2002 Muni Riders Survey Results

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2002 Muni Riders Survey Results

• RESCUE MUNI
• Press Conference
• 5/29/2002

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2002 Muni Riders Survey

• 6th annual survey assessed on-time performance
  from the riders perspective
• Did you, the rider, wait too long?
• 67 volunteers recorded 2464 rides
• route, date, stop location, direction,
  destination
• time they arrived, Muni arrived, reached
  destination
• crowding and cleanliness
• time various lines passed a fixed point, in some
  cases
• We compared their wait times with Muni published
  times (on the Muni map)

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Muni System Performance

• Muni riders delayed 14 of the time
• Down from 17 in 2001
• Cut 1998 delays (28) in half
• This earned Muni a B grade
• Most improved 38-Geary (graded A)
• Crowding was down substantially in 2002
• Best service is again on the diesel bus
• Motorcoach lines late only 11 of the time
• Light rail was late 16 historic streetcar 13

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Riders delayed (1997-2002)

• Service has improved for four years in a row

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Lines compared (1)

• Best five lines
• line riders late grade change
• 47-Van Ness 4 A -13
• 49-VN-Mission 5 A -15
• 38-Geary 6 A -27
• 2-Clement 7 A- 7
• 33-Ashbury 7 A- -6

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Lines compared (2)

• Worst five lines
• line riders late grade change
• KLM subway 35 D 7
• (Embarcadero to West Portal)
• L-Taraval 30 D 2
• M-Ocean View 28 C- -1
• 22-Fillmore 23 C -4
• 10-Townsend 22 C N/A
• (New after 2001 survey)

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Bus/rail compared (1999-2002)

• Most service is better this year than last -
  notably light rail
• Streetcar, limited slightly worse this year

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Muni Metro (light rail) reliability

• KLM Subway (between West Portal and Embarcadero)
  and L worse J and N better

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Waiting time (1997-2002)

• Riders wait slightly more, relative to schedule
  (but service is more consistent)

Average wait worse for second year
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Variation among lines
Service is much more consistent most lines were
graded B (note this graph excludes lines with
insufficient data)
No F!
D
C
B
A
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Crowding

• Crowding is much better this year - declining
  ridership due to poor economy?

Crush-loading cut in half in 2002!
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Cleanliness

• Still a problem - 20 of vehicles are dirty
• Didnt change much from 2001 overall - but mode
  ranking changed

Streetcars not as clean this year
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Total responses

• Response rate is up this year - THANK YOU
  volunteers!

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Policy implications

• Budget increases have clearly helped
• Four years of service improvement
• Better management due to 1999 Prop. E
• Detailed service standards now govern Muni
  performance and merit pay system
• Fleet replacement means lower rate of breakdowns
  and equipment failures
• Reduced automobile traffic has helped as well
• The soft economy at work?

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Budget increases help service

• Will service suffer in this year of tighter
  budgets?

?
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Recommendations

• Muni must manage budget very carefully to prevent
  flat budget from reducing service quality
• Very important to avoid unplanned service cuts!
• New MTA must take advantage of reduced traffic to
  establish more dedicated right-of-way for Muni
• e.g. new bus lanes on 4th, Folsom - many more
  are needed
• Bus Rapid Transit on Geary, Van Ness, 19th Ave,
  etc.
• With continued progress, Muni can earn an A next
  year!

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Thank You!

• Questions?
• Call us
• COLLIN MASLOV 415 371 0726
• DANIEL MURPHY 415 665 4074
• ANDREW SULLIVAN 415 673 0626
• Rescue Muni Hotline [phone]
• or see www.rescuemuni.org