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[sfyouthcom]

YOUth organizing to institutionalize Free MUNI for Youth (FMFY) by weaving the program into the transit fabric of our city moving forward. Turnout to share your stories about why FMFY, including 18 year olds, matters! Tuesday, April 15th starting at 2:00pm in City Hall Room 400. Public Comment will run late into the afternoon, so come out after your last class!!

[sfyouthcom]

Mayor Lee, Supervisors & SFMTA Announce $6.8 Million Gift from Google to Fund Free Muni for Low Income Youth

$6.8 Million Gift is Among Largest Private Gifts in History for Public Services & Will Continue Successful Pilot Program for 31,000 Low-Income Families at Least Two More Years

Posted Date: 2/27/2014

Mayor Edwin M. Lee, Board President David Chiu, Supervisor David Campos, Supervisor Scott Wiener and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) today announced an unprecedented $6.8 million gift from Google to fund an additional two years of Free Muni for Low Income Youth. The popular pilot program is currently funded by the Metropolitan Transportation Commission through June 2014 and provides monthly free muni passes to more than 31,000 low-income San Francisco youth ages 5 to 17. The $6.8 million gift is one of the largest private contributions towards direct City services in San Francisco history.

“Continuing to provide free Muni for thousands of young people from lower-income households will help make our City more affordable for working families,” said Mayor Lee. “With this unprecedented gift from Google, we can keep this successful pilot program running for at least two more years at no cost to taxpayers or Muni riders and free up critical funds for other vital Muni maintenance and services. Google is demonstrating with real action and real resources that they are a true partner in addressing our City’s affordability crisis for lower and middle-income families. I want to thank Google for this enormous gift to the SFMTA, and I look forward to continuing to work with this great San Francisco employer towards improving our City for everyone.”

Preliminary data shows that Free Muni for Low Income Youth has had a positive impact on San Francisco’s transportation network. Clipper card data shows 266,000 more rides by youth Muni riders in May 2013 than in May 2012. Approximately 45 percent of Free Muni for Low Income Youth participants plan to ride public transportation as an adult, while 70 percent would recommend Muni to their friends, according to the San Francisco Unified School District Student Survey results.

“It’s good to see Google support the next generation of Muni riders,” said Board President Chiu. “Along with the Mayor, community members and others, I have publicly and privately urged technology companies to increase their civic engagement. We appreciate this positive step.”

“This is a good first step.  I’m glad that the people of San Francisco have been heard on this issue,” said Supervisor Campos. “I’m looking forward to working with the tech industry in the future on other important issues like housing, jobs, and tenant protections. We need further collaboration to support more community driven solutions to the displacement crisis.”

“Google’s agreement to fund free Muni passes for low income youth for two years is a very positive step forward,” said Supervisor Wiener. “The agreement shows Google’s commitment to our city, and it will help low income families, many of whom are struggling.  Given Muni’s massive deferred maintenance and the need for the agency to pour every available dollar into improving the system’s capacity and reliability, paying for this program with a source outside of Muni’s operating budget is the right way to move forward.  Now, we need to make sure that when the two-year program ends, we have sustainable long-term funding identified so that Muni’s operating budget isn’t impacted in the future.  We have two years to achieve that goal.”

The program was launched by the SFMTA on March 1, 2013. The 16-month pilot program waives Muni fares for low and moderate income youth residents of San Francisco between the ages of 5 and 17. The program was launched after the San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) decided to reduce the use of yellow school buses for transporting students to and from school.

“The SFMTA is proud to be moving forward with this program and providing access to Muni for San Francisco’s low-income youth,” said SFMTA Board of Directors Chairman Tom Nolan. “This generous gift allows us to continue a very popular and successful program that ensures that Muni works for everyone and is one less demand for the board as we consider our upcoming two-year budget.”

“Encouraging our youth to use public transit furthers our Transit First policy goals,” said SFMTA Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin. “The Free Muni For Youth program allows us to make Muni a more welcoming option for youth who need to get to school and other destinations.”

“Well over half of our 56,000 public school students come from households where their families struggle to make ends meet, so having free access to Muni removes a barrier to their educational opportunities,” said SFUSD Superintendent Richard A. Carranza. “Keeping Muni free for low-income youth is a great way for Google to support our children and their families.”

“The Free Muni for Youth program has been tremendously beneficial in allowing youth to afford getting to school, work, and after-school programs,” said San Francisco Youth Commission Chair Nicholas Persky. “This contribution will help hardwire the program and our youth into lifelong ridership.”

“We’ve seen over the past year, how much Free Muni for low income youth has meant to the community,” said Chinatown Community Development Center (CCDC) Youth Organizer Angelina Yu. “Google investing in this program is a great start to partnering with the City.”

For more information about the Free Muni For Youth program and how to apply, go to: http://www.sfmta.com/getting-around/transit/fares-passes/free-muni-youth.

[sfyouthcom]

After facing criticism that its high-tech workers are shutting the lower class out of San Francisco, Google won praise as the good guy on Thursday after donating $6.8 million to pay for poor children to ride public transit - among the largest private gifts to the city in history.

San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee and a host of other community groups lauded the $3.4-million installments over two years to fund the Free Muni for Youth program, where low- and moderate-income youth ages 5 to 17 get to ride Muni for free.

The Metropolitan Transportation Commission began providing monthly free Muni passes to more than 31,000 poor children in San Francisco in March after the San Francisco Unified School District decided to cut using school buses to get children to school and costs about $3 million a year. The MTA was poised to decide whether to continue funding the efforts, and Google's gift extends the life of the program for two years. Afterward, the fate of the program is unclear.

“With this unprecedented gift from Google, we can keep this successful pilot program running for at least two more years at no cost to taxpayers or Muni riders," Lee said in a statement. "I want to thank Google for this enormous gift."

As generous as the donation is, as Mike Rosenberg from the Mercury News pointed out,Google earns that amount in one hour.

The Google donation comes in the context of a growing movement against apartment displacementand calls for technology companies to address their impact on low-income communities in San Francisco.

Community organizations have been protesting evictions and Google buses, drawing a link between rising rents in San Francico and Google’s private shuttle routes down to Silicon Valley.  Many community leaders, including a vocal group of people in Chinatown, have repeatedly asked Google executives and leaders of and other technology companies to come to the table to meet with impacted communities to discuss community driven solutions to the displacement crisis such as the a campaign to repeal the Ellis Act at the state level and the San Francisco Anti-speculation tax that will be on the ballot in November. Until recently, Google didn't have to pay the city for use of the shuttle stops. Last month, the MTA board of directors voted to charge corporate shuttles a fee of $1 a day per bus stop, an average of about $80,000 to $100,000 a year.

And while many noted the $6.8 million gift doesn't solve the problem entirely, Thursday was a day for Google compliments.

“This validates both the success and necessity of the Free Muni for Youth program,” added Bob Allen, leader in the Free Muni for Youth coalition. “We need to tech companies in San Francisco & throughout the region to work with the community to support more community driven solutions to the displacement crisis.”

Google's announcement comes as a surprise to community advocates who have been fighting for more than three years to build support for this program, most recently to expand the program to include 18-year-olds, seniors and people with disabilities.   With the influx of this new money, Free Muni for Youth Coalition issued a statement calling on the SF MTA to institutionalize the program by formally amending the fare policy to include the Free Muni for Youth program.

 “It shouldn’t come and go depending on donations from Google or changes in the economy," said Jane Martin from the Free Muni for Youth Coalition. "We need the program to continue during the next recession because that when our low-income families will be struggling again.” 

[sfyouthcom]

Google's $6.8 million gift Thursday to cover two years of free transit for working-class San Francisco kids is just the first in what MayorEd Lee expects will be a series of donations from the tech giant as the industry increasingly looks to improve its local image and ease the city's affordability crisis.

"They said, 'This is the first step we want to make,' " Lee said, describing a meeting with a senior Google executive this month. "This is so dramatically exciting because it's a catalyst for other companies."

The donation, the largest ever from a nongovernment entity to the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, will fund a program that allows low- and middle-income San Francisco kids ages 5 to 17 to ride Muni for free. It costs about $3 million a year. So far, more than 31,000 youths have registered and received passes.

It comes as tech companies are facing a backlash from city residents upset about rising housing costs, gentrification, a wave of evictions and perceived aloofness from those companies and their employees.

Those ills are often blamed on the large number of technology workers who live in the city but commute to the Peninsula and the South Bay on corporate shuttles that have been using city bus stops for free. Google's buses to the Mountain View headquarters, in particular, have become the symbol of that anger.

Lee, who has embraced tech companies with tax incentives, weekly tours and pro-business policies, has for months been calling on them to do more to help curb the spiking cost of living, boost philanthropy and become more engaged in the community.

That urging appears to be bearing fruit.

San Francisco software firm Salesforce.com this week publicly supported Lee and state Sen. Mark Leno's effort to amend state law and make it more difficult for real estate speculators to evict tenants after buying apartment buildings so they can flip the units for sale. The company's founder, Marc Benioff, is the exemplar of tech philanthropy: He and his wife have donated $100 million for a children's hospital, more than $1.5 million to help homeless families and $2.7 million for public middle schools, with more expected.

Sf.citi, a technology chamber of commerce with more than 800 member companies, many of them small startups, will also be lobbying to amend the state Ellis Act to slow down evictions in the city, said its founder, Ron Conway, an angel investor and major supporter of the mayor.

"We will make sure tech is involved every step of the way," Conway said.

Stung by protests against the fallout from the tech boom, the industry realizes it has a public relations problem, said Sam Singer, a San Francisco communications specialist whose firm has worked for housing site Airbnb but has no other tech clients.

Tech firms "are starting to take steps in the right direction," Singer said. "There is tension right now that shouldn't exist. The technology companies need to do more, which I think they're starting to do, but the people who are haters need to stop hating too."

Google's Muni donation came after David Chiu of the Board of Supervisors had private discussions with its corporate executives for more than a month to ask them to increase their civic engagement, officials said.

"For those of us who encouraged Google to step up, we should appreciate (the donation) as an important example of how tech can make long-term commitments to our transit and our city," Chiu said.

City leaders and community members who pushed for the free Muni program said they are happy to see Google getting involved but hope it's just the first step in an ongoing dialogue with those most affected by the tech boom.

[sfyouthcom]

SF Municipal Transportation Agency Board @ 4:00pm (rm 400)  1 Year Anniversary and Art Contest Ceremony @ 4:45pm (tbd)

If you can, meet us at 3:45pm outside of City Hall room 400 to check in! Also, if you would like to speak in front of the supporters (give public comment) mentioned above about how the program has impacted your life this past year, and what it means to you, email

[sfyouthcom]

Free MUNI for Youth One Year Anniversary Photo Ceremony!

Visit http://www.sfbos.org/index.aspx?page=5585v to see the winner of the Photo and Art contest! Stay Tuned for more detail for the photo and arts ceremony on March 4th !

[sfyouthcom]

Free MUNI for Youth One Year Anniversary Photo Ceremony!!!!

[sfyouthcom]

With the FMFY Coalition, we helped organize youth on the Free Muni For Youth Lobby Day where our peers took the leadership to visit District Supervisors, and asked for support in making the program permanent and eligible for 18-year old high school seniors!

[sfyouthcom]

A huge thanks to Free Muni for Youth for making my summer the best summer I’ve ever had. I had a house fire two weeks before school ended back in May 2013, and thanks to Free Muni for Youth, I was able to commute downtown for 8 weeks to work at my summer internship. I took the 8x to Balboa Bart every morning and then transferred to take the K all the way to the ball park. I interned at Stumble Upon, a start up company located near AT&T park, and it was definitely an eye opening experience. This was the first time I ever used Muni and public transit, and thanks to Free Muni for Youth, I was able to commute to work and back home safely and it sure did save a ton of money. To this very day, I’m still using my free clipper card to take the 8x to school and back home, and it’s absolutely amazing. Thank you Muni!

- Kenzo Yanni Velasquez, Lick-Wilmerding High School Student

Photo taken at Balboa Bart Station

[sfyouthcom]

DEADLINE EXTENDED! Free Muni For Youth (FMFY) Photo & Art Contest!

Show your support for Free Muni For Youth!!!! Submit Photo and Art for a chance to win First Place of $50 gift card!! 

DEADLINE EXTENDED!!! Submissions now due November 24th. Thanks to those who have already submitted!

For more information: http://www.sfbos.org/index.aspx?page=5585

#FreeMuniForYouth #FMFY #SFYouthCom 

[sfyouthcom]

Update on FMFY pilot program!  Let’s make this program permanent so that our youth can get to school on time, not be afraid of getting ticketed if their families don’t have the money that month to pay for transportation, and have access to the amazing youth programs and services SF provide!!

[sfyouthcom]

Update on FMFY pilot program!  Let's make this program permanent so that our youth can get to school on time, not be afraid of getting ticketed if their families don't have the money that month to pay for transportation, and have access to the amazing youth programs and services SF provide!!

[sfyouthcom]

Youth Commission Applications are Out!!!

Represent young people in San Francisco! Apply to be a Youth Commissioner! http://ow.ly/jDWGm

[sfyouthcom]

2012-2013 Youth Commission

[sfyouthcom]

Free MUNI for youth is the best choice!!!

[sfyouthcom]

We want free MUNI!!!!

[sfyouthcom]

Students at Wallenburg know what they want. They want free MUNI for youth!!!