SFMTA is asking voters to pass a $400 million bond measure to be spent on transportation infrastructure which includes more bike lanes. Has SFMTA in the past wisely spent its $One Billion+ annual budget? Has your driving experience in San Francisco improved the last two years of road closures all over the city, including the Great Highway and JFK Drive? Has transit improved since the pandemic started in 2020? Does SFMTA wisely use the $4.8 Billion funding from local, regional, state, and federal agencies to improve transit?
 

Let’s send a message to the SFMTA that we disapprove of their policies and their budget allocations. According to the SF Standard’s poll, only 35% of residents approve of the closed streets. We, the other 65%, have the chance June 7 to tell City Hall that we disapprove of their wasting taxpayer money on frivolous skewed surveys, town halls, and expensive studies, all costing hundreds of thousands of dollars just to justify closed streets.
 

Where has our tax money gone that justifies another tranche of borrowed cash for MTA? The Bike Coalition (BC) and WalkSF have received Millions from the MTA over the years. In 2019 and 2020 alone, the Bike Coalition received $1,345,649 from the taxpayers. WalkSF received even more for the same years, $1,691,390. The total that MTA gave these non-profits in those two years was $3,037,039. This is our tax money supporting these groups that advocate for closed streets and a no-car San Francisco and who receive no-bid sole source contracts from the city and in turn act as a propaganda arm for the MTA. All this cash could have been spent on improving transit instead of paying for six-figure salaries of executives at these non-profits. The BC supports Prop A because they “envision a future. . .where people have the option to choose between taking Muni, riding their bike, or walking wherever they need to go.” Cars are not an option in the future for the Bike Coalition. Is this the future we want to support? This practice of sole source bidding for non-profits like the BC and WalkSF will continue because Prop A will impose “Project labor agreements” which will end competitive bidding.
 

What Prop A doesn’t do is provide any funds for increased security for transit riders who suffer from violence and hate on transit and near bus stops, an ongoing problem which keeps people from using transit. Also, not one penny is allocated to encourage the use of EVs. Car-free advocates insist that closing streets will reduce greenhouse gas emissions. The City’s own Climate Action Plan clearly states that the most effective strategy to reduce GHG is to replace gas-powered cars with EVs, which is 128 times more effective than riding bikes. This bond measure ignores incentives for residents to purchase EVs and the installation of more charging stations.
 

Lastly, this $400 Million bond includes a projected debt service of $690 Million over 30 years, so the total debt to the City and to the taxpayers will be $1,090,000,000. Also, Prop A will impose property tax increases of up to 15%, with 50% pass-through to renters. If you own or rent, you will have to pay for more anti-car projects created by city agencies, aided by the Bike Coalition and WalkSF. Are we taxpayers and renters ready to shoulder that burden, based on what MTA and RPD have done to us over the last two years?