SFMTA's Newest "Revenue" Service on Wheels

SFMTA's Newest "Revenue" Service on Wheels
By Stephen Chun

San Francisco’s Bayview and Silver Terrace neighborhoods will be the first communities to experience SFMTA’s first Mobile Sales Van. Just launched yesterday, this van will bring SFMTA services to underserved locations in San Francisco, so customers don’t have to travel to downtown or the Civic Center area to purchase their monthly Lifeline stickers. 

Available Services will include:  

• Pre-loaded Clipper cards ($11 value for $10)  

• Monthly Lifeline passes (for the month of March 2022)  

• $5 Day Passes (valid on all Muni vehicles, except Cable Car) 

• Parking meter cards ($25/$20) 

• Pick-up/Drop-off parking and fare discount program applications 

• Parking/Transit Citation Payments (customers must present a ticket or letter listing the citation number) 

• Customers can pay with cash, credit/debit card or commuter check

Schedule below as advertised:  

• Sunday Feb. 27, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: East side of 3rd street, South of Oakdale  

• Monday Feb. 28, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: West side of 3rd street South of Oakdale 

• Tuesday March 1, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: East side of 3rd street South of Oakdale 

• Wednesday March 2, from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.: East side of 3rd street South of Oakdale 

As this is a new program, we invite the public for feedback to recommend other locations around the city including social landmarks such as libraries, community centers, etc. We want to hear from you.  

Published March 01, 2022 at 06:07AM
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Improved Muni Transit Information

Improved Muni Transit Information
By Kharima Mohamed

As part of the larger effort to provide improved transit information to Muni riders, we have significantly improved the SFMTA.com stop webpages with a focus on improved accessibility. 

Each of the over six thousand stops throughout the Muni Service Network has a unique webpage that displays multiple features. These improved features on the stop webpage help to improve the customer experience for riders to easily get all the information they need to get where they need to be.  

Features include: 

• A mobile-first designed web app view for succinct on-the-go real-time vehicle predictions at the top of the page. 

• Detailed route information served at each location. 

• Alerts specific to both that specific stop and all of the routes served. 

• A real-time vehicle-tracking map and a vicinity map for each stop. 

• Nearby stops to provide stop options if an alternative is needed. 

To visit the new stop page of your choice, simply use its five digit stop ID. You can find the five digit stop ID at the top of the transit shelter. For example, the stop ID at 11th St and Market is 13425, the short URL is SFMTA.com/13425. 

Included in this release are enhanced accessibility features that allow screen readers to not only read the details of the stop’s service, but also display when a vehicle approaches to ensure that nobody misses their ride or gets on the wrong vehicle. 

Part of this update is an all-purpose “Find a Stop” page that supports geolocation, lookup stops or map interface to find any stop throughout the Muni Service Network. With a location services enabled on a customer’s smartphone this webpage returns to the nearest stops. The webpage also includes a lookup for address, intersection, and places of interest as well as a map interface for riders that do not wish to use geolocation. All the features on the stop webpage presents riders with multiple options to choose from to plan their Muni ride and continue their trip journey. 

These enhancements are part of the Next Generation Customer Information System Project. Future improvements will soon include an improved multimodal trip planner, more accurate predictions and enhanced accessibility information for each stop that will enable improved accessible trip planning. 

As AT&T’s 3G decommissioning impacts NextMuni electronic displays*, the SFMTA.com stop webpages and third party transit information applications are easy-to-use options to get vehicle predictions and other much needed transit information so that you can plan your trip efficiently. *We anticipate a gradual wind down of the AT&T 3G service over the next few weeks. Our NextBus signs are currently operational, but this will likely change in phases.

Published February 26, 2022 at 03:21AM
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We Want To Hear From You

We Want To Hear From You
By Andrea Buffa

It’s budget season! 

Every two years, the SFMTA develops a consolidated budget to guide the agency’s decisions about where to focus our funding to best meet the transportation needs of all San Franciscans. We’re developing a budget that’s designed to support San Francisco’s economic recovery, increase transportation equity, protect the environment and keep the agency on sound financial footing.  

We presented the base budget (projected revenues and expenditures for the next two years if we made no changes and continued our current policies) to our Board of Directors in early February to get their feedback and are now seeking input from the public. Your feedback will help us understand what to change in our base budget: which investments are most important to San Franciscans and which new revenue sources you think we should pursue. We’re considering both fare increases and decreases as well as changes to parking fees. 

The City Charter requires us to submit the final budget to the Mayor’s Office by May 1. The Mayor then sends it to the Board of Supervisors on June 1 for a final vote. 

How to provide your input on the SFMTA FY 2023 to FY 2024 budget 

Online Survey: We invite you to give us feedback about your transportation priorities by filling out this short survey. It’s available in English, Spanish, Chinese and Filipino. We’ve included an open-ended question so you can let us know if there’s a specific transportation priority you want to let us know about. 

Online Listening Sessions: We’re hosting two listening sessions that will include a short budget presentation and time to hear your questions and suggestions. You can request simultaneous interpretation in any language for our budget listening sessions by calling 415.646.2109 at least 48 hours prior.  

• February 28, 2022, 1:00 p.m. - 2:30 p.m.  
  English call-in number: (833) 362 1164 
  Spanish translation call-in number: (833) 408 1988 
  Chinese translation call-in number:  
  Online login: bit.ly/SFMTAListens 

• March 3, 2022, 5:00 p.m. - 6:30 p.m.  
  Get login information at sfmta.com/budget 

Online Town Hall: At our online Town Hall meeting, we’ll share the feedback we heard from the survey and online listening sessions. 

March 10, 2022, 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m.  
Get login information at sfmta.com/budget 

After gathering feedback from the public, our directors and our staff, we’ll revise the budget and present it for additional review at two SFMTA Board of Directors meetings: 

SFMTA Board of Directors Budget Meetings:  

• March 15, 2022, 1:00 p.m. 

• April 5, 2022, 1:00 p.m. 

Budget Background 

If you’ve been tuning in to our Board of Directors meetings during the two years, you’ll know that the SFMTA’s revenue was severely reduced by the COVID-19 pandemic. COVID devastated our transit fare and parking revenues, which are two of our three biggest revenue sources. Even now, our transit revenues are about 75% lower than pre-pandemic levels and parking revenues are 20% lower.  

The recovery of our transit fare and parking revenue depends on the pace of San Francisco’s economic recovery, which is still uncertain. Data from the Controller’s Office shows that the city’s economy and downtown are recovering more slowly than comparable metropolitan areas. 

This compounded the financial problems our agency already had. Over the last 20 years, the demands on San Francisco’s transportation system have grown and revenues haven’t kept up. Our agency has what’s called a “structural deficit” -- the amount of money it takes to operate our system costs more than the revenues we take in. 

We got through the last two years because we fought for and won San Francisco’s fair share of federal pandemic relief funding and then we were prudent about using that funding to restore service.  

Recently, our short-term budget outlook has somewhat improved because some of the external revenue sources we rely on did better than expected. We’re receiving more money than we thought we would from the San Francisco General Fund and need to spend less on our pension costs. Still, according to the Controller’s Office, the SFMTA will face a structural deficit of approximately $20 - $50 million every year beginning in FY 2024-25.  

This background informs the FY 2023 to FY 2024 base budget that we’re asking for feedback on. It tries to balance the need for us to restore and expand services with the need to maintain the agency’s long-term economic stability. 

Click below to view the budget website in:  

Español - 繁體中文 -  Filipino    

Published February 25, 2022 at 05:41AM
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MTA Board of Directors Welcomes Stephanie Cajina

MTA Board of Directors Welcomes Stephanie Cajina
By Lori Phelan

Stephanie Cajina, an advocate for equitable communities and a San Francisco native, joins the SFMTA's Board of Directors as the only Latina member. With her confirmation from the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and subsequent swearing in, she fills the seventh position on the board vacated by former board member Cheryl Brinkman. 

Cajina currently serves as a Senior Economic Development Specialist for the City of Napa, a position she's held since 2019. There she shapes and implements economic development strategies and manages the Economic Development Division budget. Additionally, Cajina is the co-project lead for the City of Napa's National League of Cities Initiative together with the City of Napa's Housing and Planning Division. 

Before that, she served as Executive Director for the nonprofit Excelsior Action Group during, which time, she also served as a member of the SFMTA Small Business Working Group representing transit-related interests of small businesses throughout the San Francisco. 

In addition to her work with the City of Napa, Cajina serves as Vice Chair of the Northern Bay Area Chapter of the Chicano Latino Caucus, California Democratic Party, the largest Latinx Democratic party organization in the country. 

Cajina graduated from Cornell University with a Bachelor of Science degree in Urban and Regional Studies. Currently she resides in the Excelsior District, San Francisco. 

SFMTA Board of Directors 

The SFMTA is governed by a seven-member Board of Directors who are appointed by the Mayor and confirmed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors. The SFMTA Board of Directors provides policy oversight in accordance with the San Francisco Charter and the Transit-First Policy and serves as members of the San Francisco Parking Authority. The SFMTA Board of Directors generally meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 1 p.m. Meetings are open to everyone and are streamed live through SFGovTV. Additional information such as agendas, resolutions and legislation passed by the Board can be accessed at www.SFMTA.com. 

Published February 24, 2022 at 04:54AM
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Bob Planthold Tribute

Bob Planthold Tribute
By Stephen Chun

San Francisco lost a dedicated advocate for pedestrian safety and accessible public transportation with the recent passing of Bob Planthold. Having contracted polio at an early age, Bob used bright yellow Canadian crutches to help him move around. Firsthand experience of the obstacles people with disabilities may face in getting from place to place and accessing services made Bob a tenacious and persistent champion for pedestrian safety and accessible transit.  

Bob’s activism contributed to real change that benefited people with disabilities in San Francisco. He was a member of the steering committee for the San Francisco Accessible Parking Policy Advisory Committee, which was established by the Mayor’s Office on Disability and SFMTA in 2012 to look into ways that SFMTA blue zone policy and the State Department of Motor Vehicles’ disabled placard policies could be improved to ensure greater availability of accessible parking in the City. As a result of the Committee’s work, SFMTA enacted a policy requiring that the city actively work toward a minimum of 4% of metered parking as designated blue zones. Bob also teamed with disabled advocates in other cities to push for statewide legislation requiring statewide policies to ensure sufficient turnover in parking and increase the availability of blue zones and public parking.  

As a past member of both the Multimodal Accessibility Advisory Committee and the Paratransit Coordinating Council, Bob’s was a familiar face for Accessible Services staff. He frequently engaged with staff throughout SFMTA on projects such as the Commuter Shuttle Program and the Transit Effectiveness Project. More recently Bob was involved in the effort to make JFK Drive Car-free; advocated for the return of pre-pandemic Muni service levels; and pushed for accessibility concerns around pandemic-era Shared Space Parklets to be addressed. 

Bob’s activism extended beyond pedestrian and transit access issues. During his decades as a community activist, his service included terms on the City’s Sunshine Task Force and on the Ethics Commission. He regularly advocated before the Mayor’s Disability Council and was involved with community groups such as Senior Disability Action (SDA), formerly Senior Action Network. As a member of the SFCTA’s Vision Zero Task force since its inception in 2014, Bob was a stalwart advocate for pedestrian safety in San Francisco and was part of the broader movement for safe streets in California.  

Bob was always game for fun in his activism and was integral to some of the innovative campaigns developed by SDA to focus attention on important issues such as pedestrian safety.   He made connections with countless individuals and was uncompromising in his belief that access cannot be overlooked and should be integrated into all programs and services provided by the City and for that matter private companies as well.   He teamed up with many groups during his years of activism and his steadfast commitment to access for seniors and people with disabilities will be greatly missed. 

Published February 23, 2022 at 01:10AM
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Free Muni and Cable Car Rides for the Lunar New Year Weekend

Free Muni and Cable Car Rides for the Lunar New Year Weekend
By Stephen Chun

In partnership with Supervisors Chan, Peskin and Preston, the SFMTA will be offering free Muni rides for the Lunar New Year weekend and festivities. Complimentary service begins Saturday, Feb. 19 at 5 a.m. to Monday, Feb. 21 at 5 a.m. This includes free rides on our historic cable cars, a beloved attraction for regional visitors providing them direct access to the Chinatown community and the weekend’s Lunar New Year festivities.  

Additionally, for the remainder of February, thanks to the leadership of Supervisors Chan and Peskin and their generous funding allocation, the SFMTA, Rec/Park and the Portsmouth Square Garage Authority will be providing validation for two hours of free parking at the Portsmouth Square Garage.  

The SFMTA is excited to be rolling out both programs to support the city’s economic recovery including for the Chinatown neighborhood and businesses’ vibrant culture and vitality.   

As we do every year to spread the spirit of Lunar New Year throughout the city, we’ve decorated two of our cable cars with a Lunar New Year theme and will be running them until Feb. 20. The SFMTA API Affinity Group and other staff members will be riding in the parade on a motorized cable car that will be outfitted with commemorative banners.  

A reminder, as we do not have the ability to turn off the Clipper ® readers or change our headway signs:  

• Please do not tag your Clipper® card. If you tag it, you will be charged.  

• Please do not activate a Muni Mobile ticket. Metro fare gates will be open.  

• For access in Muni Metro stations, the fare gates will be open.  

• For those who happen to tag a Clipper® reader during this weekend of free fares, the SFMTA does not have the ability to issue a refund.  

Safety for Muni riders is of paramount importance to us. To ensure San Francisco’s API community members, who’ve seen their loved ones subjected to hateful and racist attacks in recent years, are safe traveling during Lunar New Year, we’ve put additional support of Muni Transit Ambassadors on the buses and at bus stops in Chinatown to assist riders and support bus operators in keeping everyone safe. Many of our Muni operators come from the API community, so, for us, this is also a matter of protecting our employees.  

The SFMTA expresses our thanks to the city for giving us this opportunity to support the city and are extremely proud to be able to help keep Chinatown residents and visitors moving.  

For more information on Muni service and reroutes in effect for the Lunar New Year weekend, please visit the San Francisco Chinese New Year Celebration webpage (SFMTA.com/CNY). 

Published February 18, 2022 at 10:49PM
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SFMTA Rolls Out Battery Electric Bus Pilot Program

SFMTA Rolls Out Battery Electric Bus Pilot Program
By Stephen Chun

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) announced the first of three battery electric buses have entered revenue service achieving a major milestone in the agency’s greater goal of an all-electric fleet and a carbon-neutral San Francisco by 2040, as explained in the SFMTA’s Sustainability and Climate Action Program.  

As part of the program, Muni had initially ordered nine battery-electric buses, three each from three manufacturers, New Flyer, BYD USA and Proterra, for an 18-month tryout. As the program evolved, a fourth manufacturer, Nova Bus, was added to the program who would bring in three additional e-buses for the extensive testing. Currently five e-buses have arrived. The rest of seven will be delivered by the end of 2022.   

Prior to the launch, the e-buses were tested on some of our most challenging routes. The new coaches will be serving the 9 San Bruno, 22 Fillmore, 29 Sunset and 44 O'Shaughnessy lines. The three battery-electric buses, one each from New Flyer, BYD USA, and Proterra, will be running on the same line each day to gather data on how they respond to the challenges of revenue service across our unique geographic terrain.  

Leading up to this launch, the SFMTA has been working with PG&E to complete and update the charging infrastructure, called ChargePoint Express Plus, needed to power our new battery electric fleet. Each bus takes about four hours to charge and the electrical support equipment is enclosed within the Electrical Equipment Center directly adjacent to the charging stations.  To date, we have nine of 12 charging stations completed, which are powered by Hetch Hetchy Power. The three remaining chargers are currently in fabrication and anticipated to be delivered in Spring 2022. Construction will continue once the three chargers arrive. The overall completion of the installation project is expected for summer 2022.       

As of 2019, 47 percent of San Francisco’s greenhouse gas emissions are generated by the transportation sector which is heavily reliant on carbon intensive fossil fuels. The SFMTA says its reliance on harmful fossil fuels is changing the earth’s climate and contributes to extreme weather events, increased forest fire risk and sea level rise.   

However, the SFMTA continues to be a leader in providing safe and sustainable transportation options. The SFMTA’s energy-efficient Muni fleet contributes less than two percent of the sector’s emissions and moves approximately 700,000 every day! Today, the SFMTA operates the greenest transit system of any major city in North America   

Program Background  

We are committed to ensuring that BEBs can deliver the same standard of reliability and service as our current hybrid-electric bus fleet. In recent years, the transit industry has witnessed significant progress in battery-electric technology. However, the question remains of whether BEBs can handle San Francisco’s heavy transit ridership and hilly routes. To answer this question, the SFMTA continues to evaluate the battery-electric bus program.  

The BEB program serves as an important step towards achieving the greater goals of an all-electric fleet outlined in the SFMTA’s Zero Emission Bus Rollout Plan and a carbon-neutral San Francisco by 20450. Additionally, this project contributes to the City’s Climate Action Strategy goals and supports the City’s voter-approved Transit-First Policy established in 1973.  

Environmental Commitment   

San Francisco is committed to achieving net-zero greenhouse gas emissions by 20450. The SFMTA, which has operated a network of zero-emission vehicles for almost 85 years, is playing a key role in achieving this goal. Throughout our agency’s history, we have consistently and proactively pursued and implemented the latest in green transportation technologies. Today, the SFMTA accounts for less than two percent of the City’s transportation related GHG emissions and operates the greenest transit system of any major city in North America. For more information on our Battery Electric Bus program please visit our website.  

Published February 16, 2022 at 02:03AM
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