SFMTA must get back on track
San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency: Take control, take responsibility, provide transparency, find solutions, win riders back. What you learn when working on large infrastructure projects: on time, on scope, on budget.
If you are on time, but not on budget, it’s a no-go.
If you are on budget, but the scope has diminished, it is also a fail.
And around the three-legged stool you go.
Clearly, SFMTA has not yet learned this fundamental infrastructure mantra, and seems to think that having one-third of the trifecta is enough. SFMTA, with its history of project delays, needs to get its house in order, make sure there’s transparency and accountability with the public, and start winning back the confidence of riders. San Franciscans will not be convinced the money is well spent when these projects constantly fall behind schedule.
Just last week, it came to light that construction of the Central Subway is 10 months behind schedule because of conflicts with the contractor. But it is on budget — or so the SFMTA has said. This delay is the latest in a slew of mismanaged projects:
Last month, SFMTA announced that the Twin Peaks Tunnel upgrade would be delayed a year due to “scheduling issues.”
Sunset Tunnel was completed after overshooting its schedule by two whole years.
And the Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit project, less than one year into a three-year construction phase, is already five months behind schedule.
We recognize that huge construction projects are complex, and we’re grateful the SFMTA is investing in transportation infrastructure improvements. At least Gov. Jerry Brown has not had to declare a state of emergency for public transit as New York Gov. Andrew Cuomo did for New York City subways last month. But seriously, these delays have got to stop.
Much blame for the Central Subway lag emanates from the contractorSFMTA relationship. SFMTA and contractor Tutor Perini are in mediation to sort out what the cause of the delay even is. They need a mediator for this? How did the relationship degrade to this point? Do folks at SFMTA and Tutor Perini talk to each other during the course of doing business together? Please don’t let it be “the paperwork” that caused this.
On behalf of all the stranded riders (and potential riders) in San Francisco’s southeast communities, waiting for years for the unfulfilled promises of the T Line, we can’t accept another delay.
This delay is unacceptable for the Chinatown riders.
This delay is unacceptable for the merchants, neighbors and workers along Fourth Street in South of Market, in Union Square and Chinatown, who have been putting up with the noise, dust, detours, closed-lane bottlenecks, temporary bus stops and unusable sidewalks for more than five years (which feels like more than a decade).
SFMTA and Tutor Perini need to stop pointing fingers and get to work finding solutions. Providing financial support for affected merchants is absolutely a step in the right direction. A storm is brewing, and it’s time for the agency to use the rainy day fund set aside to get this work done. On time. On scope. On budget.