn't to get everyone into buses and trains, but there is a share of people who have flexibility in their travel patterns during peak hours and so that's who the freeway

price is intended to target. finally, pricing could also generate revenue that help enhance the transportation system and we can discuss how we prioritize investments using those avenues. as part of the studies public engagement we identified a set of 5 goals that have been guiding all our analysis in the study. reliable, efficient, affordable, reparative and safe. you may be wondering how can freeways be more affordable ifee are talking pricing roads? we recognize low income drivers will find it challenges to afford a toll and not oblivious to the fact of the high cost of living in the region. many struggle to make ends meet so no doubt we need to inclut appropriate mitigations. affordable is also cost effective. are we getting time back in our days that is commensurate with the amount of

tolled paid? the idea of road pricing is bring value to the users that use them and not just a money grab. the study also acknowledges that many low income communities have born and continue to bear the brunt of freeway barriers in the neighborhoods. the reparative goal is about how freeways begin to address that and support reparative infrastructure investment in light of the historic disinventment in those communities. next slide, please. as i mentioned, freeway pricing is one of 35 strat agencies in the plan. all work together to advance better access to jobs, better mobility, lower emissions and so that is freeway pricing is no means a silver bullet, it cannot solve the problem of congestion by itself or emissions, so we are not studying in isolation. the pricing is meant for all the strategy to work in tandem. all the major transit project

complete street initiatives, clean vehicle initiatives all must work together with pricing and that's what the plan is trying to get at, our goals from different directions. next slide, please. next slide, please. how does pricing fit into the larger picture? looking at the left side of the slide which shows the layer of road pricing in the bay area today. at the bottom is gas tax our stable foundation of pricing insuring stable revenue to fund transportation system and you be aware the state is exploring the state wide road user charge to potentially substitute the gas tax and revenue neutral ways. above the foundation we have rich tolling infrastructure in the bay area with tolls and express lanes. they may manage demand, they play specific roles. the bridge tolls pay for bridge operation, retrofit and investment in the bridge corridors while

express lanes provide a reliable travel lane to car pool and transit. the layer at the top is the focus of the study, pricing to manage demand on the most heavily used facilities in the region and meant to complement any state wide charge. the ground is shifting in the u.s. to more seriously consider pricing of tool to manage demand. california various plans from the state transportation agency, caltrans, the air resources board all call for pricing solutions to manage demand. the federal government is also unlocking resources and reducing hurtles to plan for pricing to manage demand. there is a provision to permit 10 urban regions in the use to price all lanes of interstate highways. opening that door, which previously been close since inception of interstate highways. highways have been part of realty for

decades for so many regions in the u.s. some of the states have large networks of tolled highways and people are acustom to driving on tolled highways. we along with other regions from portland to la alang the west coast explore pricing specifically as a tool to manage demand on existing highways rather then build new roads. pricing would be a major policy shift and no meaning happening tomorrow or this decade, but it will require years of groundwork and this study is meant to be a early action planning study. there first step is adopting into the plan. we are here in the study past the mid-way point completing 2 rounds of public engagement, analysis and in the second round of analysis.

the road to implementation will necessitate planning study detail design, transit improvement, public information campaigns, legislative approval and pilots. we recognize the current climate isn't suited for a policy shift. there are more important issues like i said in the beginning of the presentation, but we also recognize the road to implementation is a long one and we need to make baby steps ahead. next slide, please. i think i have given enough background about the study without talking about the study itself. what are we exactly doing? this is identifying whether there are equitable pathways centered on pricing to meet our region equity mobility climate goals. we know pricing strategies have significant equity concerns. we are exploring pricing stat ags in

conjunction with meaningful suite of complementary strategy and think how to be a tool to advance equity rather then hurt equity. we are not talking strategy that impact pricing with exemptions and discounts, but how can tolling revenues be used to fund strategies that make our transit options more robust, streets safer and advance equitable outcomes. together we are calling that package pricing and complementary strategies pathways. pathways towards next generation freeways. the objective of the study is to recommend equitable politically acceptable pathways and narrow down future efforts after the study. next slide, please. what pricing strategies-what are we exploring? in this second round we are studying three pricing strategies that are a major policy shift. the first is all lane highway tolling that toll all lanes of all major

highways in the region. tolls would be based on distance traveled and vary by time of day and location depending on the level of congestion. we are not thinking about as dynamic tolls but preset tolls as users need predictability in making choices. while all lane toll has potential to manage demand, a major concern is diversion to local streets. people skipping the tolls and using the local streets and downstream impact that can bring to local street congestion and safety. the second strategy we are exploring is regional mileage based user fee. that is a simple uniform per mile fee onch all times and all roads, including local streets. mileage based fees are better suited to raise revenue rather then manage congestion. facility based pricing is

better to manage congestion:mileage bay base fees are less expinsive and may not result in diversion to local streets and may still have the potential to curb vehicle miles traveled. the third is a combination of both. in the first round of analysis, which we completed last year, we explored two other pricing strategies. we studied all lane highway tolling along with tolling of major arterial to think whether that can limit the diversion issue i have been talking about. we are no longer prur sue pursuing the strategy because of the operational complexity that involved tolling specific local streets. we also studied in the first round the potential of [indiscernible] in the downtown of the three biggest cities including san francisco. while there were strong positive impact of the local level, mainly in san francisco, we were not seeing major regional scale shifts we want

to see in vmt and traffic congestion on freeways so not pursuing that either in the second round of analysis. shifting attention to the bottom half of the page we eval waet the benefit of continuing the build out of ecexpress lane with three different aumgzs. lane expansion. second through only lane conversions and third also exploring converting the second additional lane for dual express lane throughout the region which has their own pros and cons. next page, please. i talked about the pricing strategy and complementary strategy. pathways are meant to be combinations of the two. we have been engaging with our group jz communities to determine what is the right way, the optimal way of reinvestment toll revenue to help achieve the 5 goals mentioned. this slide shows one scenario in the

first round of analysis, 50 percent of the revenues would be dedicated to transit improvements, mainly focus enhancing transit as a alternative to driving. 25 percent to local streets. mainly focus on road safety and sidewalk and are bike lane upgrades and the remainder split into discounts for low income as well as investment in low income communities adjacent to freeways. that doesn't mean the first 75 percent of the investment is not equitty focused. those strategies can also prioritize. this distribution of revenue what the mix is remains ongoing discussion and how thinking how to maximize the benefit and maximize the equity coming out of revenues from road pricing. next slide, please. what did we learn about all

lane tolling from the first round of analysis? in the first round, looking at the gray bar, we studied all lane tolling for that map of corridors. we were considering highways that only had frequent transit so limited set of corridors. we studied tolling on all lanes. tolls vary by place and time of day ranging from 10 to 30 cents per mile during peak hours so up to $3 for a 10 mile segment. but lower or 0 tolls midday and no tolls night and weekend and 50 percent discount. we saw positive outcomes. fewer free way trips in peak hours. see 20 to 40 percent reduction in trips during the peak hours. we also saw reduction in trachbl times up to 25 percent on certain

busy segments of freeway corridors. we also saw limited affordability impact for most low income residents. what do i mean? there is perception tolls and highways means everyone is heavily burdened. over 50 percent do not use-would not use toll freeways during peak hours. because travel within their county or use transit. even on those they may travel short dist ances and driving every day of the week. we know higher income drivers represent a larger share of peak freeway users relative to the share of population. what we found is only 6 percent of lower income houses see monthly expenses above $25 with those toll level s i mentioned. what we saw is there a opportunity for targeted cost burden relief for the high frequency users.

with the toll revenue reinvested in transit we saw road pricing has a strong potential to redistribute revenue bringing greater benefit then burden for low income population. only 6 percent came from the bottom 25 percent of population while 30 to 40 percent of the benefits again, depends how you allocate the revenues, would be accrued to the group. what challenges did we see we are trying to address in round 2? diversion is a major concern and so we are testing strategy like making streets more friendly, roaddites and lower speed limits which advansh safety goals and boosting transit frequency rather then focusing so much on regional transit to alleviate the diversion on local streets. we continue to think how to

best allocate the revenue to increase mode share and then also studying how can we best enhance affordsability for those high frequency low income drivers and evaluating different strategies like capping monthly polls as a fixed amount for this group of drivers and discounts. how to optimize tolls at climate cleanse because that is so important for larger planning process for the region so as part of this based we are shifted from the map on the left of tolling limited set of corridors and expanding tolling to all highways in the region and not just those shown on the map. we have much more to study and learn in the planning study i are trying to answer so many questions, but also want to emphasize this is a early action study. we want to make meaningful progress and may not answer all our questions but we want to make progress and narrow down

future efforts. last slide, please. our next steps really quick. we are hoping to wrap the second round of analysis in the summer after which we'll work closely with stakeholders to develop recommendations and think about a high level 10 year road map of what actions or studies might be needed down the road. again, thank you for the opportunity and happy to hear opinions and take questions. >> thank you for your presentation. questions? comments? can you or someone on the staff talk about like, what happens with this study? plan bay area in order to make it all work out, what did the mtc have to say about congestion pricing that the region would somehow adopt

a-well, tell me what it said? >> one of those strategies in the plan the 35 strategies is per mile tolling on our region freeways. also some discount assumptions for lower income households so that was a strategy in the plan the commission adopted. >> so, not super presciptive how much, where, how, just the obigation is to look at this and i'm getting wide eyes from the executive-nothing over here being said. okay. what-you are doing this analysis and then who then has to act on some or given the option of acting on some regional tolling reseem?

>> i don't imag chb we will have action item but will probably look for commission approval in moving forward in the implementation road map. further recommendation from the study is meant to be incorporated into plan bay area so the commission will be adopting that. >> you are going to round 2. is round 2 the last round? >> corrects. >> how long do you think that will take? >> looking to wrap thought up in the summer and looking to feed our recommendations to plan bay area in the fall. >> plan bay area 2050 plus? >> i have 250 to check on that but believe it has to be-24 draft has to be adopted this fall. >> okay. >> i can relay this back to your staff. >> alright. thank you. does our staff want to say about potential implications of this

work for san francisco? >> so, i want to thank you for agendizing the topic and hearing the item and for presenting it. we have been tracking this work and participate on the working groups. f appreciate that this is a very bold new strategy for the region and out of necessity it was added because of the need to close the green house gas per capita reduction gap. this is an initial step and we in san francisco have been studying pricing as you all know in various sort of different formats i should say. the counterdowntown pricing study is on hold and but we have been adviceing mtc as they grapple with many issues how to set your goals and how you evaluate the trades-offs and in particular address equity not only to mitigate it, but to advance through a policy such as this. in addition, we have been grappling with this approach and the

strategy as well on treasure island, which is microcosm of any other geography. this is something that i think we welcome the board guidance and the public continued input in many cases, this is the first time some of the folks in the public are hearing about such strategies but as you may know in new york city, there will be the first-nation first urban congestion pricing program launched in the june so we are starting to see the conversation here domestically in the united states not only mtc but the state again is also looking at pricing strategy and we in san francisco have been in this conversation for some time now. thank you. >> thank you. a very long time. what other jurisdictions in the bay area have undertaken some- >> right. all lane tolling is very limited. my understanding is the only

other all lane tolling policy that has been roontly approved is highway 37 which is going to be imagined as a new all price facility accept for the express lane, which a carpool i believe of hov three or more could use for free. all the other capacity on the new proposed highway 37 spans the 4 north bay counties is priced somewhat like a 9th toll bridge of the bay area. >> alright. thank you madam executive director. thank you for your presentation. lets open to public comment. anyone in the chamber who wants to talk to us about this item, please come forward. >> thanks guys. really great presentation. i learned a lot. makes you see people on bikes, the bike

movement ahead of its time. it is ahead of its time and we have to make sure bike infrastructure is able to complement the studies we are doing. the studies talk about tolling urban tolling, so it is what it is. what i want to say is, just take a step back and you know, people ar tired of being taxed. they are tired of just giving their money away for driving a car. sa new york could do it, san francisco, san francisco we dont have to compete with new york. we don't have to compete with new york, let new york be new york and san francisco be san francisco. we have our own history. we have our own way of doing things and that's not it. congestion pricing is not it. take a step back, do the study and leave it alone. come back to it maybe 10 years.

people are tired of being taxed. they dont want to pay a toll. cup of coffee cost $3. when is it going to stop? it is a great study. i learned a lot. thank you. >> thank you. see if we have remote public comment on this item. >> yes, going to remote public comment now. hello caller, your two minutes begins now. >> hello. hey, san francisco. hey, i looked at the agenda item and perplexed about this. as i understand it, vacancy rates are off. office vacancy rates are up in the city. that would mean that traffic congestion is lower because the more workers are working remotely or obviously there is a exodus from san francisco, so the studies i would want to

understand what are the traffic rates as compared to maybe 5 or 6 years ago as compared to today. very interesting and hard to project what the traffic rates will be in the future, so one thing to point out was, i don't know how valid the study is because muni and bart are very reliable modes of transportation and keep their rates down. i take muni [indiscernible] keep in mine the vacancy rates of office spaces in the city are higher now. thanks, bye. >> thanks caller. there is no additional public comment. >> alright. public comment on item 8 is closed. thank you again for the presentation and madam clerk, please call

our next item. >> item 9 rfx introduction of new items. this is information item. >> anyone with new items? please call our next item. >> item 10, public comment. >> alright. anyone would like to speak to us for general public comment, come on up. don't see anybody in the chamber. see if we have remote public comment on item 10? >> yes, chair. going to the comment. hold on just one moment. hello caller, two minutes begins now. >> hello again chair mandelman and commissioners. i would like to bring to your attention that i stopped receiving notice of meetings and agendas for about a month now and i assume i am probably not alone and this is probably the reason why there is substantially

reduced public participation in the last month or so. i very much appreciate if that could be addressed. thank you. >> thank you caller. there is no additional public comment. >> alright. public comment on item 10 is closed. madam clerk, please call our next item. >> item 11, adjournment. >> we are adjourned. >> good morning everybody!

[applause] good morning. [applause] and welcome. [applause] there's my grandma. well come. welcome to san francisco james r herman cruz terminal at pier 27. the first stop for all most 300 thousand people who come here every year from around the world to our beautiful city. i want to tell you about another jewel of the san francisco port that just

celebrated 125 years. the san francisco ferry building. [applause] in the 19th century, commuters and visitors traveled by train or ferry or both. a ferry terminal on the waterfront downtown was a practical necessity. it was the sfo of its day. grand central station. but as we so often do, san francisco built a practical space a world class beauty, with a 245 foot clock tower along arched arcade, and a interior worthy of a renaissance cathedral. at the foot of market street, a beautiful bridge from water to land, the ferry building announced to every commuter, every traveller, this is san francisco. you have arrived.

until that is, [applause] until that is, in the late 1930's when two new bridges the bay and golden gate and rise of the automobile made the ferry building seem outdated and unwanted. soon the grand interior converted to drab cuneals cubicles and in a act of urban planning catastrophes only the 1950 could respond, a double-decker slicing it from the city it served. for decades, this great landmark was isolated. nearly forgotten, a crumbling shell of its former glory. no one went there. no one bet on its future. its time had passed, but then the freeway came down and the city created a new walkable grand embarcadero with the giants on one end and the restored ferry building at the

center with patience, smart planning, investment and time. san francisco turned a discarded transit hub back into a global icon. a famous city most famous landmark as herb cane called it. today the ferry building hosts shops restaurant, artists and torests and locals and just a few month ago during apec hosted leaders from around the world. this one building at the heart of downtown says a lot about our downtown and about our city. first, beautiful places, world class desirable places are never forgotten for long. second, our local government with the right vision and right investment and right support can spark monumental turn-arounds. third, and most important,

never ever bet against san francisco. [applause] we never stay down for long. we have faced incredible challenges in the fast 5 years, two unparalleled health crisis. one in the form of covid, the other in the form of fentanyl and national reckoning on policing and sublic safety and some people inside and out of san francisco feel these challenges have overwhelmed us. i don't begrudge people frustrations. i don't dispute these have been a tough 5 years, but rather then destroying our city, the storms revealed our strengths, our spirit and service to each other. i believe past is a precursor to our rise. this is a year of the dragon and we will soar again.

[applause] we all know the story. shortly after i took office, we began to hear thisquiting reports of the new and deadly virus. soon enough, covid-19 would up end the world. san francisco declared a emergency february 2020 and then with our partners around the bay, issued the first shut-down or order in the country. my administration then marshaled department of emergency management, public health and staff throughout city government to mobilize and turn our convention center into a global command-covid command center. we cut through the bureaucratic red tape to set up testing sites, community hubs and vaccination sites around the city. city workers fanned out to tend to our most vulnerable residents and as nursing homes across the country saw ballooning death rates, we

protected our seniors at laguna honda and elsewhere. [applause] we were one of the first cities in the country to reach an 80 percent vaccination rate and as deaths climeed across the u.s. and the world, san francisco saw the lowest death rate of any large city in the country. [applause] people want to say our civic government is dysfunctional. we can't collaborate, we can't get hard things done. tell that to the thousands of san franciscans alive today because of what we did. [applause] our city faced a storm unlike anything we have seen in a hundred years. is anybody here a hundred years old? you didn't see it either. [laughter] through hard work,

collaboration, ingenuity and simple decency of people we orchestrated the most successful response in the country and as covid wane and vaccinations froze we entered the second phase of my tenure, recovery. the pandemic lead to a massive shift how our economy functions all most overnight. work from home, exposed to weakness in economies and big cities, especially tech forward san francisco, we were too dependent on fields that can work from home. our downtown had never been designed as a neighborhood with many homes and round the clock residents. downtown was office and office was hit hard. simultaneously the pandemic constrained our efforts to house the homeless. then the murder of george floyd and ensuing national reckoning

devastated police recruitment and staffing here in san francisco and around the country. even as they brought to light the systemic racism that many of us have known for far too long, the department of justice has called the police staffing shortage a national crisis. these are national challenges, exacerbated by local conditions. what did we do? we didn't throw up our hands we got to work, on public safety. we divertsed non emergency, 911 calls to free up officers while providing better overall responses for those struggling on our streets. i appointed a former hate crime prosecutor as our new district attorney and brooke jenkins began prosecuting crime. [applause] we used bate cars and plain clothe officers to disrupt auto

break ins . we coordinated every public safety agency you can name. local, state and federal. shareal miyamoto conducted deputies to conduct warrant sweeps. i appealed to governor newsom and he sent the california highway parole. delivered the u.s. attorney and drug enforcement agency to interrupt the sale and trafficking of fentanyl. [applause] and all of these efforts have paid off. we doubled the number of drug arrests in 2023. retail theft and car breakens plummeted. the arrest was 25 points higher then the national average. our crime rate is the lowest

it's been in 10 years. [applause] not including 2020 when we had to shut the city down. yes, these figures are accurate. they coincide with the arrival of the chp national guard, u.s. attorney office, da jenkins increased in prosecutions. i do recognize that some people don't feel the lower crime rate yet, and if you are someone you know is a victim of a crime, all the stats mean nothing. i understand that and i hear your concerns and that's exactly why we are not letting up. we will roll out 400 automated license plate readers at a hundred intersections across the city this month. [applause] thanks to the voters approving

proposition e on tuesday. [applause] we will be installing new public safety cameras in high crime areas, deploying drones and changing police department rules so our sworn officers are out in the field and not behind a desk. [applause] and yes, we are adding more police officers thanks to our effort san francisco is now the best paid major city in the region for starting police officers. retention is improving. officers are transferring here. we have the most police academy applicant in more then 5 years and the next academy class will be the largest since before the pandemic with 50 cadets. [applause]

with all that, we will add 200 more officers in the next year and get to full police staffing in three years. [applause] at the same time, we are not sacrificing our reform work. the san francisco police department is on track to reach the 272 department of justice reforms by april of this year. [applause] thank you to those who lead these efforts including our police chief, bill scott. [applause] of course, we can't talk about public safety without talking about the other health crisis. this is a national tragedy, fentanyl is impacting our city both large and small, urban and rule. it is awful and heart-breaking

and while i'm stepping up enforcementf oour laws because that is what our residents deserve and what pour city means, i remain absolutely committed to saving lives. our approach-- [applause] our approach is about accountability, resources and new pathways. this means arresting and prosecuting dealers, and when necessary arresting users who are a danger to themselves. it means expanding existing treatment options and creating new ones like abstinence based treatment solution. [applause] yes, offering service is critical, but frankly we must compel some people into treatment. we will have a additional tool thanks to the voters who helped pass proposition f tuesday.

[applause] and i directed the human service agency to create a action plan for prop f implementation. if we can provide cash assistance to more then 5 thousand people can screen recipients for substance use disorder and get them into treatment. [applause] and we have the services they need. including 15 free clinics across san francisco that can administer bupomor 15 day one. we are delivering the goal adding 400 new treatment beds and if governor newsom prop 1 passes we have a real opportunity to add hundreds more. we are not waiting, we are doing the work with supervisor mandelman so when the state opens the pipeline for new beds, san francisco is ready and first in line. [applause] that brings me to homelessness,

which also remains a key focus of our recovery. now, since ifen polk been mayor, we helped over 15 thousand individuals exit homelessness. we are the only county in the bay area to see unsheltered homelessness go down in the last point in time count. we did it by increasing shelter capacity by 66 percent and increasing housing for formally homeless people by over 50 percent. my office of invasion funded by bloomburg philanthropy is appointed new accountability tools to track data, outcomes and hold non profits we fund accountable. [applause] our encampment teams are bringing people indoors and bringing down the tents, despite attempts by the court and by some advocates to obstruct or efforts with city attorney david chui we fought

hard and helped more then 1500 people into shelter from encampment just over the past 6 months. [applause] the number of tents on our streets are down by 37 percent this past 6 months. at the lowest levels it has been since 2018. the other day a gentleman asked me, how can we help so many homeless people and still have thousands more? well, we know people fall into homelessness for many reasons and we have programs preventing homelessness for san franciscans every single day. but we also know we keep housing people and people do keep coming here. the advocates and some elected officials want you to believe san francisco isn't a destination. they want you to believe people don't come here for drugs or other reasons. we all know that's not true. of those arrested for public

drug use in the tenderloin and south of market over the last year, over half were not san francisco residents. half. i had enough of it and clearly the voters had enough too. we are not letting up. [applause] we are continuing to add new housing, new shelter. we are setting a new goal of a thousand people a year for homeward bound program. the program that provides unhoused people a ticket back to their home cities. [applause] and we have a new tool for those struggling with mental illness and addiction. for decades, state laws have prevented us compelling people into treatment, even if their families are begging us to do so. the people truly suffering you see walking in and out of traffic or screaming at nothing in particular, the people who

so desperately need help. i fought to change the state conservatorship laws for years and we finally succeeded. [applause] now we are implementing the changes faster then any county in the state. so far this year yee increased the number of people submitted for conservatorship by 170 percent compared to last year. that is how we make change. that is how we save lives. and of course, there is the pandemic related issues felt most acutely in san francisco. our downtown recovery. i have always believed we need to start with a question and if not, how do we make downtown what it was, but rather, what do we want our downtown of the future to be? in 2022, 2023 we worked with trade groups, business owners, builders, neighbors and city

departments to create the road map to downtown san francisco future. a comprehensive plan for a dynamic resilient downtown with resident night life and businesses. a neighborhood that keeps going around the clock, downtown 24/7. [laughter] the first year focused on stabilization, filling our empty store fronts, creating attraction and night life activity and delivering tax incentives. we recruit new businesses and continue to see new leases signed lead by ai which alone is projected to add 12 million square feet of office space by 2030. and it won't be ai alone. this is one of the most beautiful urban environments in the world with a unrivaled pool of talent and builders and

dreamers and largest collection of deployable capital in the country, but downtown cant just be about jobs, it can't just be the 9 to 5 financial district. we also need more people to live and study there. so, our new initiative, 30 by 30, 30 thousand more residents and students downtown by 2030. [applause] to do that, we first need to create more housing downtown. we already passed the few local laws to reduce fees to office conversion. our first office conversion is happening now. 32 new homes at the warfield building that would not be happening if we hadn't stepped in, and more are coming. [applause] now, we are working on state laws to change state laws with

senator scott wiener to spur production and speed up housing production downtown. that is housing, but 30 by 30 is also about bringing students down down, and a lot of them. we are working with thought leaders, business folks and educational institutions to make downtown a hub, a center of excellence. we invited the university of california and historically black call jss and universities to join us and some are coming as early as this summer! [applause] we are working with other universities and existing anchors, uc law, usf and san francisco state university. imagine, student professors researchers and employees working from dorm room to classroom to start up from the ferry building to city hall.

cross pollinating ideas, cross pollinating companies. we will lead in ai, climate tech, bio tech and things we haven't imagined yet are. housing students, invasion, that is our future. tearing out the bike lanes on market street going backwards will not move us forward and it won't magically revive downtown. [applause] but 30 thousand more people living and going to school down there will. downtown has always been the economic engine that funds the services we care about, and it is post pandemic difficulties are the driving reason for the deficit we now face. we no laupger have the luxury to penalize. we need to incentivize. so let me make two things clear, number one, the board of supervisors and i will close this deficit and we will not

weaken our public safety to do so. [applause] number two, i have a clear vision for downtown future and my administration will make it happen. [applause] our vision is a vibrant mixed use neighborhood with transit, bar s, restaurants, venues, where people live, work, study, and play. we are through the valley of covid. we endered the slings and arrows of recovery, and now we rise to our next chapter on housing. we are changing our reputation. as a city of no to a city of yes. yes. [applause] yes to reducing fees, yes to eliminating barriers and yes to any idea that overcomes

obinstruction and builds the new homes we so desperately need. there is one housing no i will commit to, any piece of anti-housing legislation that comes across my desk i will veto. [applause] every single one. we have a state mandate, so let's build our projects like the power station where we broke ground last year and treasure island just this week we relaunched a new phase of housing. let's work with our land use chair, supervisor melgar to keep advancing pro-housing laws through the board. and let's- [applause] and let's bring 30 thousand residents and students to the downtown. if we do that, more people and

more neighborhoods will be able to afford to live here. more housing means more opportunity. and san francisco will remain the city of yes for our children and their children and it's not just a vision, our work is actually delivering change. crime is at record lows. san francisco is a ai capital of the world. the birthplace of the next economic boom. the la times reports in 2022, san francisco companies raised 5 times as much funding as the companies in florida and texas combined. [applause] that is what they do to us. our small business reforms like first year free championing by supervisor ronan are filling empty storefronts across the

city. [applause] we are a national leader in early child care and education. doubling the number of kids getting care and subsidies in 2018. [applause] and paying our educators a real wage that recognizes them for the work that they do. [applause] we just hosted leaders from around the world for apec, the biggest global stage for san francisco since the signing of the united nation charter in 1945. [applause] our parks are the best in the world and we massively expanded outdoor public areas from jfk drive to india basin coming to the southern waterfront. [applause] muni is leading the bay area transit recovery, who would

have thought, willie brown? carrying more riders then all of the other regional transit operators combined. we are on pace to hit our goal of zero green house gas emission by 2040. we are launching a wnba franchise hosting [applause] hosting the nba all star game, the super ball and fifa world cup! [applause] and i envision a san francisco of walkable, safe, thriving neighborhoods with great schools that teach algebra and a strong economy. [applause] where people get the help they need and where everyone is welcomed. i want to thank the voters for supporting this vision on tuesday.

by backing these various propositions and the strong rejection of proposition b. [applause] thank you supervisors engardio and matt dorsey on algebra and police staffing and conulateulations on scott wiener, matt haeny and [indiscernible] as well as all the new comers come bravely step forward to run for county committee. [applause] and let me say something to those in the press claiming tuesday election means san francisco is not a progressive city anymore. building homes and adding treatment beds is progressive. [applause] wanting good public education

and effective police force valuing the saturday safety of seniors from chinatown to bayview, immigrant and working families in the tenderloin, is progressive. [applause] we are a progressive diverse city living together celebrating each other. lgbtq, aapi, black, latino, palestinian and jewish. [applause] that is not changed and that will not change. so, i don't know about you but i'm tired of the negativity. i'm tired of the people who talk about san francisco as if our troubles are inevitable and our success a flukement our successes are not a fluke, and they are not fleeing. they are the products of years of hard work, collaboration, investment, creativity, perseverance.

they are the output of thousands of people in government and out who believe in service, not cynicism. [applause] i want to say something to those inside san francisco and out, who traffic in negativity. to sell ads to advance right wing causes to tear others down or to simply stroke fear for their political convenience. i want to say this on behalf of the real people who you have been disparaging, on behalf of the nurses, the gardeners, janitors, counselors, commissioners, engineers, emergency workers, teachers, the transit operators who dedicate themselves to this city. [applause] on behalf-on behalf of our

firefighters, 911 dispatchers, the sheriff deputies and police officer who do life-saving work under difficult circumstances. on behalf of the small business owners thrks bartendser, the artists. on behalf of the women. on behalf- [applause] on behalf of the women here who let women everywhere know that we trust them to make their own decisions and offer them a safe haven when they do so. [applause] on behalf of the housing advocate said who started a movement here that has taken root all over the country. [applause] on behalf of the transgender

activists and their families chosen or otherwise who made san francisco and outpost of hope. [applause] on behalf of the city i called home my entire life, which i'm proud to serve every single day, i offer these words from our 26 president of the united states, teddy roosevelt. you exceez me for updateing the pronouns. [laughter] it is not the critic who counts, not the man who points out how the strong woman stumbles, or where the doer of deeds, could have done them better, the credit belongs to the woman who is actually in the arena.

[applause] who strives valantly. who sends herself in a worthy cause. to those outside the arena watching from the side-lines, who offer only criticism, i have a message for you. san francisco is not wearing the shackles of your negativity any longer. [applause] i'll say it again, san francisco is not wearing the shackles of your negativity any longer! [applause]

to the public servants who have been here during the city's most difficult time, doing the work all along, thank you. thank you for your service. we will continue to move our city forward to be the city of yes. no longer will we allow others to define us, because we know who we are. we are a city on the rise. we are a dragon taking flight. now, let's soar san francisco! let's soar! thank you. [applause]

>> good morning everyone. welcome. i'm katie lamont and with me isroxany huey and together we are leading tndc as interim co ceo. so pleased to have you with us this beautiful day to celebrate the reopening of ambassador and ritz hotel. exactly! this day has been a long time coming, and it is so wonderful to share with all you who help make it happen. as many know, tndc experienced a tragic loss with the sudden passing of our ceo. it is meaningful our first ribbon cutting without him is on the pavilion of this historic building. the bricks of the ambassador have