Muni Central Subway wharf extension rides on many things

The trolley buses on heavily used Muni lines like the 30-Stockton are showing their age, and 60 new ones are on their way and should hit the streets in 2015. The trolley buses on heavily used Muni lines like the 30-Stockton are showing their age, and 60 new ones are on their way and should hit the streets in 2015. Photo: Erik Verduzco, The Chronicle Photo: Erik Verduzco, The Chronicle Image 1 of / 1 Caption Close Muni Central Subway wharf extension rides on many things 1 / 1 Back to Gallery

That group pushing for a Central Subway extension to Fisherman's Wharf - mentioned in Wednesday's column - is making some headway, but it's not quite time to start planning your trip to Scoma's on Muni Metro.

The San Francisco County Transportation Authority, which administers the city's transportation sales tax money, is prepared to dedicate $150,000 to a feasibility study for the extension. The study, according to Tilly Chang, the SFCTA executive director, would move the notion of an extension of the T line past the Chinatown station beyond the idea stage.

"It's intended to flesh it out a little bit," she said - "to look at potential alignments, whether it should be on the surface versus underground, what it might cost."

That preliminary study, Chang said, would then be handed over to the Municipal Transportation Agency for a more in-depth look.

The authority's Plans and Programs Committee will consider funding the study at its meeting Tuesday. If approved, it would go to the full county transportation authority board, which also happens to be the Board of Supervisors.

Chang said the study is "just the beginning of the process to consider and assess the project," which would need to be assigned a place in the MTA's capital spending plans as well as the Bay Area's regional transportation spending strategy.

So while the Central Subway tunnels to the North Beach extraction site will be done within months, and trains will run to the Chinatown end of the line in early 2019, it would be many years more before the T line could reach the wharf. But it's a start.

- Michael Cabanatuan

Ah, that new bus smell: Tired of those old, stinky Muni trolley buses that are, in some cases, literally repaired with duct tape? Here's some good news: The Municipal Transportation Agency has placed an order for 60 new electric trolley buses.

Muni will join in on an existing order from the Seattle transit agency to buy 240 regular-length and 93 articulated trolley buses. The purchase price is just short of $95 million, which comes from a mix of federal, state and local money. The local chunk comes from Proposition K, the half-cent transportation sales tax.

A prototype of the new trolley buses should be rolling through the streets in early 2015, MTA officials say.

The existing trolley buses are more than 20 years old and account for about 40 percent of Muni's delays. They run on some of the system's busiest lines, including the 1-California, 14-Mission, 5-Fulton and 30-Stockton.

"The people of San Francisco deserve modern, reliable transportation services that support the quality of life and economic vitality of the city," said Ed Reiskin, director of transportation for the agency. "By investing in new, high-performing, quiet and green electric trolley vehicles, we are able to provide better options for moving around the city."

The new bus buy is part of an agency plan to replace all Muni buses and light-rail cars and rejuvenate the system.

- Michael Cabanatuan