Downtown Congestion Pricing Study Summer Update

The California Gubernatorial Recall Election is underway. As a nonpartisan organization, the Barbary Coast Neighborhood Association does not take positions on candidates; however, we do encourage all of our members and neighbors to be active, engaged citizens and vote!

Every active registered voter will be mailed a vote-by-mail ballot for the recall election. Ballots must be postmarked, placed in a dropbox, or delivered to a polling place by 8 pm on September 14, 2021.

There are only two questions on the ballot:

1. Should GAVIN NEWSOM be recalled (removed) from the office of Governor?
2. Who should succeed Newsom IF he’s recalled?

If the majority of voters vote Yes on the first question, the second question on this ballot will immediately determine who becomes the next Governor of California. More than 50% of the vote is required for the recall, but the second question does not require a majority. The candidate with the most votes would win the election and become the next Governor. There are 46 candidates running in the replacement election: 24 from the Republican Party, 9 from the Democratic Party, and 13 from other parties or with no party affiliation.

The Governor of California makes decisions about taxes, spending, the pandemic (including the possible elimination of all mandates), regulations, wildfires, drought, homelessness and all our other current critical problems. The Governor appoints hundreds of high-level state employees and even appoints a new U.S. Senator to fill an unexpected vacancy.

This election is critical to the future of California, and this election will decide who will be the Governor of California for the remainder of this term.

PLEASE VOTE!

Traffic congestion has historically been a real and growing problem in San Francisco. Consequently, the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) is re-examining a congestion pricing program for San Francisco. The program involves charging a means-based fee to enter the City’s northeast area. The fee would not be all-day. It would apply during morning and evening “rush hours” only. The purpose of the study is to reduce the number of car trips, thereby achieving four key goals: get traffic moving, improve safety, clean the air, and advance equity. Residents living inside the proposed charging zone would clearly be impacted by such a program.

Since its launch in Fall 2019, the study has identified and evaluated alternative packages of congestion charges, discounts, subsidies, incentives, and transportation improvements. Analysis of various options is ongoing as the SFCTA continues its stakeholder and community outreach “centered on low-income communities of color and other historically underinvested communities.”

As of its latest detailed public update last January, the SFCTA presented three scenarios (with fees as high as $14) for more evaluation. More recently, the SFCTA’s website shows some changes and now states all scenarios feature:

• A full exemption for the lowest-income drivers, plus different discount levels for other low- and moderate-income drivers
• A discount for drivers with disabilities
• A per-trip fee for Uber/Lyft rides
• A 20-25% increase in transit service to accommodate additional ridership plus additional potential investments in transit, pedestrian, bicycle, and other improvements.

The fees for higher-income drivers would be $6.50. Some scenarios under consideration include discounts for drivers who paid a bridge toll and residents of the congestion pricing zone. It should be noted the tradeoff in scenarios providing a discount for zone residents is a reduction in the discounts for low- & moderate-income drivers. The $6.50 fee represents a notable decrease from the $14 fee cited in January. It also appears there may be only two scenarios still under study.

There are two congestion pricing zones under consideration in northeastern San Francisco, including the Downtown and SoMa neighborhoods. The boundaries proposed for further analysis in the study’s next step are shown below. Drivers would pay a fee to cross this boundary during rush hours only. The SFCTA project team developed this example to include the most congested streets and freeway ramps while following natural neighborhood boundaries where possible. The boundary also needs to be large enough to prevent people from driving around it and clogging nearby neighborhoods.

The study will be extended through December to allow for more outreach. Ultimately, it will be presented the SFCTA Board, whose members are the city’s Board of Supervisors. It is important to note this is a first step. Given the need for additional approvals, state legislation, etc. it would take at least three to five years to put such a program in place. The SFCTA website says “Any proposed congestion pricing program would not be considered for implementation in the near-term. We are exploring congestion pricing as a possibility for when the economy rebounds in the future.” However, priorities can change and the study recommendations will certainly establish important precedents.

The Barbary Coast Neighborhood Association (BCNA) has been tracking this study from the beginning. Given the concerns about various aspects, BCNA has pursued a leadership role on behalf of our neighborhood to educate our members and make our concerns known. We have discussed our concerns with Supervisor Peskin. In addition, we co-sponsored (with North Beach Neighbors) two excellent briefings by SFCTA for our members about the study. A third briefing is planned as SFCTA gets farther along in the study. BCNA also wrote a letter to SFCTA, co-signed by 3 other neighborhood organizations, expressing concerns and advocating for a full exemption from the fees for residents in the congestion zone.

To learn more about the status of the study, members of the public can attend a Policy Advisory Committee meeting, which occur periodically. Go to https://www.sfcta.org/downtown to be notified of upcoming meeting dates and other opportunities to get involved.