BE HEALTHY

Shelter-in-Place Allows Muni to Analyze Sources of Delay By Bonnie Jean von Krogh During shelter-in-place, San Francisco has set the pause button. Besides essential workers, people have stayed home, causing daily traffic congestion to feel like a distant memory. Over these months, Muni has continued to serve approximately 100,000 passengers a day for essential trips on a network of core routes. As traffic has virtually disappeared, Muni delays have disappeared with it.   These highly unusual circumstances allowed the SFMTA to analyze data for Muni travel times and key sources of delay in ways that would otherwise be impossible. By monitoring Muni travel times during shelter-in-place, we were able to quantify the impacts congestion has on Muni service during normal times. What we’re learning can help bring back our transit system in a way that addresses past problems, as the city begins to recover.   With fewer cars on the road, peak Muni travel times were reduced citywide by an av

A Data-Driven Transportation Recovery By Bradley Dunn Responding to the Covid-19 public health crisis has radically changed o ur transportation system. No one wants a disaster to put lives at risk and disrupt everyday life . Data is guid ing t he SFMTA , not just during our reaction to the crisis, but how we will thoughtfully recover.       Transit’s Recovery When shelter - in - place began and the SFMTA was forced to reduce Muni service, we identified how to focus our service reductions using data. Our Muni Core Service Plan prioritized our available resources based on locations of medical facilities, Muni’s Equity Strategy and data from shifting customer travel patterns observed during the first weeks of the COVID-19 shelter-in-place order. Our service plan kept all of San Francisco within one mile of an active Muni stop. As additional resources have become available, guided by the same data as well as additional information from our operato

Celebrating the life and legacy of Harvey Milk By Sophia Scherr Today we celebrate and remember the life of San Francisco LGBTQ+ advocate and icon, Harvey Milk. One of our city’s most revered politicians, Milk's legacy as the first openly gay San Francisco supervisor and elected official in California helped in breaking down discriminatory barriers and usher LGBTQ+ politicians in government positions. Milk also advocated for equitable transportation, as he rode Muni exclusively since he did not own a car. He was a firm believer that affordable mobility was important in creating a thriving and livable city. Below is Harvey Milk with Curtis E. Green, General Manager of the Municipal Railway promoting Muni’s “Fast Pass”. Mr. Green was a barrier-breaking figure in his own right, by becoming the first African American appointed to Muni's top position from his beginnings with the Agency as a bus operator. With his 1974 appointment, Green also became the first African American to s

With Memorial Day Around the Corner Muni is Still for Essential Trips By Erin McMillan With Memorial Day weekend right around the corner, many of us are eager to get outside and enjoy the sunshine and wide open spaces. But as we enter the biggest holiday weekend since the shelter-in-place order, it’s still important to be acutely aware of how our individual actions can and will affect our communal ability to address the impacts of COVID-19. While we hopefully will arrive at a new normal soon, the shelter-in-place order is still in effect and it’s still important as ever that we remember to physically distance ourselves while out in our neighborhoods and to only make essential trips.   In early April, we temporarily reduced Muni service to our Core Service network which serves the highest ridership lines and supports essential trips to places like hospitals, healthcare facilities, grocery stores, restaurants and other essential services. Thanks to increasing staffing availability,

Moving San Francisco Forward By Jeffrey Tumlin Your city transportation leaders are focused on caring for this city while we fight the coronavirus pandemic. And, we’re also busy strategizing on what comes next. The city needs to be able to move in order to function. San Francisco must take this moment to rebuild our transportation system purposefully and facilitate a resilient recovery. The SFMTA has been working with city leaders and public health officials to devise how best to do that in our new fiscal and public health reality.    The SFMTA is developing a Transportation Recovery Plan which includes a series of levels that coincide with future allowances of economic activity by state guidance and our local public health officials. For each level, there are associated service and operational strategies. We will expand Muni service intentionally to address past problems, like subway crowding. Our plans actively respond to ridership data and community input and feedback. This

Reimagine Potrero Yard with Us – Spring 2020 Update By Adrienne Heim During this difficult time, we must do everything we can to maintain our health and wellness. In response to COVID-19, many of our city services have been temporarily transformed, but despite this pandemic, it’s important that we continue to invest in our infrastructure to keep current and future generations moving throughout San Francisco. Potrero Yard, one of Muni’s oldest bus yards, is indeed an essential project that will continue to move forward. Improvements proposed through the Potrero Yard Modernization Project offer solutions to ensure we maintain our fleet of buses as efficiently as possible, accommodate our new buses that will be delivered in the next six years, enhance our resilience to climate change and natural disasters, and ensure our staff is able to perform their work in a safe and efficient way. Potrero Yard Today Potrero Yard operates 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, to support six Muni routes

The Next Phase of Slow Streets By Due to the COVID-19 health crisis, the way we get around and where we are going are changing. Many San Francisco residents need to walk and take other modes of transportation for their essential trips. However, sometimes it is difficult to maintain the six feet of social distance on many sidewalks. Because of this, many pedestrians are choosing to walk in the street, exposing themselves to swiftly moving vehicle traffic. Our Slow Streets program aims to limit through traffic on certain residential streets and allows them to be used more as a shared space for foot and bicycle traffic.  At the start of the program, we released a survey and have happily received over 1,300 Slow Streets suggestions from San Franciscans. We heard broad support of the program from many residents and businesses, and we are pleased to announce the following future Slow Streets corridors, many generated by you:  20th Street, from Valencia to Potrero  23rd Avenue, from La

Select Increases to Muni Service Frequency Starting May 16 By Beginning Saturday, May 16, the SFMTA will increase the frequency on a number of lines in Muni’s existing  COVID-19 Core system  and reinstate the 9R San Bruno Rapid. This more frequent service will continue to support essential trips in San Francisco and address crowding in several of our routes, allowing for better physical distancing.   We are able to deliver these changes because our staffing availability has improved, and we have implemented additional bus cleaning programs. These changes allow us to make service frequency increases to our  COVID-19 Core service network .  Public health orders require Muni to limit capacity on our vehicles to provide enough space onboard to physically distance from others. By having buses arrive more frequently on routes experiencing higher passenger volumes, we can provide customers more room to physically distance. These improvements allow Muni to continue to support essential tr

Everyday Heroes: Taxi Driver Corey Lamb By Sarah Hellman Corey Lamb shown without his face mask for the purposes of this photo only. Corey Lamb is a veteran taxi driver with over 10 years of experience, and one of our unsung heroes. Corey provides at least 50 trips each month to wheelchair users who are unable to use Muni's accessible but regular fixed-route service. And during the shelter in place order, he has been actively transporting patients to needed medical appointments — patients like San Francisco resident Amelia Sison. Lamb is representative of the many taxi drivers who are working hard during this health emergency to serve the needs of our most vulnerable residents who need to take trips for essential services. For Sison, Lamb is her lifeline to the community. Since her necessary medical treatments began last year, Lamb has been her regular taxi driver, transporting her at least three times a week to and from appointments. Awarded the 2019 Systemwide Paratransit

Memorial Day Weekend Street Closures at Geary and Steiner to Remove Pedestrian Bridge By Amy Fowler The future of Geary and Steiner, with the Steiner bridge removed and improved crosswalks and medians The skyline on Geary Boulevard is about to change: this Memorial Day weekend, the pedestrian overpass at Geary and Steiner will be permanently removed. Beginning at 8:00 p.m. Friday evening on May 22, the area around Geary Boulevard and Steiner Street will be closed to traffic while crews work to demolish the bridge. Work will continue for 24 hours a day until the demolition is completed, which could continue as late as Monday evening. During that time, vehicles will be rerouted and bus stops will be relocated . If you’re driving or taking Muni in the area, please allow extra travel time to get to your destination. While removing the overpass may sound like a bridge too far, in this case it’s a bridge too steep. The Steiner pedestrian bridge was built in 1962, with 11-17% ramp slope

Your Market Street Muni Service FAQs - Answered By Mariana Maguire Even with temporarily reduced service and lower ridership across the Muni network amid the COVID-19 citywide stay-at-home health order, there are still multiple Muni Core Service routes overlapping along Market Street. We’ve rolled out new tools to provide important information to customers who are still taking Muni for essential trips, including: The COVID-19 Ambassador Program along Market Street New wayfinding signage for bus routes along Market Street New signage about physical distancing and face coverings Multilingual onboard audio announcements and PSA car cards, social media campaigns, and a dedicated website at SFMTA.com/COVID19 Even so, we know our customers still have questions — read on to learn a bit more about our most frequent inquiries: Which routes are operating on Market Street? Since bus service replaced Muni Metro and light rail service to help us consolidate resources, the routes curre

Director of Transportation Report: April 21, 2020 By In this week's Director's Report from the SFMTA Board of Director's Meeting, Jeffrey Tumlin gave updates on the following topics: The agency’s ongoing response to COVID-19 Ambassador program with agency staffing assisting transit in monitoring bus ridership along Market Street How the Essential Trip Program is helping to subsidize taxi use for older customers and those with disabilities Launch of the Slow Streets Program that will provide a network of streets that prioritize other modes besides public transit for essential trips while still allowing local vehicle traffic. Caltran’s US 101 Alemany Replacement Project shifting work to begin earlier on April 25 Status on the closure of the Great Highway following an early April sand event Third Street Bridge and bicycle traffic The SFMTA Board of Directors generally meets on the first and third Tuesday of each month at 1 p.m. in Room 400, City Hall. The meeting

M Bus Community Shuttle Starts Service Monday 5/4 By Erin McMillan Starting Monday, May 4, the M Bus will return to partial service as a “Community Shuttle” between Balboa Park and West Portal stations. This service update is based on ridership trends, staffing availability, and community feedback. It has strong support from District 11 Supervisor Safai as a way to improve transit connections in the southwestern area of the city. The modified M Bus Community Shuttle route will provide better access for essential trips in the Ocean View, Merced Heights and Ingleside neighborhoods and to the transit hubs of West Portal and the Balboa Park. Serving stops on weekdays only from 6 a.m. to 9 p.m., the M Bus frequency will be approximately every 20 minutes. Since April 8, Muni has been operating a COVID-19 Core Service Plan to support essential trips that cannot be made any other way. With fewer operators, car cleaners and maintenance staff available during the shelter-in-place, Muni se