Reinvesting in the Future: SFMTA’s Infrastructure Improvement Projects In the past year, despite debilitating operating budget deficits and declining revenues, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which operates the City’s Municipal Railway System (Muni), has advanced key capital projects and aggressive preventive maintenance programs to ensure the integrity of the Muni system. Many of these state of good repair investments were enabled by $71 million in American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) funds approved by Congress and awarded by the Obama Administration. Along with critical economic stimulus funding, other important infrastructure improvement projects are being furthered by additional regional and federal funds. Reinvestment into the Muni system is an SFMTA priority and essential for the safe and efficient movement of people and goods as mandated by the City’s Transit First policy. Maintaining system integrity is an important component of the SFMTA vision of ensuring safe, accessible, clean and environmentally sustainable service to its customers. Key fleet, infrastructure and facilities projects advanced in the past year by the SFMTA include: 1. Light Rail Vehicle (LRV) and Motor Coach Rehabilitation The SFMTA has used 93 percent of $71 million in ARRA funding to significantly advance its state of good repair needs in a concerted effort to guarantee the integrity of the system’s
CAPITAL REINVESTMENT AT A GLANCE Total Dollars Invested 2009/10: $107.63 million Projects Advanced: 16 Jobs Created or retained: 601 assets ($22.5 million). Using $15 million in allocated ARRA funding, the SFMTA has restored 143 Light Rail Vehicles (LRVs) to original operating specifications improving vehicle reliability and ensuring the fleet’s ability to reach its expected life cycle of 25 years. The majority of these funds were allocated for door and step reconditioning, which account for 36 percent of total LRV chargeable failures, work falling outside normal maintenance and requiring overtime. Nearly 2,500 job hours were created or sustained for this project as a result of ARRA funding. The Motor Coach Component Life-Cycle Rehabilitation project, using $16 million in ARRA funding, allowed for the mid-life overhaul of 62 Neoplan high-floor diesel coaches, approximately 20 percent of the SFMTA Neoplan fleet. By replacing critical sub-systems that include the propulsion system, cooling system, and suspension system and doors, improved service levels are achieved and the mean distance between failures is increased. Other corrective maintenance work such as body and understructure repair and reinforcement will also be implemented. Federal funding will also allow for an upgrade of the FleetWatch Fluid Management Systems, critical to providing more accurate preventive maintenance scheduling and better coach reliability, safety and performance. As a result of ARRA contributions, it is estimated that the Motor Coach Component Life-Cycle Rehabilitation project will result in 20 new hires and 16 additional jobs retained.
2. Critical Rail Infrastructure Projects Emphasizing infrastructure improvement as the core to improving San Francisco’s quality of life, the SFMTA is winding down an aggressive $18 million rail improvement project to upgrade 70 miles of track work more than 30 years old. Upgrading of the N Judah, J Church and L Taraval lines will ensure safe, reliable Muni service for generations to come. These improvements go beyond new trackways to include streetscape enhancements, upgraded water lines, new overhead wire poles, curb ramps and updated Muni train signal priority devices. 3. Fare Collection Equipment Replacement This project will bring the SFMTA into the 21st century by eliminating obsolete, paper fare media with the installation of a new stateof-the-art TransLink® fare collection equipment system. TransLink, an electronic fare payment system, will eventually allow transit customers to ride virtually every public transportation system throughout the Bay Area. With ARRA funding of $11 million, the SFMTA has been able to procure approximately 100 bi-modal fare gate aisles with customer interface devices; install up to 40 new ticket vending machines; install control panels and displays for booth agents; and install a central control data system allowing greater detail and access to ridership and revenue information. As a result of allocated ARRA funds, 18 direct, on-project jobs were created or sustained for this project.
4. Handheld TransLink Card Readers for Cable Car System In the last year the SFMTA has incorporated handheld TransLink card readers for use on its iconic cable car system, the last of the Agency’s five modes to acquire the new smart card technology. 5. Other SFMTA Infrastructure Improvement Projects In the past year, the SFMTA has augmented its preventive maintenance program with an additional $20 million in ARRA funding. As a result of allocated ARRA funds, 343 direct, on-project jobs were created or sustained for this project. A $6.1 million project to replace the deteriorating overhead wiring system on Hayes Street, including streetscape improvements, was also recently initiated. Other key infrastructure projects funded in part by ARRA include $4 million dollars in facility enhancement and maintenance; $1 million for the replacement of the Automatic Train Control System inductive loop cable throughout the Muni Metro Subway; $589,000 earmarked for Pedestrian Signal Upgrades; $343,000 for Inner Sunset Traffic Calming measures; and $350,000 for replacement of two out-dated cable car kiosks on Powell and Hyde streets.
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