Last year, Phil Ting and the Reset San Francisco community held town halls across the city to ask Muni riders for their ideas for improving their individual Muni line. We then released the “Citizens’ Response to the Transit Effectiveness Project.” You can read the crowdsourced report on Scribd here.

And now, SFMTA is launching a series of town hall meetings to discuss its budget, starting March 3. We’re big advocates for participatory budgeting processes and deliberative democracy — that’s why we thought it would be important to share this with you. Read the official press release below, and we hope you can join the conversation:

**PRESS RELEASE**

SFMTA To Host Budget Town Hall Meetings

Upcoming Two-year Budget Cycle Starts July 1

San Francisco—The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which oversees all transportation in the city, including the Municipal Railway (Muni), today announced that it will host a series of town hall meetings in March to discuss its upcoming two-year budget.

This series of citywide public meetings, the first of which is March 3, will provide San Francisco residents an opportunity to hear what is being proposed in the two-year budget and to meet directly with SFMTA staff to discuss specific programs and projects. These meetings will also be an opportunity to discuss the Agency’s long-standing structural operating and capital budget deficits and their impact on services.

A presentation of the FY 2013 and FY 2014 preliminary budget can be found at: http://www.sfmta.com/cms/cmta/documents/2-21-12Item11FY2013-2014OperatingBudget.pdf.

SFMTA FY 2013-2014 Budget Town Hall Meetings

Saturday, March 3 – 10 a.m. to noon
SFMTA Headquarters
1 South Van Ness Avenue
2nd Floor, Atrium
Nearby Muni Routes: 6, 9, 14, 47, 49, 71, F Market, Metro—Van Ness Station

Thursday, March 8 – 6 to 8 p.m.
San Francisco City College
50 Phelan Avenue
New Multi-use Building, Room 140, 1st Floor
Nearby Muni Routes: 8X, 29, 49, K Ingleside, Metro—Balboa Park Station

Wednesday, March 14 – 5:30 to 7:30 p.m.
San Francisco Public Library
100 Larkin Street
Koret Auditorium
Nearby Muni Routes: 5, 6, 9/9L, 19, 21, 71/71L, F Market, Metro—Civic Center Station

Thursday, March 15 – 6 to 8 p.m.
SFMTA Presidio Division
2640 Geary Boulevard
Training Rooms C, D and E
Nearby Muni Routes: 2, 38/38L, 43

Wednesday, March 21 – 6 to 8 p.m.
San Francisco Waldorf High School
470 West Portal Avenue
Herbst Hall
Nearby Muni Routes: 17, 23, K Ingleside, M Ocean View

Additional Public Meetings on the Budget

SFMTA Board of Directors Meetings (Room 400, City Hall)

Tuesday, March 6 – 1 p.m. (Includes a Public Hearing on Changes to Fees, Fines and Fares)
Tuesday, April 2 – 1 p.m. (possible Board action)
Tuesday, April 17 – 1 p.m. (possible Board action)

Those who would like to comment and cannot attend one of the meetings are asked to send an e-mail to [email protected] or call 311.

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Established by voter proposition in 1999, the SFMTA, a department of the City and County of San Francisco, oversees the Municipal Railway (Muni), parking and traffic, bicycling, walking and taxis. With five modes of transit, Muni has approximately 700,000 passenger boardings each day. Over 35,000 extra vehicles enter San Francisco on any given business day, and rely on the SFMTA to keep the flow of cars, transit vehicles, taxis, delivery trucks, pedestrians and bicycles moving smoothly through the streets.