Note to Libertarians. This is far frome a perfect solution. However,
what Klien says and I agree, is the establishment of private property
rights is necessary for the establishment of any market. Without
property rights at the curb, the market descends into the ttadgedy of
the commons, ehrer no investment in maitaining a market in sparsely
travelled areas is possible and where violence establishes market
share in heavily travelled areas. I have tried to take ehat I have
learned form Klien and devise a palatable system to establish curb
rights in San Francisco, and once established allow thw private market
on transportation to flourish. I believe the way this is couched will
attract support. and if passed , it has a great chance of actually
succeeding
It would be great to get the Greens as co sponsors and thus establish
in San Francisco a whole new meaning to the word Bi partisan. If this
works, it could be a model for the whole bay area, and would help put
the LP on the radar screen aa a resposible and innovative force to be
reckoned with. It is 6 am and I have to get a little sleep cux I am
getting an angioscope and possible stent placement today. I may fo in
the hospotal for a day of they do the stents, but if something goes
wrong they may have to do abypass, very unlikely though, but them I am
out of it for a while. Eish me luck, and I hope to be back on board
today or tomorrroe. Once I get some input from you all, I will ask
Klien for his imput, and find some legal help in making this fit the
formal format and wording of a proper proposition. there is no pride
of authorship and all input will be respected and is desired, but
please frame it constructively.
Stepby step we move to Liberty
Phil
Ps I forgot the part about how this will help the poor and disabled.
Preamble:
The purpose of this proposition is to encourage the adoptopn of
environmentally friendly vehicles in public transit and to use those
vehicles to complement and enhance the existing cab and <imo suste.
The initiative will establish an elected board that will be charged
with implementing a legal framework will privately operated
environmentally friendly vehicles will be permitted to complenet and
enhance esisting urban transit options. compared to almost allUScities
Dan Franciso has one one of the best public transit sytems, reflected
in the fact that a larger percentage of households in San Francisco
have mo cars than any other city west of the Missippo River. The
proposituin is designed to protect and enhance the existing system.
As San Francisco's population gtrows, the cities arteries have become
more congested.
Giving the automobile driver better, cleaner, cheaper, more innovative
and more reliable alternatives to supplement present service,will
decrese traffic congestion, increse the availability of parking,
reduce the demand for new roads, and improve the quality of life for
San Franciscans. By attracting more riders from Urban public transits
biggest competitor, the Automobile,this initiative can imprive the San
Franciso transit picrue while benefotting both Muni and the Cab system.
Presently, only two modes of public transit arepermitted to pick up
and discharge passangers for pay along the curbs of San Francisco's
streets; Muni cehicles and Taxicabs. Both are world class systems but
suffer from inherent limitations. Busses are inherently slow and
indirect for many journeys. They make many stops. Taxicas are much
faster ad they provide point to point service but are unaffordable for
use on a regular basis by many if not most San franciscan, and are at
times difficult to get and thus cannot be relied on cinsistenly. jSome
parts of the city are poorly served by one or both systems. The
combined systems rewure augmentation to attract larger nubers of
persons from the private automoile.
Public transit outside vesides Tacis and Municipal trasist have been
attempted in other cities, and in this city in the past withmiced
results. In most cities in the US from 1917 to 11919 frewheeling
Hitney service prospered. Absent any regulation in the new era of the
autoboblie, car owners were free to pick up and ddischarge passsangers
for pay. Cars would ply major thoroughfares in a continuous stream.
the travelling public was largely well served by this
arrangementhowever there were significnt problems. Traffic was
sometimes disrupted by competing vehicles, called Jitneys picking up
or discahrging passengers. Safery was not assured in free wheeking
open markets. Drivers oftem perdoremd wreckless manuevers to beat out
other drivers to flagging passangers. Prives were difficult to
negotiate and enforce. The Jitneys would ren in fromt of streetcars
and colect the passengers waiting for streetcars. In thinly travelled
areas this frontrunning would destry the investment that streetcars
had made in attracting cincentrations of people in time and space to
the streetcar stops. The streetcars would abandon the routes to the
Jitneys and the uncertainty of Jitney availabity would eventually
decrese the number of passangers accumaulting at the bus stops. If the
route could not support sufficiently frequent Jitney traffic, all
service would disapppeear on the route, and public transit would be
destroyed in that thinly travelled area. In lesser developed countried
that unregulated freewheeling Jitney marketd the competiton for
passengers often devolves from wreckless driving into criminal
intimidation and violence between competing Jitleys. Trpically Jitney
drivers join together in associations. Association may compete on the
same route, but typically the route is consolidated under one
association through violence, intimidation and sometives murder. Many
San Franciscans may be familiar with the excellent and economic Jitney
service in Hong Kong. This service may be the result of consolidation
throughthe process just described. To review, freewheeling Jitney
comoetion may be good for the consumer in densely populated areasd,
but it destroys scheduled service and ultimately all service in thinly
travelled areas, and rewards violence and intimidation.
The problem with freewheening Jitneys in the early days of the
automobile and in modern lesser devoloped cities si that they do not
operate in a fremework of law that is necessary for a civil provision
of services in a safe, reliable, predictable and non violent manner.
Intriduction to the Prposition.
The purpose of this proposition is to provide a framework of law that
will allow sercices complimentary to the muni and taxi system. The
proposition recognizes the fact that passengers are picked up and
discharged at the curb. For the purposed of this proposition, the curb
is defined as an areas where vehicles can stop in the dtreet, and an
adjacent area on the sidewalk where people can wait for vehicles.
Basically a bus stop. The areas of the curb, the street and the
adkacent sidewalk will be called Green Curb zones. It is anticipated
that the zones will be designated by green and red alternating paint
on the curb, however tis decison will be left to the elected board
described below.
The proposition will create an elected commision that will decide the
number, and the locations for the proposed Green curb zones that
operate under the rules of this proposition. The elected commision
will be charged with the responsibility to locate the zones in such a
way as to maxomize the potential for use of the zones for passenger
pickup and discharge into approved environmentally friendly vehicles,
and to maximize the ability of the Green Curb system to complement
and augment the existing public transit infrastructure.
The elected commision may choose to gradually introduce the permitting
of Green Curb zones with a goal of full implementation within four years.
The Commision will consist of one representative from each Supervisor
District. The commision will be elected in November 2006. After the
election, by random selection, half of the elected representatives wil
serve two year terms and half four year terms. In all subsequent
elections four year terms woll apply.
The exact position of the Green Curb Zones will be desiganted by the
commision with the advice of public hearings in each district so as to
ensure placement convenient to the travelling public, while minimizing
disturbance fo local traffic patterns, local businesses and other
manners of local concern.
The Green Zones will be leased by the Commision to the highest bidder.
The terms and duration of the lease for eaxh freen zone or group of
green zones will be determined by the commision. The leases will grant
the leasse the right to pick up and discharge paying passengers in the
green zone. The right to permit the pick up and discharge of
passengers by those companies or individuals the leasee so shooses.
The right exclude individual or companies from using the zone. The
right to transfer the lease to other parties.
The leasee will receive the full cooperation and supprt of the courts
and police in enforcing the rights granted by the lease.
The commision, in addition to choosing where to lease green zones, may
attaxh sertain restrictions propr to leasing the zones to maximiae the
viability of the the transit infrastructure. For wxample, on highly
travelled routes such as the Feary Corridor, the commison may elect to
allow the leasee to to permit unscheduled Jitney service to use the
green curb zones. It may require the leasee to permit Muni to pockup
and discharge at the green zone.It may decide that the regular Jitney
service may attract more public transit passengers to the corridor and
potentially have no detrimental effect on muni traffice in the
corridor because of munis subsidized low cost and large network
advantage. In less travelled areas it may place freen zines away from
bus zones to prevent ther freen zones transportation providers from
front running muni busses and destroying regularly scheduled servic.
In thinly travelled areas the commision, as authorixed by this
proposition,may allow green vehicles to collect passengers at private
homes and businesses fot transport to designated hub green zones.The
commision may choose to locate such hubs at places where Muni has
significan competitive advantage, such as West Portal, or Bart. The
peoposition does not grant the green vehickes the right to provide
door to door transportation. This rigth remains as unser present law,
exclusive to the San Frncisco Taxicab induatry.
The leasholder or subleasholder will be resposible for enforcing the
exclusivity of his lease with the full assistance and cooperation of
Law enforcement.;The leasee may only permit the use of the Green Zone
by Hybrid vehicles, Electric Behicles, or bio diesel vehicles powered
by non fossil fuels.
the commison may provide for ammenities or rewuire the leasholder to
bear the expence of provideing shelters signs and other ammenities.
The commision may set rules of the aesthetic and safety standards of
the green curb zones, and provide rules for enforcement.
The commision will provide a mechanism for altering the location of
curb zones where signficant safety, congestion or citizen concerns
have arisen. The process of moving or changing leased curb zones shall
be written so as to minimize the impact on the leaseholder and to
compenste the leasholder for lost revenue.
The city will privide suppoer ro form the commision and fund it's
early development. Once established, revenue from leades will support
the commision. If lease revenue exceeds the cost of maintainig the
commision and the maintenace of Green curb zones that the commision
may decide to perform, the excess revenue may flow to Muni, or
education or to whatever prrpose the board of supervisors deems
approprite.
The commision will establish vehicle safety and driver certificaton
requirements at levels approprite to rotect public safety and allow
for the viability of the green Curb initiative.
The commision and other public entities will work for the success of
the Grren Curb initiative.
This proposition will also permit the pick up and discharge of paying
passangers on private property througout the city. Present regulation
regarding pick and delivery of paying passengers will remain in effect
at hotels and within 100 feet of hotels.
It is expected that the structure of law established by the
proposition will encourage innovative transit solutions that will
benefit all public transit stakeholders and attract many San
Franciscans and visitors to public transit.
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