Cable Cars are Returning this Summer!

Cable Cars are Returning this Summer!
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Restored Cable Car 8 being readied for return to service

Nothing says “San Francisco” quite like our historic cable cars--and they’ll soon be gracing our streets once more. As the city intensifies its focus to supporting economic recovery, residents, regional visitors and tourists will see the return of the iconic cable cars and hear their chiming bells from Union Square to Fisherman’s Wharf. Today, the SFMTA, along with Mayor London N. Breed, announced that cable cars will be gliding down the city’s picturesque hilltops this summer as downtown economic activity returns.

SFMTA staff will conduct mechanical inspections of the historic vehicles and operator retraining in mid-July. By the first week of August, we will test the system by inviting passengers aboard for the duration of a “mock service" trial, riding the lines where cable cars are operating and making stops. This mock service will be irregular, not following a particular schedule, as we work out any kinks in the system that might arise.

By early September, cable car service will return - first to the Powell-Hyde line from about 7:30 a.m. until about 10 p.m. (though cars returning to the cable car barn after 10 p.m. will continue to take ride to Chinatown). Service on the Powell-Mason and California routes will then follow.

Last March, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, the SFMTA temporarily halted cable car service as part of the city’s emergency response. This decision was made to best protect operators and the public. Muni resources were then shifted to a core network --a  limited number of the most in-demand routes--to serve essential workers and accommodate physical distancing on San Francisco’s most utilized lines. The result was the longest cable car shutdown since the full system reconstruction in the 1980s. Now, to reboot the system requires significant work. Leading up to the return of San Francisco's cable cars, the SFMTA will recertify operators, hire line inspectors and prepare our infrastructure to accommodate service.

Stay tuned for more details in the coming months!

Anyone interested in cable car service updates is encouraged to subscribe to text or e-mail updates for more information.

Published June 15, 2021 at 02:36PM
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Celebrity Voice Announcements Welcome Back Muni Riders

Celebrity Voice Announcements Welcome Back Muni Riders
By Stephen Chun

 In case the folks announcing “Welcome back Muni riders!” and “Thanks for riding Muni!” when you ride our buses or trains sound familiar, you’re not mistaken. Those are INDEED celebrity voices!

Since the SFMTA’s Muni Service Restoration on May 15th, riders have been entertained with welcome back greetings and thank you announcements from local legends in our Metro subway stations and on various rail and bus routes all around the city.   

Celebrities providing voiceovers as a fun way to welcome back riders include San Francisco Mayor London Breed, celebrity chef Martin Yan, Forty Niners legend and wide receiver Jerry Rice, award winning actor and SF native BD Wong , voice of the San Francisco Giants Renel Brooks-Moon, play-by-play announcer of the San Francisco Giants Dave Flemming, and San Francisco’s queer and trans non-profit community service and performance order, The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence. With many more to come!

By the way, did we miss anyone? Which local San Franciscan or celebrity would you like to hear?

To our riders: we thank and appreciate you for choosing Muni after such a tough year. We hope this campaign brings some joy to your trip. The SFMTA is dedicated to helping you reach your destination anywhere in San Francisco as the city reopens.

Looking ahead to August, pending pandemic protocols, more than a dozen bus routes that were temporarily suspended due to pandemic-related service reductions will be restored. With this effort we plan to bring 98% of San Francisco within two to three blocks of a Muni stop.

The SFMTA would like to thank our celebrities for lending their voices as we connect San Francisco through a safe, equitable, and sustainable transportation system. We look forward to seeing you onboard! As Mayor London Breed says, “We're so happy to have you back on Muni!”

 

Published June 14, 2021 at 10:01AM
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Bayview Community and SFMTA Receive National Planning Award

Bayview Community and SFMTA Receive National Planning Award
By Stephen Chun

The SFMTA’s efforts to improve transportation in Bayview-Hunters Point, one of San Francisco's traditionally African-American neighborhoods, have been recognized today by the American Planning Association (APA).  The SFMTA Bayview Community Based Transportation Project (Bayview CBTP) received the APA’s 2021 Advancing Diversity & Social Change in Honor of Paul Davidoff National Planning Excellence Award. Coverage of the virtual ceremony, held June 10, 2021 can be found here. 

The Bayview CBTP gives voice to the needs of that culturally rich and resilient community which has faced a legacy of institutional and environmental racism. During a two-year open-ended planning process, the SFMTA partnered with five community-based organizations to develop a responsive and actionable plan that directly responds to the transportation needs, challenges, and values of Bayview’s residents. 

Some of highlights from the plan:

• Community-driven Partnerships – The SFMTA partnered with local organizations BMAGIC, Hunters Point Family, CYC, El Centro Bayview, and BAYCAT to prioritize including those hardest to reach and most vulnerable to transportation challenges.
• Showing Respect and Building Trust – Through a series of 22 interviews with community leaders & elders, the SFMTA created a Statement of Intent. This serves as a promise to the public of accountability, trust & transparency, preserving community voice, and delivering effective projects in a community historically subject to long planning timelines and limited improvements.
• Direct Public Outreach – The project team focused on meeting residents where they were, spending 295 hours speaking face-to-face with over 4,000 residents throughout a 14-month public outreach period.
• Equity Index - A tool for mapping vulnerability to transportation challenges, with definitions and calibration supplied by Bayview residents. This ensured the plan benefits those whom the community believes to be most in need.
• Youth Transportation Summit – The Girls2000 program worked with SFMTA staff to organize the summit for Bayview youth of color, attended by Supervisor Walton.
• “Next Stop” - A must-watch short-four-minute-film produced, shot and edited by young women of color in the Bayview. Discussing transportation, safety and advocacy, the film ends with the call to action: Sound Off! Be Heard!
• The SFMTA’s First Participatory Budgeting (PB) Exercise - Led by a Community Steering Committee of 12 residents & community leaders, Bayview residents directly voted on how to spend $760,000 to improve transit and transit access in their community.
• A Commitment of $3.61 Million – A transparently-developed set of priority projects based on the needs and lived experience of Bayview residents – with prioritization for funding based solely on resident input.

In the 16 months since the Bayview CBTP was adopted, the SFMTA has already delivered on many of our promises to the Bayview community, including:

• Projects on the Ground - More than half of the Priority Projects identified in the Bayview CBTP are already implemented. This includes three Quick-Build projects on Williams Avenue, Evans Avenue, and Hunters Point Blvd. For this last Quick-Build, the SFMTA partnered with local organizations and artists to paint murals on 2,100’ of concrete k-rail barriers celebrating Black visibility and the wildlife along the bay shoreline.
• The Return of the 15 Bus – Discontinued in 2007, Muni received an enormous amount of community feedback requesting the return of the 15 Third. In response,  we restored service in April 2021 under the new name 15 Bayview Hunters Point Express.
• Onboard Safety Presence – The top vote-getter in the Participatory Budgeting public ballot was to fund three new Transit Assistants from our MTAP program to ride lines in the Bayview, diffusing and deterring any conflicts and assisting bus operators as needed.. These Transit Assistants began service in November of 2020.

The SFMTA would like to thank District 10 Supervisors Malia Cohen and Shamann Walton, as well as our funding partners: Caltrans, who supplied the Sustainable Transportation Planning Grant that funded the Bayview CBTP; the San Francisco County Transportation Authority, which contributed about $3 million in half-cent transportation sales tax funds for the local match grant requirement and capital investments identified in the CBTP; and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission, which funded projects through Participatory Budgeting with a $600,000 grant from their Lifeline Transportation Program.

Over 50 years ago, APA’s National Planning Awards program was established to recognize outstanding planning efforts that help lead communities forward to a stronger, more equitable, and sustainable future. Since 2014, five San Francisco organizations and/or projects have been awarded, with this year marking the first time that the SFTMA has!

Published June 10, 2021 at 01:57PM
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Improving Pedestrian Safety and Access for Lake Merced

Improving Pedestrian Safety and Access for Lake Merced
By Adrienne Heim

Lake Merced is a popular recreational destination

Help Us Prioritize and Identify Needed Safety Improvements

The Lake Merced Pedestrian Safety Project is studying potential improvements for pedestrian safety and access along Lake Merced Boulevard between Sunset Boulevard and John Muir Drive. Situated in San Francisco’s southwestern corner, Lake Merced Boulevard has a history of collisions, including those between vehicles and pedestrians, and between vehicles and bicycles. Lake Merced Boulevard between Font and Sunset boulevards is part of San Francisco's Vision Zero High Injury Network (HIN), where 75% of the city's traffic injuries and fatalities occur on just 13% of its streets.

Surrounded by major recreational, education, and shopping destinations, the boulevard is a major route for Lake Merced Park, San Francisco State University, Lowell High School, Lakeshore Elementary School and Stonestown Galleria. Lake Merced Boulevard is also an official city bicycle route where cyclists can either use the bike path around the lake or share the roadway with drivers on the north side of the street.

People walking and biking on Lake Merced Boulevard

Over a 5-year period (between 2015 to 2020) a total of 106 collisions were reported on the boulevard between Skyline Boulevard and John Muir Drive. Of those, nine were bicycle-vehicle collisions and four were vehicle-pedestrian collisions.

Vehicle, Bicycle and Pedestrian Collisions from 2015 to 2020 on Lake Merced Boulevard from Skyline Boulevard to John Muir Drive

Participate in Our Virtual Open House

From June 8 to June 22, we are inviting feedback from community members who live, work, and/or travel around Lake Merced Boulevard through our interactive virtual open house (available in English, Chinese and Spanish).  You can learn more about the project and provide comments during the event, which can be accessed at any time during the open house period.

In July, we will review the steering committee and community’s feedback and produce a Community-Based Transportation Plan (CBTP) that highlights recommendations for improvements, preliminary conceptual designs, and a feasible implementation plan that reflects community needs and desires.

We also encourage you to take the Lake Merced Pedestrian Safety Survey on the website or by placing your cell phone camera over the QR code.

The survey will be open until June 22. 

The planning process for this project includes a monthly steering committee that consists of neighbors and stakeholders to help staff better understand current walking patterns, barriers, and opportunities to improve pedestrian connections to and from Lake Merced Park and nearby transit stops. Learn more about the project and subscribe to project updates by visiting our Lake Merced Pedestrian Safety Project, Making Access Around Lake Merced Safer and More Pleasant website.

Published June 08, 2021 at 09:47AM
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Calling Local Artists for Muni Art 2022

Calling Local Artists for Muni Art 2022
By Pamela Johnson

Muni Art 2020 by Jocelyn Li Langrand

The Muni-Art contest will be returning in 2022 to once again to bring the work of locally-based poets and artists to Muni customers throughout San Francisco. We invite local artists to participate in the competition by submitting proposals with this year's theme, the "Streets of San Francisco." Applications are now available online. The winning artists will create eight new visual works of art that will interpret five preselected poems by Bay Area poets.

The Muni Art project will be installed on a total of one hundred buses that will become moving art galleries displaying the theme, "Streets of San Francisco" from January 1, 2022, to April 30, 2022. This is double the number of buses featuring local artists since the contest first began.

"San Francisco Beautiful is proud to partner once again with SFMTA to bring the work of five local artists to Muni riders throughout San Francisco," noted Executive Director Darcy Brown. "After a time of uncertainty, Muni Art is one bright spot that all San Franciscans can count on every year. This year we chose a familiar and comforting theme, "Streets of San Francisco" and are honoring our own world-renowned local poet, Lawrence Ferlinghetti."

The deadline to submit proposals for the contest is July 16, 2021, at 6 p.m. A committee comprised of local gallery owners and art institutions will review applications and select ten finalists.  These artists will then submit their initial designs, which will be presented to the public for an online vote to choose five winners. Finally, on August 30, 2021, the winners will be announced. In addition to having their art displayed on 20 Muni buses, they will each be awarded $1,250.

Now in its seventh year, the contest is made possible through a collaboration between the SFMTA, San Francisco Beautiful, and The Poetry Society of America. For artist entry guidelines and sponsorship opportunities, please visit San Francisco Beautiful.

 

To see last year’s Muni artist and poet winners’ creative work, please visit the 2021 Muni Artists gallery.

Published June 07, 2021 at 03:41PM
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Moving San Francisco With Pride 2021

Moving San Francisco With Pride 2021
By Pamela Johnson

Since the city’s first Pride Parade in 1970, the LGBTQ+ community and their allies have been moving San Francisco forward to become a more just, diverse and inclusive place to live, work and enjoy. The half-century long Pride event has served as a celebration and counterpoint to the discrimination and challenges the community has historically faced. And we can all be proud that San Francisco has been a pioneer on such issues as same-sex marriage, health care and anti-hate legislation.

Historically, San Francisco's Pride Parade is the largest in the country with over a million people in attendance, usually including travelers from cities across the country and around the globe celebrating and paying homage to the members of the LGBTQ+ community. Due to the COVID-19 pandemic, however, Pride will look different this year with a focus on Bay Area participants.  

Recognizing the strides and achievements made by the LGBTQ+ community over more than five decades, the SFMTA’s theme for 2021 is "Moving San Francisco with Pride.” As home to one of the world's largest and most prominent LGBTQ+  communities, we look forward to celebrating Pride all month long.

What You Should Know About SF Pride 2021

The famous parade and festival have been canceled and replaced this year by a variety of activities. Visit SF Pride to see the complete list.

June 11 and 12

• SF Pride will present the first-ever SF Pride Movie Nights at Oracle  Park.
  
  • Friday, June 11 at 6:30 P.M.  – In the Heights
  • Saturday, June 12 at 6:30 P.M.  – Everybody’s Talking About Jamie

June 18

• Pride presents a Black Liberation event with African American Art and Culture Complex (AAACC)

• 2021 RUN Virtual Fitness Series (dates to be announced)

SFMTA staff are, of course, an important part of the LGBTQ+ community that keeps SF moving with Pride. Pride is an opportunity for us to demonstrate our continued support of the LGBTQ+ community, promoting our core values of respect, inclusivity and integrity.

Get Your free SFMTA Pride Assets

To help you celebrate the LGBTQ+ community and observe Pride along with us, we have created Pride-themed digital and social media collateral for you to use.

• Cable Car with Rainbow Banner  
• Pride Parade with Rainbow Flag 

This Pride, visit the SFMTA on social Media: Instagram, Facebook, and Twitter and see how San Francisco celebrates!

Published June 03, 2021 at 01:38PM
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Muni’s COVID-19 Distancing Requirement to End on June 15

Muni’s COVID-19 Distancing Requirement to End on June 15
By Kristen Holland

San Francisco’s Health Officer has confirmed that the SFMTA may eliminate the requirement that customers maintain 3-feet of physical distance from others on Muni beginning June 15 to coincide with the broader statewide reopening campaign. The requirement to wear masks still applies while waiting for, paying for, and riding on Muni, and customers must maintain a six-foot distance from operators.

Thanks to the Department of Public Health’s (DPH) leadership, our community has extremely high citywide vaccination rates and the lowest case rates since the beginning of the pandemic. This means that more riders will be permitted onboard each vehicle, which will reduce pass ups and allow us to restore additional service later this summer.

For the past year, physical distancing regulations and other pandemic constraints required us to consolidate Muni service to a reduced number of routes, ensuring sufficient capacity for essential trip-takers. With these regulations relaxing, more Muni coverage is on the way, but your trip might look a bit different, with some new lines and temporary reroutes. These changes allow us to continue to safely provide more transit to more people.

Eliminating distancing requirements will allow us to implement additional Muni service coverage planned for August, which is contingent on increasing passenger capacity per vehicle. Muni will no longer need as many buses on certain routes to compensate for the reduced capacity. With each vehicle able to carry more riders, extra vehicles can be reallocated to other routes and areas not previously served.

Critically, we want to remind all customers that regardless of vaccination status, masks and staying six feet away from operators will still be required on-board to comply with FTA and OSHA mandates.

Public health and safety remain our top priorities as Muni service expands. We are working with our transit operators to detail health and safety protocols and with DPH to implement science-based practices that protect staff and the public during the pandemic.  

 

Published June 02, 2021 at 08:52AM
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