SFMTA hopes to green light-funding after admitted slowdown in bond spending

Muni Transportation service of San Francisco, after facing criticism (for their slow spending of a transportation) in the starting of this year represented a new and “more realistic” spending timeline. Ed Reiskin, director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency said, “A lot of these projects that are already under construction, so there is obviously a lot more certainty in terms of expenditure rates.”

In 2014, the voters of SF approved a bond of $500 million to meet the improving infrastructure and transfer service requirements. The first part of the funds around $69.7 million was issued in July 2015 and have spent $12 million by Feb 2017. On this, Board of Supervisors President London Breed and Supervisor Aaron Peskin questioned the agency for its lag in spending.

Reiskin said, “The issue with funding several projects during the first issuance was the SFMTA’s failure to account for “much of the planning, design, community and public processes” necessary to secure approval of those projects, resulting in stretched out timelines. He also added, “We had money attached to projects that were moving slowly, and, meanwhile, we had other projects that were ready to go and needed money. He stated that the SFMTA expects 80 percent of the first round of bond funds around $52 million to be spent by the end of the year, and the rest by December 2018.

If current transportation trends continue, the agency expects to own 77 more buses than it can store by 2025, 132 more buses than it can store by 2030, and 46 more light-rail vehicles than it can store by 2040. The 20-year capital plan calls for the reconstruction and optimization of new and current storage facilities.

Reiskin said, “We have a lot of new jobs being created here. A lot of large new developments are being approved, and the only way we will be able to accommodate that growth in residents and jobs is by improving our transit capacity.”

2016 S-Class Mercedes: