Late Night Metro and More J Church Service Starts October 2, 2021

Late Night Metro and More J Church Service Starts October 2, 2021
By Mariana Maguire

Muni Metro train running a nightly route.

On Saturday October 2, Muni Metro service will be extended to run until midnight on weekdays and Saturdays due to an increase in evening demand, and to better align with BART late night service. Muni Metro will continue to operate until 10 p.m. on Sundays. The new Muni Metro hours will be:

• Weekdays: 6 a.m. – 12 a.m.
• Saturdays: 8 a.m. – 12 a.m.
• Sundays: 8 a.m. – 10 p.m.

Last Metro trips on the KT Ingleside-Third, M Oceanview and N Judah will depart from their various neighborhood stops between approximately 11:30 p.m. and 11:50 p.m. in order to service the subway by midnight.

J Church Muni Metro service operating between San Jose and Geneva avenues and Church and Duboce streets will also be extended until midnight.

Please check schedules for last trip times for your Muni Metro line.

Frequency Improvements on J Church

In addition, the J Church will have frequency improvements to match the other metro routes frequencies as follow:

• Weekday frequency improves from every 12 minutes to every 10 minutes
• Weekend frequency improves from every 15 minutes to every12 minutes

Muni Metro Bus and Owl Service

Late night Muni Metro buses on the KT Ingleside-Third, M Oceanview and N Judah lines will continue to operate, in addition to train service, from 9 p.m. to 12 a.m. until further notice. Owl service on these routes will continue to run from midnight to 5 a.m.

Published September 30, 2021 at 01:26PM
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Last Chance - 2022 Muni Service Network Survey Closes October 1, 2021

Last Chance - 2022 Muni Service Network Survey Closes October 1, 2021
By Mariana Maguire

SFMTA staff talks with customer about 2022 Muni service options at farmer’s market pop-up event.

The SFMTA recently introduced three options for increasing Muni service in early 2022. We launched efforts to get community input on them, including a brief survey that closes Friday, October 1. If you haven’t taken the survey yet, there are still a few days left! You can find the survey link at SFMTA.com/2022Network.

We’ve received more than 4,000 survey responses so far and a few hundred calls to our hotline and feedback to our TellMuni@SFMTA.com email. You can also provide feedback on the shortened J Church route and changes to the 23 Monterey, 57 Parkmerced, 35 Eureka and 48 Quintara/24th Street by contacting TellMuni@SFMTA.com or 415.646.2005.

All three alternatives to increase Muni bus service in early 2022 have the same amount of total bus service – they’re just arranged differently. The “Familiar” alternative uses available resources to bring back the seven all-day Muni bus lines that have yet to restored since the pandemic began. The “Frequent” alternative instead uses the available resources to reduce wait times and crowding on Muni’s highest ridership lines (and does not restore those seven all-day bus lines). The “Hybrid” alternative aims to balance more routes and more frequency.

We’ve talked with over 30 stakeholder groups, a couple hundred attendees at our virtual meetings and several hundred more community members at tabling events and pop-ups in neighborhoods throughout the city.

Once our survey closes this Friday, our transit planners will use the input, paired with data that shows which lines are being used most and where ridership is highest, to develop a single proposal for increasing Muni service in early 2022. The proposal is expected to be ready in mid-October. We will also share details about how the survey results and other public feedback influenced the proposal.

After we release our proposal for early 2022 Muni service additions and changes, we will seek public feedback and refine the proposal in October and November. You will also have a chance to give input at upcoming open houses and office hours, by contacting TellMuni@SFMTA.com or 415.646.2005 and by taking our proposal survey in October.

The proposal for Muni service in early 2022 will be brought to the SFMTA Board for its consideration in December.

Published September 29, 2021 at 04:16PM
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Residents Overwhelmingly Support Slow Streets

Residents Overwhelmingly Support Slow Streets
By Eillie Anzilotti

After over a year of Slow Streets providing safe, low-volume corridors for people to walk, bike, play and travel during the pandemic, we’re excited to share our first comprehensive evaluation of the program. The key takeaway? San Franciscans are overwhelmingly in support of Slow Streets.

Slow Streets are designed to limit through traffic on certain residential streets and allow them to be used as a shared roadway for people traveling by foot and by bicycle. Since introducing Slow Streets in April 2020 in response to the Mayor’s Emergency Health Order, SFMTA has designated around 30 corridors covering 47 miles of roadway as Slow Streets. The program has evolved from a critical component of San Francisco’s pandemic response and recovery to a potential new avenue to further the city and SFMTA’s goals around climate action and sustainable transportation.

As the Slow Streets program has grown, we wanted to make sure we were understanding its impact on residents and city streets. Over the course of the program, we sent out a mail survey to anyone living within 0.25 mile of a Slow Street. We received over 15,000 responses on overall opinions of the program, how frequently residents use the streets, their experience when doing so and if they’d like to see the program continue. In tandem, we analyzed data on traffic volumes, vehicle speeds, collisions, bicycling and pedestrian volumes and spillover traffic impacts on adjacent streets to understand how the Slow Streets designation is changing conditions along the corridors.Through this initial evaluation, we were able to answer some of the main questions about Slow Streets that have come up over the past year and a half:

How do people feel about Slow Streets?

Residents who responded to the survey overwhelmingly supported the program. And, they noticed improvements in safety across the board: 71% agree that a street designated as a Slow Street became safer after the change.

Do Slow Streets impact traffic conditions on surrounding streets?

Our analysis of traffic data on adjacent streets shows that overall, Slow Streets do not cause an increase in traffic. We recognize, though, that COVID impacted traffic volumes throughout the city and we will continue to monitor for impacts as traffic conditions evolve.

Does a Slow Street designation make the road safer?

Of the Slow Streets in the network, 100% met the baseline conditions for a low-stress facility—fewer than 3,000 average daily vehicles and typical vehicle speeds of less than 25 mph. After a street is designated as a Slow Street, it sees, on average, a 35% decrease in daily traffic and a 14% decrease in vehicle speeds—along with a 36% decrease, on average, in collisions across the network.

Do Slow Streets encourage more people to walk or bike? In evaluating the Slow Streets program, we saw a virtuous cycle unfold: The less traffic on the street, the more likely people are to use it for biking and walking—and the more people use the street for safe and sustainable transport and play, the more likely others are to join in. Seeing young people learning to ride bikes on a number of Slow Streets was a sign that the roads were safe enough for all users. 

This Evaluation Summary shows data spanning from June 2020 through July 2021 for each of the corridors in the program, with a handful of exceptions that are outlined in the report. 

Next Steps

As San Francisco continues to move through the COVID-19 crisis, we are beginning the process of transitioning Slow Streets to from an emergency response measure to an ongoing program. We were able to use the data shown in this report to determine the first four corridors to remain in place after the pandemic: Sanchez Street, Shotwell Street, Golden Gate Avenue, and Lake Street. More information about the plans for these streets is available at Post-Pandemic Slow Streets.

We will continue to evaluate all existing Slow Streets to determine their post-pandemic future. To learn more about the overall program, visit Slow Streets.

Published September 24, 2021 at 02:44PM
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Muni’s R-Howard 80 Years On

Muni’s R-Howard 80 Years On
By Jeremy Menzies

Eighty years ago on September 7, 1941, the San Francisco Municipal Railway launched its first all-electric bus route, the R Howard. Today the route no longer survives in its original form but the legacy of the R lives on in our electric trolley bus fleet and bus routes that serve the same area.

Two Muni buses lay over at the “Bridge Terminal” at Beale and Howard Streets in this November 1941 photograph. At left is the 4 Embarcadero, which ran along the waterfront and the recently established R Howard trolley bus at right.

The R traces its lineage back to the 35 Howard streetcar line, operated by the Market Street Railway Company. This line ran from the Ferry Building to 24th and Rhode Island Streets on Howard and South Van Ness. In 1939, when the company’s agreement to run the 35 expired, the city decided to establish the R Howard in its place. Electric trolley buses were chosen for the new service for their low cost of operation and to test the viability of these uncommon vehicles.

While the privately-operated  33 Ashbury/18th was the very first trolley bus route in the city, the launch of Muni’s R line marked the beginning of a new era for electric buses in San Francisco. Just a few years after starting the R, Muni decided to build on its positive experience with the route by converting many streetcar lines to trolley bus operation. Electric trolley buses were a natural choice for San Francisco because they could handle the hills without problems and utilize (with modification) the existing overhead electrical system that powered the streetcars they replaced. Add to that a lower cost of operation and these buses became the highest earning mode in the Muni system during the early 1950s.

In this 1913 photo, streetcars await passengers at the terminal of the Howard Street Line just south of the Ferry Building.

In 1947, the R was combined with the E Union streetcar line to form the 41 Union-Howard route. Connecting the Presidio to the Mission via Russian Hill and Downtown, the 41 covered nearly 7 miles one-way. Over 20 years later in 1970, the route was modified again when Howard Street was converted into a one-way street. The 41 was split in two with the portion north of Howard remaining the 41 and the southern portion becoming the 12.

The 41 Union-Howard climbs Russian Hill heading for its terminal in the Mission in this 1948 photo taken on Union Street.

Today, the legacy of the R continues in the 12 Folsom-Pacific, which serves the original area of the R Howard, and in the numerous trolley buses that tirelessly climb hill after hill.

 

 

 

 

Published September 23, 2021 at 02:59PM
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Improving Safety and Access to Golden Gate Park

Improving Safety and Access to Golden Gate Park
By Chava Kronenberg

Today, the San Francisco Recreation and Park Department (RPD) and the SFMTA are jointly launching the Golden Gate Park Access and Safety Program, an effort to consider a post-pandemic set of closed or restricted access streets and mobility choices in San Francisco’s most iconic park.

During the first weeks of the pandemic, RPD closed JFK Drive on the east side of the park to drivers, following up with additional segments on the west side including Middle Drive and MLK. Closing these streets in 2020 was a step in decades of reducing the number of streets for cars in the park, and furthered a long conversation about opening JFK Drive to people walking, biking, scooting, rolling, dancing, and skating.

We’ve been monitoring and learning from the current car-free streets in the park. Since the closure, we’ve seen almost 7 million walking, biking, and rolling trips on JFK Drive, representing a 36% increase in people visiting the Park on the car-free route (compared to pre-pandemic visits).  With the elimination of cut-through traffic there have been no serious injury collisions on the car-free route (there were more than 50 such collisions over the 5 years prior). We have also seen faster transit service on the 44 O’Shaughnessy Muni line, which travels through the Music Concourse and serves the Bayview & Excelsior neighborhoods.

However, in addition to these successes, there have been access challenges for popular destinations and for park visitors in the disability community. The purpose of the Golden Gate Park Access and Safety Program is to bring a broad array of project proposals that can make access to the park even better than before the COVID closure while still retaining the traffic safety and park experience improvements we’ve experienced.

So now we’re ready to ask you:

• Which streets should be closed to cars post-pandemic in Golden Gate Park?
• What new or improved mobility options can be implemented to make these closures work for everyone?

Today, we’re launching our public outreach process through the GGP Access and Safety Online Open House, and with scheduled virtual information sessions and in-park tours. The proposals include potential street closures within Golden Gate Park, improved access to mobility services like the park shuttle, taxis, bikeshare, scootershare, pedicabs and more.

The upcoming public events include:

• Virtual information sessions on September 30 and October 2, where you can hear a public presentation from program staff and ask questions;
• Pop-up tabling in Golden Gate Park every Sunday in the Park this October and at neighborhood markets;
• Walking/rolling and biking tours on the current car-free route; and
• More to be scheduled!

You can also contact us at GGPAccess@sfmta.com if you’d like a presentation for your organization, or to give us direct feedback. More information about how to engage in the program and the overall effort is on our webpage. We look forward to working with you to make Golden Gate Park safe and accessible for everyone.

 

 

 

Published September 22, 2021 at 07:19AM
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SFMTA Resumes Peak Hour Tow-Away Zone Enforcement

SFMTA Resumes Peak Hour Tow-Away Zone Enforcement
By Jessie Liang

The SFMTA’s towing programs were temporarily suspended in March 2020 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic. As the city has reopened and traffic has returned, the SFMTA will resume enforcement of peak hour commuter tow-away zones starting September 20.

Vehicles parked at tow-away zones during restricted peak hours will be subject to citation and towing. 

We’re bringing back the enforcement of peak hour tow-away zones under the SFMTA Transportation Recovery Plan (TRP) as the economy reopens. Tows help the SFMTA facilitate the flow and safety of transit and traffic, support economic activity and maintain safe streets.

The reinstated tow-away enforcement will accommodate changing conditions on city streets. For example, enforcement will not apply to Shared Spaces that allow merchants to use sidewalks, full or partial streets and other nearby outdoor spaces under San Francisco’s Public Health Orders.

In addition to tows at peak hour tow-away zones, towing for all other violations will continue. These include but are not limited to, tows for violations of 72-hour overtime parking limits, vehicles with expired registrations over six months and vehicles with five or more delinquent parking citations.

 

For more information, please visit the Parking and Driving section of SFMTA’s COVID-19 Developments & Response.

Published September 17, 2021 at 05:34AM
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Long-awaited crosswalk on Geary helps rebuild community connections

Long-awaited crosswalk on Geary helps rebuild community connections
By Amy Fowler

The Geary Rapid Project just met another major milestone with the completion of a long-awaited crosswalk connecting the Japantown Peace Plaza to the southside of Geary Boulevard. The new crossing at Geary and Buchanan Street serves as a physical reconnection to help bridge the gap between divided communities. But it’s also a symbolic one, exemplified by the decorative panels installed in the center median that were inspired and designed by the communities it now serves—the Fillmore, Japantown and St. Francis Square Cooperative.

A new crosswalk was installed at Geary and Buchanan, with decorative panels representing the surrounding communities.

The significance of the crosswalk is tied to the history of the neighborhood.

In the 1960s, the two neighborhoods were specifically targeted by urban planners, the vibrant Fillmore neighborhood --known as “the Harlem of the West” for its phenomenal jazz scene—and Japantown, still struggling after the forced relocation of Japanese-Americans into internment camps. San Francisco, like the rest of the country, had experienced a boom in private automobile ownership, leading many families to leave the urban core and move to more suburban settings. Under the name of "urban renewal," city planners proposed replacing homes in older neighborhoods with bigger, newer buildings, while promising to raise living standards.

In San Francisco, the result of this policy was to force people of color from their homes and shatter communities. In the Western Addition, Black and Japanese-American homes and businesses were torn down and the neighborhoods ripped apart with the construction of the Geary Expressway. This new eight-lane thoroughfare cut communities in half and encouraged motorists to speed past the Western Addition altogether on their way to the western half of the city. 

The effects were devastating and have echoed into the present, creating highway-like conditions along Geary that have led to vehicle-pedestrian collision rates eight times higher than the average San Francisco street. While we can never undo the harm that was created by urban renewal and the Geary Expressway, improvements like the new crosswalk at Buchanan, along with other transit and safety improvements, will help to make the neighborhood more safe, walkable and connected.

In addition to the new crossing at Buchanan, four other intersections at Webster, Steiner, Cook and Commonwealth/Beaumont streets have received new signalized crosswalks, along with improved median refuges and Accessible Pedestrian Signals (APS) as part of the Geary Rapid Project.

Another way we can “calm the Expressway” is through a road diet. The number of lanes on Geary was reduced from eight lanes to six, with two general-purpose and one bus lane in each direction. And traffic lanes have been restriped to be visually narrower, which encourages drivers to slow down.

These efforts weren’t created in vacuum. Many elements of the Geary Rapid Project design were developed in partnership with neighboring communities. For example, the 31 new cherry, London plane and Canary Island pine trees that were recently planted between Gough and Divisadero streets were chosen with community input for their cultural significance and suitability for a major thoroughfare. And some proposals, like removing the Webster pedestrian bridge, were abandoned after Japantown advocated to retain the bridge due to its importance both culturally and as a conduit to and from Peace Plaza.

Community input informed the dimensions of the Buchanan crosswalk, which needed to have a large enough median refuge to accommodate groups of Rosa Parks elementary school children.

The new crosswalk at Buchanan marks the completion of all Geary Rapid Project work West of Van Ness Avenue. The remaining work between Van Ness Avenue and Market Street is expected to be substantially completed within the next month.  

 

Published September 16, 2021 at 11:20AM
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Bikeshare Station Expansion and e-Bike Price Changes

Bikeshare Station Expansion and e-Bike Price Changes
By Adrian Leung

As San Francisco's Bikeshare program administrator, the SFMTA recently approved a price increase for Bay Wheels stationless e-bike trips that will take effect September 22, 2021.

Bikesharing systems have been an important contribution to the rise in popularity of bicycling in San Francisco over the past decade. Bikeshare programs lower barriers to bicycling by overcoming the challenges of owning, storing and securing one’s own vehicle. Shared bicycles also offer a solution for the "last mile" connections that allow for more effective travel by transit so that one can complete their so-called “last mile” to their destination by bicycle.

The SFMTA regulates bikeshare service in order to provide equitable access to shared bicycles for all San Franciscans, as well as ensuring proper placement of stations or unstationed vehicles.  Before and throughout the pandemic, bicycling has increased, and our bikeshare program is part of that trend.

Per minute e-bike fees will increase from $0.15 to $0.20 per minute for members and from $0.20 to $0.30 per minute for non-members. And overage fees for all users will switch from a per-15-minute fee to a per-minute fee.

The SFMTA’s agreement with Bay Wheels allows for e-bike pricing to be reasonably set to sustain service. This includes raising revenue to support the system during heavy losses from ridership declines during COVID-19, and theft and vandalism.

Bay Wheels Commitments

In exchange for the pricing increase, Bay Wheels has committed to expanding access to both e-bikes and regular bicycles. They have agreed to install 35 additional stations by March 2022 for a total of 290 total stations citywide. In addition, they will provide up to 2,000 free Bike Share for All (low-income) memberships, to be distributed via community partners. Bay Wheels will provide promotional pricing including reduced prices in conjunction with Bike to Work month in May 2022, free e-bike unlocks for up to 5,000 trips for new users, and a 20% discount on annual memberships for over 2,000 new members.

The agreement with Bay Wheels also calls for eliminating any additional price changes for at least ten months and committing to increased social media promotion of the Adaptive Bikeshare program.

There is no price change for regular pedal bikes ridden by members over the 45-minute base period.  ($159 annual, $25/month). Additionally, there is no change to pricing for Bike Share for All, the low-income membership program.

Other stationless pricing discounts remain the same. There is still no parking fee for stationless e-Bikes ending trips at stations, or in specific zones without stations. Trips to and from specific areas will continue to have capped per-minute fees.

Published September 15, 2021 at 10:03AM
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Cable Car Shutdown Update

Cable Car Shutdown Update
By

Last Thursday at approximately 1:30 p.m., the fire suppression system in the electrical room at the Cable Car Barn at Mason and Washington streets discharged. This caused the electrical room to fill with fire retardant material resembling smoke, which prompted a response from SFFD as a safety precaution. Upon the discharge of the fire suppression system, other automated safety systems were activated resulting in a loss of electrical power to the entire facility, including the propulsion system for the cable cars.

As the cable cars only recently came back to full service on Sept. 4, we share the public’s disappointment to now be without these essentially San Francisco features on our streets. Our electrical, operations, safety and facilities teams are working hard to ensure that we do thorough inspections across related systems, rigorous testing and careful resumption of service to avoid further disruption. We are grateful for the quick response and support from SFFD. Since this incident we have also been working in close collaboration with PG&E to inspect our electrical systems and prepare to bring them back safely.

Last week’s discharge of the suppression system was due to the failure of an aged release valve which has been in service since the last cable car renovation in the 1980's. Regular inspections by outside fire safety experts of the fire suppression system have not shown any signs of defect, but the system is almost four decades old and is not considered current best practice. The wider loss of electric power at the facility was the outcome of the systems shutting down safely. Due to the age of related safety and electrical equipment, we are thoroughly inspecting this equipment for any resulting damage, stress or fatigue it may have undergone.

The fire suppression system did not sustain damage, but purchasing and retrieving necessary replacement parts for this aged system along with the inspections and testing once repairs have been made will take time. A 305-lb canister of the fire suppression system’s halon material will need to be assembled over the next week, and then delivered by truck from Ohio, followed by installation and testing. We are also researching possible alternatives to repair or replace the obsolete system in the near term. While we do not expect to have the cable cars return to service before the end of next week, we will continue to provide updates on our plans and schedule.

These are some of the many challenges that the SFMTA faces keeping the one of the oldest transportation systems operating in San Francisco.

The Cable Car system has not undergone a complete system renovation since the 1980s. More than a year ago, the SFMTA began planning for a complete system renovation, which would include modernization of the Cable Car Barn, including critical seismic upgrades, replacement of the Cable Car electrical system, propulsion and long-term system resilience. A complete system renovation today would cost approximately $625 million.

The project delivery of this program is designed around complete system renovation. The central project is the renovation of the Cable Car Barn, which requires a full upgrade of the existing 12KV electrical system, which triggered last week’s safe shutdown of the cable car electrical systems, plus structural and seismic upgrades.

The project would also seek to renovate the on-street infrastructure, including the tracks and turntables, as well as the continued rehabilitation of 27 Powell-style cable cars and 13 California-style cable cars.

A nationally recognized landmark, the Cable Car system is an iconic emblem of San Francisco beloved by locals and visitors alike. During the 1982 renovation of the Cable Car System, the federal government, noting the national significance of the system, provided 80% of the renovation costs through the Federal Department of Transportation over multiple years. In total, that federal contribution today would be $500 million, with the city, through the SFMTA, raising the funds necessary for the local match of $100 million. 

The renovation of this U.S. icon represents a project of national significance and an opportunity for innovation in transportation project delivery and historic preservation. The Cable Car System has not undergone a complete system renovation in nearly four decades. The time has come to build a program to ensure that cable cars are available into the next century.

Published September 13, 2021 at 03:25PM
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How Youth Can Shape Muni Moving Forward

How Youth Can Shape Muni Moving Forward
By Kharima Mohamed

MTA’s 2022 Muni Service Network survey is currently underway and we want to be sure that young people’s voices are heard. Youth now have an opportunity to vote on what type of Muni service they want to see in 2022. 

As part of our 2022 Muni Service Network virtual open house and office hours series, we will be holding youth-centered virtual office hours on Thursday, September 23 at 6 p.m. Youth are encouraged to join to find out how the three proposed scenarios for winter 2022 Muni service would change how they get to school and to activities around San Francisco. Youth will be able to ask questions and get answers from SFMTA staff about what matters to them most about Muni service in 2022.

Three alternatives have been developed to help us determine what Muni service should look like in 2022: the Familiar alternative, the Frequent alternative and the Hybrid alternative.

The Familiar alternative brings back the all-day Muni routes that have yet to be restored at their pre-pandemic frequencies: the 2 Clement, 3 Jackson, 6 Haight/Parnassus, 21 Hayes, and 47 Van Ness (in addition to the 10 Townsend and 28R 19th Avenue Rapid, which will be restored under all of the scenarios).  

The Frequent alternative increases service on high ridership Muni lines, improving reliability and connections to grocery stores, hospitals, schools and diverse workplaces, while decreasing wait times and crowding, made possible by restoring just two of the seven pre-pandemic Muni routes that we suspended in 2020.

The Hybrid alternative aims to balance the Familiar and the Frequent scenarios and restores five of the seven pre-pandemic routes.

A StoryMap has been developed to explain these scenarios in more detail. Any questions about the StoryMap or the different scenarios can be asked during the open houses or office hours. Youth can also take the survey online or by phone at 415.646.2005 to provide their feedback.

Youth have always been a big focus for the SFMTA. This year we expanded the Free Muni for All Youth program to include all youth 18 and under, regardless of household income level. Last month, we added Muni service in time for the start of the school year. We look forward to talking with youth across San Francisco in the coming weeks to hear what Muni service will serve San Francisco best in 2022.

Published September 13, 2021 at 01:39PM
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How Youth Can Shape Muni Moving Forward

How Youth Can Shape Muni Moving Forward
By Shalon Rogers

MTA’s 2022 Muni Service Network survey is currently underway and we want to be sure that young people’s voices are heard. Youth now have an opportunity to vote on what type of Muni service they want to see in 2022. 

As part of our 2022 Muni Service Network virtual open house and office hours series, we will be holding youth-centered virtual office hours on Thursday, September 23 at 6 p.m. Youth are encouraged to join to find out how the three proposed scenarios for winter 2022 Muni service would change how they get to school and to activities around San Francisco. Youth will be able to ask questions and get answers from SFMTA staff about what matters to them most about Muni service in 2022.

Three alternatives have been developed to help us determine what Muni service should look like in 2022: the Familiar alternative, the Frequent alternative and the Hybrid alternative.

The Familiar alternative brings back the all-day Muni routes that have yet to be restored at their pre-pandemic frequencies: the 2 Clement, 3 Jackson, 6 Haight/Parnassus, 21 Hayes, and 47 Van Ness (in addition to the 10 Townsend and 28R 19th Avenue Rapid, which will be restored under all of the scenarios).  

The Frequent alternative increases service on high ridership Muni lines, improving reliability and connections to grocery stores, hospitals, schools and diverse workplaces, while decreasing wait times and crowding, made possible by restoring just two of the seven pre-pandemic Muni routes that we suspended in 2020.

The Hybrid alternative aims to balance the Familiar and the Frequent scenarios and restores five of the seven pre-pandemic routes.

A StoryMap has been developed to explain these scenarios in more detail. Any questions about the StoryMap or the different scenarios can be asked during the open houses or office hours. Youth can also take the survey online or by phone at 415.646.2005 to provide their feedback.

Youth have always been a big focus for the SFMTA. This year we expanded the Free Muni for All Youth program to include all youth 18 and under, regardless of household income level. Last month, we added Muni service in time for the start of the school year. We look forward to talking with youth across San Francisco in the coming weeks to hear what Muni service will serve San Francisco best in 2022.

Published September 13, 2021 at 01:39PM
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How Small Improvements Can Make a Big Difference

How Small Improvements Can Make a Big Difference
By Julie Kirschbaum

[excerpted from APTA Passenger Transport Magazine, where the full article is available online]

San Francisco Transit Riders, a non-profit ridership advocacy group, has declared September “transit month” in the city where I live, work and raise my family. As the Director of Muni at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), and for others across the country in my role, every month is transit month. Still, I must admit that even after working in public transit for more than 20 years, I’m still unabashedly enthusiastic about transit month and about the potential of our industry.

When we do things right, we connect communities, improve people’s daily lives, combat climate change and open opportunities for the people who need them most.

Because the SFMTA is an integrated transit and transportation agency, we are able to have our planners and engineers work together to design changes that reduce delays, improve reliability and increase the safety and comfort of customers along our most heavily used routes. These projects include a variety of treatments that specifically address the root causes of delay and passenger frustration, like traffic congestion, transit stops that are spaced too close together, narrow travel lanes and slow boarding times.

The upgrades we made include:

• Red transit lanes, which allow Muni vehicles to bypass traffic and other problems like double-parked vehicles. This makes sense on streets where buses run frequently.
• Transit signal priority, which is made possible by a technology the lets traffic lights know when a transit vehicle is approaching so that the light stays green to reduce delays.
• Sidewalk extensions at Muni stops, which allow buses to stay in the transit lane when picking up and dropping off passengers, making them more accessible and reliable.
• Transit boarding islands on streets with bike lanes to eliminate friction between buses pulling over to the curb and cyclists traveling through an area.
• Queue jumps, which work particularly well on less frequent routes, to help buses maneuver through pinch points.

During the pandemic, when it became even more important to speed up travel times so that people would spend less time on the bus and reduce risk of exposure to COVID-19, we picked up the pace of some of these treatments to meet the urgency of the moment. We implemented ten miles of transit lines on a temporary basis, with nearly seven miles more approved.

We also added a new express bus line to downtown during the pandemic in one of our historically underserved neighborhoods: Bayview Hunters Point. This investment increased access to jobs within 30 mins. four-fold and access to jobs within 45 mins. nine-fold.

The next innovation we’re experimenting with is urban high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes. Those lanes on highly trafficked city streets in a few select locations will be exclusively for use by transit and private vehicles with two or more occupants.

Megaprojects are great—when you can afford them and when you can afford to wait for their benefits. But small projects are another great option for making transit amazing. These projects—and the quick wins they can provide—are what I’ll be celebrating this year during transit month.

Published September 10, 2021 at 09:49AM
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Young People Lean In to San Francisco’s Transportation Future

Young People Lean In to San Francisco’s Transportation Future
By

On Saturday, September 18th at 1 PM, SFMTA’s Youth Transportation Advisory Board (YTAB) will host a Youth Town Hall both in-person at 49 South Van Ness, Conference Room B (masks required) and virtually. Since February 2021, YTAB members, youth between the ages of 14 and 18, have been sharing their transportation perspectives with SFMTA staff. Now, board members want to hear their peers’ transportation experiences and needs. The goal of the town hall is to learn from youth across the city so the SFMTA can better serve them in the future.

The Youth Town Hall will cover a range of transportation-related topics that impact youth and their communities. YTAB hopes this event will support relationship-building with youth and with organizations that serve youth and their families. These relationships will help the SFMTA better meet community needs through youth-informed service improvements. Feedback about youth experiences and needs will be incorporated into SFMTA services and will be considered in the upcoming FY23-24 budget. 

Topics will include, YTAB’s vision and goals, Free Muni for Youth, racial equity on Muni, and SFMTA behind the scenes. Additionally, one of YTAB’s goals is to make internal processes, including the budget, more transparent so youth and youth organizations can continuously engage and make their priorities known. The town hall will include a brief presentation on the SFMTA budget with an open discussion about current transportation experiences and needs. All members of the public are invited, however, as a youth-centered space, youth feedback will be prioritized. 

For any questions, please email YTAB@SFMTA.com. Please register online here if you plan to attend.

Additionally, YTAB members are calling for young artists, 21 and under, to submit their art for inclusion in the SFMTA’s first Budget Guide! Art pieces should reflect the artist’s transportation experiences. For example, depict your favorite stop, transit line, or destination! Art submissions are due by 11:59 PM on Thursday, September 16th.

Read more and submit your art at the YTAB Budget Guide Art Competition webpage.

Published September 09, 2021 at 11:20AM
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September is Transit Month!

September is Transit Month! 
By

Guest Author Cat Carter

San Francisco Transit Riders, an independent nonprofit advocating for the needs of public transportation customers, started Transit Month six years ago as a way to highlight the importance of public transit in San Francisco - for the city's livability, accessibility and sustainability. This event honors all the riders using Muni to travel in and around San Francisco, as well as all the Muni operators who get us there safely every day. We'll be celebrating the role of transit in the Bay Area's recovery with events, rides and prizes. 

Daily Muni ridership never dipped below 100,000 during shelter-in-place-- that's a lot of people who depended on Muni to access essential jobs and services. Muni staff showed up every day, even in the face of the uncertainty of COVID-19, to make sure people could continue reaching their destinations. San Francisco wouldn't be able to exist or recover without all of the Muni staff who make transit possible-- from planners, to street ambassadors, to operators, to mechanics, and the people in supporting roles behind the scenes! 

This Transit Month, we also need to talk about the Muni system we need for the future.  

We know the climate is changing. Public transit has a central role to play in the solution: while serving over 700,000 daily rides pre-pandemic, Muni contributes less than 1% of San Francisco's greenhouse gases. Getting more people out of cars and riding transit is essential to combating climate change. This means making Muni much more competitive with travelling by car – ensuring that it's fast, reliable and affordable. This requires investing in more drivers, more buses and trains, and more transit priority and infrastructure projects. 

As a society, we have also recently begun broad discussions about equity, access and the effect of institutional racism. Public transit has a central role in this discussion as well: it has the potential to give people access to opportunities, resources, and each other. This goal can only be achieved if there is good, fast, reliable service reaching all communities and neighborhoods. We, as riders, need to speak up about the type of service we need, and what safe and accessible transit for everyone looks like. 

Public transit is also essential for the stability and growth of our economy. Not only do we need reliable public transit to get to our jobs, but changes in street use over the past year have shown that businesses do better when we accommodate different modes of travel throughout the city beyond the private car. Good access by public transit is one of the hallmarks of bustling, successful business districts. 

Right now, Muni service looks a bit different than it did in 2019. These changes are largely a result of a drop in ridership (and revenue) and changes in rider travel patterns. But the changes are also a result of a reckoning with what resources SFMTA actually has. 

Now is the time to lay the foundation for the Muni system of the future - one that is clean, safe, easy to use, efficient, reliable and with plenty of service connecting everyone. We can have all of that. But to do it we need to come together as a city to build that vision. Importantly, we need to build the support for funding it. We need everyone on board the bus to speak up for the importance of public transit. That's what Transit Month is all about! 

You can check out all our events at transitmonth.org, including our Riders First party on October 1. Sign up to win prizes just for riding transit! See you on the bus! 

Published September 08, 2021 at 09:08AM
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Late Night Subway Service Returns in October

Late Night Subway Service Returns in October
By Mariana Maguire

The SFMTA plans to extend Muni Metro service in the subway to midnight as part of our ongoing rail recovery and COVD-19 Muni service expansion starting Saturday, October 2.

Monday through Saturday, last trains will depart their terminals before midnight and will reach the end of the subway tunnel, in either direction, by midnight. The last eastbound Muni Metro train will depart daily at 11:50 p.m. and last westbound train at 12:00 a.m.

Sunday night service will run until approximately 10 p.m.

Since May 2021 rail service has run until 9 p.m. daily, allowing maintenance crews more time to conduct vital, ongoing maintenance work. Extending Metro service through the subway until midnight allows Muni to provide late-night service connections to BART, while preserving a large part of our late-night subway maintenance window.

To do this necessary and critical maintenance work, crews need several hours without trains in the tunnels. Prior to the pandemic, the subway maintenance window was too short, causing work to be delayed or deferred. The subway shutdown during the pandemic allowed us to advance this work significantly.

Published September 07, 2021 at 12:37PM
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Tell us What You Want Muni Service to Be Like in 2022

Tell us What You Want Muni Service to Be Like in 2022
By Shalon Rogers

The 15 Bayview Hunters Point Express is one of Muni’s newest routes.

What should Muni service be like in 2022? Now’s your chance to weigh in.

The SFMTA is planning to increase Muni service in early 2022. As we add more Muni service, what is the best way to do so? Should we simply restore the seven all-day bus routes that are not currently running just the way they were before the pandemic? Should we improve the frequency and capacity of buses on high-ridership lines? How can we make Muni service better than it was? That’s what we need your help to figure out.

SFMTA is pursuing a number of ways to gather feedback from the public on the best path for Muni service moving forward including a series of public meetings, specific stakeholder outreach, and surveys in English, Chinese, Spanish, Filipino, Russian and Vietnamese.

Three alternatives for Muni service in 2022

To begin the discussion on what the 2022 Muni Service Network should look like, we’ve laid out three alternatives including: a Familiar alternative, a Frequent alternative and a Hybrid alternative. Each alternative has advantages and disadvantages.  It should be noted that the return of service for the 10 Townsend and 28R 19th Avenue Rapid is included in all three alternatives.

The Familiar alternative brings back the all-day Muni routes that have yet to be restored at their pre-pandemic frequencies: the 2 Clement, 3 Jackson, 6 Haight/Parnassus, 21 Hayes, and 47 Van Ness (in addition to  the 10 Townsend and 28R 19th Avenue Rapid, which will be restored under all of the scenarios).  

The Frequent alternative increases service on high ridership Muni lines, improving reliability and connections to grocery stores, hospitals, schools and diverse workplaces, while decreasing wait times and crowding, made possible by restoring just two of the seven pre-pandemic Muni routes that we suspended in 2020.

The Hybrid alternative aims to balance the Familiar and the Frequent scenarios and restores five of the seven pre-pandemic routes.

Find Out More

To help customers better understand these three scenarios, SFMTA has created a StoryMap that explains in more detail what each option would look like. After reviewing the site, customers can then take a survey to provide their feedback, which can be completed online or by calling a hotline.

Additionally, SFMTA will be hosting a set of virtual open houses where staff will present the three options and offer participants an opportunity ask questions and provide feedback. We will also hold virtual office hours when project staff will be available to answer questions about the three different options in a casual setting.

Youth are particularly encouraged to join our Virtual Office Hours with SFMTA staff on Thursday, September 23 at 6 p.m. to find out how the three scenarios for Muni service would change how they get to school and to activities around San Francisco. Youth will be able to ask questions and get answers from SFMTA staff about what matters to them most about Muni service in 2022.

Schedule and Meeting Details:

Virtual Open Houses (attend one)

• Saturday, September 18 at 11 a.m.
• Wednesday, September 22 at 6 p.m.
• Thursday, September 23 at 11 a.m.

Virtual Office Hours (attend as-needed)

• Monday, September 20 at 11 a.m.
• Thursday, September 23 at 6 p.m. **Youth-centered Office Hours**

The feedback gathered from the survey, combined with transit data, will be used to develop a proposal for the 2022 Muni Service Network. The proposal will then be presented to stakeholders for fine tuning before being brought to the SFMTA Board for consideration later this year.

 

Published September 07, 2021 at 10:21AM
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Adaptive Scooters Coming to a Street Near You

Adaptive Scooters Coming to a Street Near You
By Rachel Vierstra

Shared Powered Scooters have grown in popularity over the past few years, giving residents and visitors to San Francisco one more alternative to traveling by car. Scooters can provide increased access to nearby necessities and a fun option for shorter trips. However, standard scooter models are not accessible to many people with disabilities.

Motivated by our dedication to providing equitable access to transportation, the SFMTA required all powered scooter permittees to pilot an adaptive scooter program from January 2020 to June 2021. From that pilot, a first of its kind among U.S. transit agencies, we learned important lessons that inform how we can best require scooter operators to expand access for disabled riders moving forward.

2019-2021 Adaptive Scooter Pilot

The 2019-2021 scooter permittees, Scoot, Lime, and Spin launched their adaptive scooter pilots with devices that provided additional stability, such as a seat, a wider base, and an additional wheel. Each of the three pilots offered multiple options for reserving an adaptive scooter, including submitting a request through an online form, calling directly, or reserving through the company’s app. Once reserved, users were able to pick up the scooter from the company or have it delivered directly to them.

Throughout the pilot, the permittees were required to connect with different disability organizations to evaluate their program’s efficacy and solicit feedback on how best to meet their needs. This included surveys of users and roundtables with local disability organizations, including LightHouse for the Blind and Visually Impaired, Ability Now, Walk San Francisco, and the Community Living Campaign.  

What We Learned

At the end of the pilot, the SFMTA required the permittees to conduct an evaluation of their programs to identify strengths and weaknesses and to share what they learned. The program had many successes during the trial period. All three permittees were able to offer the adaptive scooter rentals free of charge (Lime had a $5 refundable deposit), making the program financially accessible. In addition, based on user feedback, permittees were able to make modifications to existing models and introduce new, more useful models to their adaptive fleets during the pilot program. For example, all permittees altered seats so they could be raised and lowered based on the user’s height, and Lime and Spin added baskets so users could carry personal belongings. Starting in February of 2021, Scoot placed some of their adaptive scooters on the street, allowing anyone to rent them on demand.

By the end of the pilot, 158 different people had rented an adaptive scooter at least once, for a total of 786 rides. Input received from the community throughout the pilot underscored the importance of offering an array of scooter models that allow people with different mobility needs to access the program.

Incorporating lessons learned from the pilot program, permittees are now required to provide adaptive scooters as a minimum of 5% of their on-street fleet.

What’s Next: Permanent Adaptive Requirements for Scooter Operators

The new scooter permit began July 1, 2021 with Spin and Lime and on August 20 for Scoot. All on-street adaptive devices are rentable from the permittee’s existing mobile app, meaning a rider can reserve and ride an adaptive scooter in the same way as a standard scooter. The adaptive scooters must feature at least two of the following expansions to increase access: 1) three wheels, 2) seat, or 3) basket. Rental costs for adaptive scooters must be equal to or less than the rental cost of a general fleet scooter.

 In addition to requiring the on-street adaptive scooters, SFMTA also incentivized permittees to continue piloting and testing additional adaptive scooter devices and service models, such as rental/testing hubs out in the community, pick up and drop off services, and additional community partnerships.

Learn More

Join us September 12, 2021 in Golden Gate Park to test ride an adaptive scooter! This adaptive transportation event will also feature our adaptive bikeshare pilot program and information about the Golden Gate Park Access and Safety Program. In addition, the scooter permittees will be sharing an adaptive scooter update at the Multimodal Accessibility Advisory Committee (MAAC) meeting on September 30, 2021.

Published September 03, 2021 at 11:21AM
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Celebrating 148 Years of Cable Cars in San Francisco

Celebrating 148 Years of Cable Cars in San Francisco
By Pamela Johnson

On September 4, 2021, San Francisco’s historic cable cars will return to revenue service after an unprecedented shut down of more than a year as part of the city's emergency response to protect operators and the public during the Covid19 pandemic. Coincidentally, this reopening marks the 148th year of cable car operations in San Francisco.

Rebooting the cable car system required significant work. As the cars had been out of service since March 17, 2020 we had to recertify and hire new line inspectors and prepare the cable cars’ historic infrastructure to accommodate service. Cable car testing began with the Powell-Hyde line in July. In August, the SFMTA announced that free test rides would be offered to the public on all three lines as we worked out possible kinks in the system, leading to this month's return of the landmark cable cars.

All aboard? Ding! Ding! A familiar sound is in the air again. It's time to experience San Francisco once more with a ride on one of the city's landmark cable cars. When was the last time you were on board? Shop, dine, and visit your favorite destinations along the cable car line and support the reopening of San Francisco's economy.

History of the Cable Car

Andrew S. Hallidie, an engineer originally from Scotland, conceived his idea for a steam engine-powered, cable-driven rail system in 1869 after witnessing horses being whipped as they struggled to pull a passenger car up the wet cobblestones of Jackson Street.

Hallidie then entered into a partnership to form the Clay Street Hill Railroad, which began constructing a cable line on Clay Street—creating the first cable car line in the world, which launched in May 1873.

Opposition & Threats to the Cable Car System

The existence of San Francisco's cable cars has been threatened over and over again throughout the years. They have persisted through two World Wars and The 1906 Great Earthquake, and have outlasted political attempts to remove them from city streets in the late 1940s and 1950s, eventually becoming the international symbol of San Francisco that they are today.

In 1946, the cable cars almost saw their extinction when some city leaders, including then-Mayor Roger Lapham, wanted to tear out the 1870s-era transit system. The wooden vehicles towed by an underground cable system were seen more as a costly nuisance than a joyous marvel. In the same year, however, Friedel Klussman founded the Citizens Committee to Save the Cable Cars. The committee began a public campaign proclaiming that the cable cars’ value to San Francisco was far greater than their operational costs. They succeeded in placing an amendment on the ballot. With newspaper coverage, public support quickly grew. Celebrities voiced their support for cable cars as well.  The measure passed in a landslide victory, and the city of San Francisco had rallied to save the Powell Street cable car system.

Despite a shut-down in the 1980s for system reconstruction and the more recent pandemic-related service suspension, cable cars have proven to be an enduring legacy of San Francisco. We appreciate the patience of our riding public as we work to bring this service back better than ever.

To learn more about the history of San Francisco's historic cable cars, visit San Francisco's 148 Years of Cable Car Service, Then and Now: Keeping the Cable Cars on the Move and the Cable Car Museum webpages. You can also sign up for cable car service updates on our SFMTA alerts page.

 

Published September 02, 2021 at 08:09AM
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