April 11, 2006

Bicycle Coalition and Walk SF Agree: Transportation Authority Must Study Economic Effects of BRT on Small Business

San Francisco -- A Coalition of bicycle, pedestrian and good government organizations have endorsed studying the economic effects of a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system on the Geary Corridor. In a letter to Transportation Authority, leaders of SPUR, Walk SF and Rescue MUNI encouraged the Authority to expand its current environmental study and conduct a “robust analysis” of the impacts on merchants. To do otherwise would be “penny wise and pound foolish,” the letter stated.

“We want to thank these organizations for calling for an economic study,” said David Heller, president of the Greater Geary Boulevard Association and a member of the Save Geary Boulevard Committee. “We really fear Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) will mean the end of our businesses.”

Bus Rapid Transit would dedicate one lane for MUNI buses to travel in each direction on Geary Boulevard. The decision to create a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) system was never approved by San Francisco voters or nearby merchants, said Heller. Instead, authorization for the bus system was buried in the renewal last year of a sales tax measure (Proposition K) whose revenue is dedicated to public transit projects in San Francisco.

“We hope the Authority will amend its environmental review to include this economic analysis immediately,” Heller added.

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