Proposed Muni Cuts and Fare Hikes May Stall

SAN FRANCISCO (KCBS)  -- A budget that raises fares to $2 and scales back service on several lines was rejected on Wednesday by city supervisors who questioned whether the transit agency is spending its money wisely.

Service cuts such reducing the frequency of the 66 line that serves the Alemany Housing Project unfairly impact the poor, said Supervisor David Campos.

  KCBS’s Janice Wright reports

“If they want to go to the supermarket, they're going to have to transfer and use two bus lines to get there,” Campos said at a meeting of the board’s Budget and Finance Committee.

Board President David Chiu zeroed in on the $8.8 million Muni now spends each year to nab fare evaders, a very visible program that generated just $350,000 in revenue over a six month period.

“While we are asking our residents to pay more and get less, we have to make sure that every single penny we are spending is being spent well,” Chiu said.

The head of the Municipal Transportation Agency, Nathaniel Ford, defended the controversial 2009-2010 spending plan, drafted after 500 positions in the department had already been eliminated.

“These suggestions and options that were implemented,” he said, “represented a concerted effort to spread the pain.

“We've asked our employees to do more with less,” Ford said.

But that did not placate the supervisors, who complained Muni spent too much on services not directly related to transit. The committee’s recommended that the full board vote down the budget.

(jro)