As the city rolls out changes -- and a red carpet for buses -- along Mission Street, negative feedback has flooded the office of Supervisor David Campos and may prompt the transit agency to put the brakes on some of its plans.
“Most people working by, living on, and driving down Mission Street will tell you that the new transit-only red carpet lanes are anything but glamorous,” Campos wrote on Facebook, where dozens of residents chimed in with their own frustrations about for the project. Other areas of social media, however, saw an outpouring of support for the new transit lanes -- complete with a hashtag, #KeepMissionRed.
The plan was to speed up transit times for the thousands of bus riders who use the 14, 14R and 49 buses to travel the Mission Street corridor.
Paul Rose, a spokesman for the transit agency, said the changes have already had an effect despite being incomplete. Total transit time along the corridor is down two or three minutes, with savings of about five minutes in each direction expected at project completion by the end of April.
But drivers have been particularly active in voicing their displeasure with the change, and confusion has led to loud frustration and traffic snarls in those areas where right turns are now mandatory.