May 3, 2013
Issue 1 Volume 4
SFMTA "Connects the Dots" at First Quarterly Meeting More than one hundred twenty-five employees representing the various SFMTA divisions attended the Agency's first quarterly meeting at One South Van Ness on April 24. Hosted by Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin, the inaugural meeting, titled "Connecting the Dots," provided an opportunity to introduce new and veteran members of the SFMTA's leadership team, to connect more people across the Agency, and to review progress made toward meeting the goals of the Agency's six-year Strategic Plan. Read more here.
Meet the Leadership Team At the first quarterly meeting, Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin took the opportunity to introduce his leadership team. These individuals--some new and others familiar--are in place and empowered to lead their respective divisions forward to achieve the 2013-2018 Strategic Plan for the SFMTA. Each brings substantial skills and experience to their work at the Agency. Click here to meet the leadership team.
"I am" Campaign Returns to City Buses Both front-line and behind-the-scenes SFMTA employees will take center stage in an ongoing marketing campaign intended to show the "human side" of the dedicated professionals whose day-to-day job it is to keep the city moving. The "I am Muni" and "I am SFMTA" exterior and interior car card campaigns, were first introduced in July of last year featuring photos of various SFMTA employees holding chalk boards expressing a simple statement that "defined them." Read more here.
DOT Testifies in Washington in Support of MAP-21 Funding The SFMTA's Director of Transportation, Ed Reiskin, was one of six national transportation officials asked to offer state and local perspective on the implementation of the Moving Ahead for Progress for the 21st Century Act, or MAP-21, in Washington D.C. on April 25. Read more here.
Mayor's SF 2030 Transportation Task Force Update The Mayor's 2030 Transportation Task Force, charged with prioritizing San Francisco's transportation system needs and identifying funding sources to realize them, reconvened April 30 for the group's third session. Currently in an information gathering stage, the 2030 Transportation Task Force is scheduled to move on a relatively fast track, with an October deadline for Task Force recommendations regarding system needs and potential connected revenue sources to be presented to the mayor. Read more here.
Twitter "Thanks driver of @sfmta_muni bus number 5570 for being awesome and waiting for myself and another to cross the street for the bus. Catherine
Facebook Like us on Facebook! Crews begin installing Central Subway's Tunnel Boring Machine, Mom Chung; the SFMTA's Ed Reiskin testifies before congress; sunny days bring out Muni's boatcar and find out more on the mayor's upcoming Online Budget Town Hall Meeting. See what our customers are talking about on Facebook here.
Questions? Questions, comments or submissions? E-mail us at newsletter@sfmta.com.
Copyright Š 2013. All Rights Reserved.
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SFMTA “Connects the Dots” at First Quarterly Meeting May 01
by DeAnda, Mark on 5/1/2013 2:51 PM Category: InsideSFMTA Newsletter (Vol. 1, #4) More
than one hundred twenty-five employees representing the various SFMTA divisions attended the Agency’s first quarterly meeting at One South Van Ness on April 24. Hosted by Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin, the inaugural meeting, titled “Connecting the Dots,” provided an opportunity to introduce new and veteran members of the SFMTA’s leadership team, to connect more people across the Agency, and to review progress made toward meeting the goals of the Agency’s six-year Strategic Plan. An important function of the newly instituted quarterly meetings will be to improve communications across Agency divisions. Reggie Ruaro, a paint shop Supervisor for the SFMTA, was among the attendees. “It was good to see how the Agency works and our plans for the future,” he said. “We need to communicate more. It was good to meet the members of the executive team, to know who’s who.” After personal introductions by each member of the executive team and greetings from SFMTA Board Chairman Tom Nolan, Director Reiskin explained the vision, mission, core values and goals that inform the Strategic Plan, the roadmap charting the Agency’s future plan of action. Though there are obstacles and challenges ahead, Director Reiskin was quick to point out accomplishments made across the divisions as positive progress toward meeting our strategic goals. He cited the Transit Divisions first-in-the-nation All-Door Boarding policy; scheduling efficiencies; replacement and rehabilitation projects; safety and security initiatives; customerfocused initiatives; and dynamic supervision as noteworthy achievements. Capital improvements such as the fully funded Central Subway project, the expanded bike network, new pedestrian safety strategies and the decision to add an additional 600 to 800 taxis also fall in line with Strategic Goal plans. Preparation for an even more densely populated San Francisco by the year 2035 was also addressed. With the population expected to swell to over 920,000 and the number of job anticipated to grow to 625,000, available capacity and transit connections will need to be expanded. Travel patterns will also change with new housing and building development and the need to expand alternate modes of transportation must be a priority. “What we need to do is prepare for the future—and the near-term future—with the goals set by the MTA Board…and to move from the 39 percent share of trips that are taken by transit and other modes up to 50 percent in the next five years,” Director Reiskin said. “This is realizing the Transit First policy. It will be the first real movement in the 40 years of this policy’s existence.” Shoring up funding at the federal, state and local levels will also be critical to meet projected growth. Director Reiskin cited the Mayor’s 2030 Transportation Task Force as being a positive, proactive step in assessing means for determining additional local transportation funding. To see the PowerPoint presentation click here. To see the videotaped meeting, please click here. (*IMPORTANT: This in an unpublished link intended for use by SFMTA employees only. Please do not publish or distribute externally.)
Board of Directors Chairman Tom Nolan greets the SFMTA team in attendance
Chief of Staff Alicia John-Baptiste introduces herself at the DOT Quarterly Meeting
Senior Administrative Analyst Glenn Jackson addresses Director Reiskin during the Q and A session
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Meet the Leadership Team by DeAnda, Mark on 5/1/2013 2:50 PM Category: InsideSFMTA Newsletter (Vol. 1, #4)
May 01
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At the first quarterly meeting, Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin took the opportunity to introduce his leadership team. These individuals-some new and others familiar--are in place and empowered to lead their respective divisions forward to achieve the 2013-2018 Strategic Plan for the SFMTA. Each brings substantial skills and experience to their work at the Agency. Click on each name below for biographical information. Sonali Bose Kate Breen Donald Ellison John Haley Vince Harris Christiane Hayashi Melvyn Henry Alicia John-Baptiste Ed Reiskin Candace Sue Bond Yee
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Sonali Bose May 01
by DeAnda, Mark
on 5/1/2013 1:58 PM
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Sonali Bose Sonali Bose, Director of Finance and Information Technology, has held senior level finance positions in the public and private sectors over the last 25 years including Chief Financial Officer for the Port of Oakland, Director of Finance for the City of Berkeley and Treasurer for the City of Oakland. She also has significant experience in securing funding and managing and developing real estate and information technology projects. Ms. Bose holds business administration and public policy graduate degrees from Harvard University and the University of California, Berkeley. She received her undergraduate degree from the University of California, Berkeley.
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Kate Breen May 01
by DeAnda, Mark
on 5/1/2013 2:05 PM
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Kate Breen Kate Breen has served as Government Affairs Manager for the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency since 2001, primarily managing state and federal government relations. Her past experience includes 11 years in legislative affairs with the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and legislative work at the state and federal level representing both public and private sector interests. She also spent one year teaching English to university students in Shanghai, China. Ms. Breen holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard's Kennedy School of Government and Bachelor of Art degree in Political Philosophy from Scripps College, Claremont.
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Donald Ellison May 01
by DeAnda, Mark
on 5/1/2013 2:09 PM
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Donald Ellison Donald Ellison, Director of Human Resources, has over 25 years of organizational development and management experience for all aspects of Human Resources, Labor Relations and personnel practices. Prior to joining the SFMTA, Mr. Ellison served as Human Resources Manager at AC Transit for nearly 10 years, and worked for 20 years with the California Automobile Association in a variety of positions including Director for Human Resources Business Services. Mr. Ellison holds a Master of Business Administration degree from Golden Gate University, with an undergraduate degree from San Francisco State University.
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John Haley May 01
by DeAnda, Mark
on 5/1/2013 2:13 PM
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John Haley John J. Haley, Jr. joined the SFMTA as Director of Transit in 2010. An established 30-year transportation professional, Mr. Haley previously served as General Manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, Deputy Executive Director of the Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, and Deputy General Manager of the San Francisco Bay Area Rapid Transit District. Mr. Haley has a Master of Public Administration degree from Syracuse University and a Bachelor of Science degree in Government from Northeastern University.
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Vince Harris May 01
by DeAnda, Mark
on 5/1/2013 2:16 PM
Vince Harris Vince Harris returned to the SFMTA in June 2012 as Director of Capital Programs and Construction. Mr. Harris is responsible for delivery of portions of the agency’s $3 billion Capital Improvement Program. Prior to joining the SFMTA, Mr. Harris was the Executive Director of the Stanislaus Council of Governments, the former Executive Director of the Alameda County Transportation Authority and the former Deputy General Manager of Muni’s Construction Division from 1999 to 2005. Mr. Harris holds a Bachelor of Science degree in Civil Engineering Technology from the University of Pittsburgh and a Master of Public Administration degree from California State University in Hayward.
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Christiane Hayashi by DeAnda, Mark
May 01
on 5/1/2013 2:27 PM
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Christiane Hayashi Christiane Hayashi became Director of Taxis and Accessible Services in 2008. Before that she was a Deputy City Attorney for 18 years. She was a lead in rewriting the city's procurement laws and the 2007 Transportation Code to replace the 1940 Traffic Code. She represented the SFMTA from 2004 on the City Attorney’s Transportation Team. Ms. Hayashi received her Juris Doctor degree from Hastings College of the Law, and her Bachelor of Arts degree from the University of Colorado at Boulder.
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Melvyn Henry Jr. May 01
by DeAnda, Mark
on 5/1/2013 2:30 PM
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Melvyn Henry Jr. Melvyn Henry Jr. has been Chief Safety Officer for the SFMTA since 2012 and is responsible for the Agency’s planning and management of transit system safety programs. Mr. Henry has twenty-seven years of safety experience in the bus, light and heavy rail industries and has been a member of the APTA Rail Transit Standards Committee since January 2008. Prior to joining the SFMTA, Mr. Henry served as Deputy Chief, System Safety at Washington Metropolitan Area Transit Authority. He has been involved in sixteen rail system expansions and one rail start-up in San Diego, Dallas, Houston, Washington D.C and San Francisco.
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Alicia John-Baptiste May 01
by DeAnda, Mark
on 5/1/2013 2:31 PM
Alicia John-Baptiste Alicia John-Baptiste returned to the SFMTA as Chief of Staff in December 2012 after eight years with the San Francisco Planning Department, most recently as the Planning Department Chief of Staff. Her responsibilities include day-to-day management of the Agency, support to the Director of Transportation and Strategic Plan implementation. Ms. John-Baptiste’s public and administrative expertise includes policy analysis in South Africa and work as a consultant to the United Nations Division for the Advancement of Women. Ms. John-Baptiste is a graduate of Duke University, and received a Master of Public Policy degree from Harvard University’s John F. Kennedy School of Government.
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Ed Reiskin May 01
by DeAnda, Mark
on 5/1/2013 2:34 PM
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Ed Reiskin Edward D. Reiskin was named Director of Transportation of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency in July 2011. As Director of Transportation, Mr. Reiskin oversees the Municipal Railway (Muni), parking, traffic engineering, pedestrian planning, bicycle implementation, accessibility and taxi regulation. Mr. Reiskin has more than 20 years of experience in the private, academic, nonprofit, and public sectors. Before joining the SFMTA, Mr. Reiskin served as Director of the Department of Public Works. He also served as the first Director of the City and County's new 311 Customer Service Center. Prior to joining the City and County of San Francisco, he served as the Interim City Administrator and as Deputy Mayor for the Government of the District of Columbia and worked for three years for the City of Oakland as an assistant to the city manager. Mr. Reiskin holds a Master of Public Administration degree from Harvard University's Kennedy School of Government, a Master of Business Administration degree from New York University's Stern School of Business and a Bachelor of Science degree from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.
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Candace Sue May 01
by DeAnda, Mark
on 5/1/2013 2:36 PM
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Candace Sue Candace Sue joined the SFMTA in 2013 as Communications Director after 13 years with Pfizer Inc. where she earned positions of increasing responsibility in Policy, External Affairs and Communications. She most recently served as Director of Global Corporate Branding and Integrated Communications. Prior to Pfizer, Ms. Sue worked at Warner-Lambert and The Chase Manhattan Bank. Originally from the San Francisco Bay Area, she studied business administration at Boston University and holds a Master of Business Administration degree in Marketing from Columbia Business School. Ms. Sue also sits on the Board of Directors for the Sarcoma Foundation of America and served as Communications Chair.
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Bond Yee May 01
by DeAnda, Mark
on 5/1/2013 2:37 PM
Bond Yee Bond Yee, Director of Sustainable Streets, was the former Director of the Department of Traffic and Parking, integrated into the SFMTA in 2002 with the passage of Proposition E. A 40-year engineering professional, Mr. Yee’s private sector experience included work on various transitrelated projects throughout the country. He started his service with the city in 1982 with the Department of Public Works and had been with Parking and Traffic since its inception in 1990. Mr. Yee earned his Bachelor of Science Degree in Civil Engineering from the University of California at Berkeley and a Master’s Degree in Transportation from the University of California at Berkeley’s Institute of Transportation Studies.
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“I am” Campaign Returns to City Buses May 01
by DeAnda, Mark on 5/1/2013 2:45 PM Category: InsideSFMTA Newsletter (Vol. 1, #4)
Both front-line and behind-the-scenes SFMTA employees will take center stage in an ongoing marketing campaign intended to show the “human side” of the dedicated professionals whose day-to-day job it is to keep the city moving. The “I am Muni” and “I am SFMTA” exterior and interior car card campaigns on Muni vehicles were first introduced in July of last year featuring photos of various SFMTA employees holding chalk boards expressing a simple statement that “defined them.” The bus exterior campaign, re-released in April, with additional new exteriors to be released later this month are intended to give recognition to the SFMTA’s diverse group of employees and to emphasize common bonds between the SFMTA workforce and the customers they serve. The ads, developed by SFMTA Marketing, read either “I am Muni” or “I am SFMTA,” with a sub-headline reading “Wherever you’re going, count on us to get you there.” Transit Fare Inspector Larry Nichol, featured in the exterior campaign displaying a chalk board that reads “I am ready for the Giants!” is enjoying what he calls his “new found popularity.” “I think it’s great. It’s humanized all of us, particularly the Transit Fare Inspectors,” he said. “People have asked to have their pictures taken with me.” Cable Car Operator Singh B. Rai, Transit Planners Matt Lee and Mari Hunter, Muni Operator Vergel Ronas and Information Technology Manager Art Wong, are five of the employees who were photographed for the new campaign due out in May. Matt Lee’s chalk board reads “I am a Muni rider.” Lee said the message was important to him because “our customers need to know that the folks at the office actually ride the system, too.” Messages from the initial July campaign included “I am a friend;” “I am a stepfather of five;” “I am an organic gardener;” “I am an epicurean;” and “I am my grandchildren’s best friend.”
Muni Operator Vergel Ronas, Flynn Division (top), and Cable Car Operator Singh B. Rai (above) will be part of the forthcoming "I am Muni" campaign
Larry Nichol recreates the smile featured in his "I am" bus ad
Muni Operators Valerie Coleman (Green Division) and Orlando Gomez (Woods Division)
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May 01
DOT Testifies in Washington in Support of MAP-21 Funding by DeAnda, Mark on 5/1/2013 2:45 PM Category: InsideSFMTA Newsletter (Vol. 1, #4)
SFMTA’s Director of Transportation, Ed Reiskin, was one of six national transportation officials asked to offer state and local perspective on the implementation of the Moving Ahead for Progress in the 21st Century Act, or MAP-21, in Washington D.C. on April 25. MAP-21, a twoyear program signed into law by President Obama in July 2012, authorizes the Federal highway, transit and highway safety programs through September 30, 2014 and is up for reauthorization in 2015. The meeting was the second in a series of oversight hearings before the Subcommittee on Highways and Transit, led by Chairman Thomas Petri (R-WI). The panel convened to gauge MAP-21’s progress in creating safer travel, increased transportation efficiencies, and more jobs in the public sector. Reiskin, representing the National Association of City Transportation Officials as its incoming Vice-President, emphasized the importance of funding the transportation infrastructure needs of cities and metropolitan areas. “Mobility, access and innovation in our cities and metropolitan regions are the key to the nation’s economic success and the fundamental reason that we must continue to build and strengthen the local-federal partnership that is embodied in MAP-21,” he said. According to the Federal Transit Administration, even with MAP-21 funding, the nation’s state of good repair backlog stands at $78 billion with an additional $14 billion for current state of good repair needs after the backlog is filled. Only $8.6 billion in formula grants are scheduled to be funded by MAP-21 in Fiscal Year 2014. “The critical next step is to find a way to provide the level of funding essential to keep America and its metropolitan-driven economy as the leader in the 21st century global economy,” Director Reiskin concluded. See the entire April 25 MAP-21 hearing here. To view a transcript of Director Reiskin's testimony, click here.
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Mayor’s 2030 Transportation Task Force Update May 01
by DeAnda, Mark on 5/1/2013 2:40 PM Category: InsideSFMTA Newsletter (Vol. 1, #4) The
Mayor’s Transportation Task Force, charged with prioritizing San Francisco’s transportation system needs and identifying funding sources to realize them, reconvened April 30 for the group’s third session. Currently in an information gathering stage, the 2030 Transportation Task Force is scheduled to move on a relatively fast track, with an October deadline for Task Force recommendations regarding system needs and potential connected revenue sources to be presented to the mayor. Along with vital Muni needs, the Mayor’s Transportation Task Force will take a more holistic approach to consider the impacts and needs of regional carriers on San Francisco’s transportation system. Led by co-chairs Gabriel Metcalf from SPUR and Monique Zmuda from the city Controller’s Office, Task Force members include Supervisors Chiu, Weiner and Avalos, local and regional transportation officials, several city agencies, and a broad cross-section of business and community-based organizations. “The SFMTA was thrilled when Mayor Lee announced his 2030 Transportation Task Force,” said SFMTA Chief of Staff Alicia John-Baptiste. “Working with this very diverse group of smart and committed people gives us a tremendous opportunity to tackle the financial challenges the SFMTA has faced for so long. We’re looking forward to the creative solutions that come out of this process.” Mayor Lee announced the formation of the 2030 Transportation Task Force during his State of the City address in late January, citing improvement of Muni to be one of the city’s top priorities. The mayor has a history of success attaining results from the task force model having pushed through major reform plans for public pensions, payroll tax and affordable-housing measures using a similar consensus group approach. The April 30 meeting featured a presentation of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission’s (MTC) regional plans and their local impact, presented by the MTC’s Anne Richman. Gigi Harrington, Chief Financial Officer of SamTrans and Caltrain gave an overview of Caltrain’s current and near-term transportation plans, followed by a presentation of BART Plans and Programs by Robert Mitroff, Manager of Fleet and Capacity Planning. Timothy Papandreou, SFMTA Deputy Director of Long-Range Planning, and Peter Albert, Manager of SFMTA Urban Planning Initiatives, put forth the Agency’s long-term transportation vision. The meeting also included perspectives from those who participated in a recent visit to Muni’s rubber tire facilities. Task Force members Ariane Colman Hogan of Genentech and Chava Kronenberg, an analyst from the Controller’s Office, commented on the decaying state of some of the Muni facilities visited on the tour. The next scheduled meeting of the Mayor’s 2030 Transportation Task Force is Tuesday, May 28.