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Muni’s Equity Toolkit Helps Essential Employees Get to Work By Mariana Maguire The latest data from SFMTA’s new  Equity Toolkit  shows that Muni service changes are helping people in neighborhoods identified by our  Muni Service Equity Strategy  access more jobs and support the city’s recovery.   In winter 2020, we launched the  SFMTA Equity Toolkit  to understand how service decisions are affecting neighborhoods where there is likely a high prevalence of essential workers who rely predominantly on Muni to get to their essential jobs. Our goal is to make better service decisions based on the trends and impacts we see in the Equity Toolkit.   Recently, the greatest increases in access to jobs via Muni have been in Hunters Point and Western Addition. The Hunters Point neighborhood saw the largest gains from the addition of the  15 Bayview-Hunters Point Express , as demonstrated in the table below. Thanks to the return of key Muni lines and increased frequencies on connector routes, I

SFMTA’s Cable Car Signal Tower Gets a Refresh By Jeremy Menzies At the corner of California and Powell Streets stands a diminutive but important building that has been in use for well over 100 years. This octagonal signal tower controls the crossing of the Powell and California Street cable car lines, and recently underwent a full restoration thanks to the skilled craftspeople at the Cable Car Division. A group photo of Muni craftspeople and shop management who worked to restore the signal tower in 2020-2021. The tower’s history dates to 1888 when the original was built by the Ferries and Cliff House Railroad, which operated cable cars on Powell Street at the time. That tower was destroyed in the 1906 earthquake and fires that ravaged Nob Hill. In March 1907, it was rebuilt by then-owner United Railroads of San Francisco (URR) and went back into operation. Photo showing signal tower in 1908 with the Fairmont Hotel and passengers waiting for a cable car in the background. Photo c

Better Connections from Bayview and Hunters Point to Downtown By Enrique Aguilar To better connect southeast San Franciscans with downtown, the SFMTA debuted the 15 Bayview Hunters-Point Express in late January, coinciding with the return of T Third train service. Within weeks, average daily boardings reached 1,000 customers on this new service. The 15 Bayview Hunters Point Express  We added this route based on community feedback from the Southeast Muni Expansion Project in 2018, which prioritized a more direct trip to downtown from the Bayview. With the sudden rise of the COVID-19 pandemic and its disproportionate impacts on communities in the Bayview and Hunters Point, fast-tracking the project became critical to our transit planning. Adding service capacity and a direct connection between these neighborhoods and downtown is a crucial step in supporting the City’s economic recovery and increasing job access for essential workers using transit. Using data from the SFMTA Equity

Hate is a Virus By As a city we stand united against racism. While violence resulting from racism has been more visible in recent years, many of our colleagues and community members have been surviving the violence resulting from racism for generations. This is especially true for many Black, Indigenous, Latinx, Asian, and Pacific Islander communities that have often grappled with the effects of racism in silence or without widespread acknowledgement and support. Hate against Asian American Pacific Islander communities has risen at an alarming rate during the COVID-19 pandemic. Anti-Asian violence has been fueled by rhetoric baselessly blaming people of Asian descent for the outbreak and spread of COVID-19.  We condemn all forms of racism and xenophobia and stand in support of any marginalized groups who are being targeted. Let’s continue coming together to stop racism in all its forms, including Asian discrimination. We can all do our part to stop bias, hate, and violence by educ

SFMTA Supports San Francisco Small Businesses Through Construction and COVID-19 By Sophia Scherr Local small businesses are what give San Francisco its eclectic and unique charm. Running a small business in San Francisco isn’t an easy feat either, especially over the past year. Therefore, it’s imperative that SFMTA’s projects not only provide resources to businesses that are impacted by construction but are also responsive to COVID-19 concerns as well. Through our partnership with the Office of Economic and Workforce Development (OEWD), we have been able to provide an additional layer of support to businesses along project corridors including the Geary Rapid Project , Van Ness Improvement Project and L Taraval Improvement Project .  The SFMTA project teams have made it a standard practice to include dedicated support as part of every major capital project. OEWD staff undertake door-to-door outreach and provide information and assistance with grant applications and other city resour

Creating a Better Market Street: Car-free Enforcement to Resume By Mariana Maguire It’s been over a year since Market Street went “car-free” on January 29, 2020 , but shortly afterwards, the COVID-19 pandemic shut down our city and changed how people move through San Francisco. As the city begins to reopen and vehicle traffic is increasing, we are by stepping up compliance and enforcement efforts to keep Market Street car-free starting March 29, with the help of SFMTA’s Parking Control Officers (PCOs) and the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD). Under the year-old car-free rules established as a part of Better Market Street , no private vehicles are allowed to travel along Market Street eastbound from 10th to Main streets or westbound from Steuart Street to Van Ness Avenue. Traffic is still allowed to cross Market Street, but there are no turns allowed onto the street in the car-free area. These restrictions apply to all private vehicles, including Uber, Lyft, Postmates, DoorDas

Get On Board for Your Driver By Lori Phelan Today is Transit Worker Appreciation Day, a national day of recognition to thank and celebrate the public service of transit vehicle operators and support staff who keep our cities moving. Operating any vehicle in a city like San Francisco is not easy, yet our operators strive to provide a comfortable ride while navigating large-capacity buses with precision through city streets and traffic. We recently celebrated hundreds of Muni Operators with years –even decades-- of “safe driver” experience, having had no avoidable collisions. We also celebrate the hundreds of mechanics, car cleaners, and other critical personnel who keep vehicles safe and operational. Muni’s transit operators and support teams have been on the job in San Francisco throughout the COVID-19 pandemic, providing essential service at a time of unprecedented challenge and uncertainty. In addition to keeping our Muni Core Service Plan rolling during shelter-in-place, many

4th Street Bridge Transit Lanes Ease T-Third Bottleneck By Erin McMillan In January, along with other proposed and planned key locations across the city , the SFMTA Board of Directors approved temporary emergency transit lanes for the 4th Street Bridge .  These temporary lanes address a key bottleneck that delays the T Third line on 4th Street northbound and southbound between Berry and Channel Streets. A Sunnydale-bound T Third train approaches the 4th Street Bridge As a response to community feedback, the project team developed a two-phase implementation of the temporary transit lanes to allow for an evaluation of their effectiveness before fully restricting northbound bridge traffic. The initial evaluation of the first phase has been completed, and data shows that partial implementation was effective in allowing Muni trains to travel across the bridge with little delay. Currently, northbound left turns are restricted from 4th Street onto Berry Street. The previous left turn p

Muni and SamTrans Partner on Lake Merced Bus Service By Enrique Aguilar Starting March 22, a new program will provide free access to SamTrans Route 122 within San Francisco between Lake Merced Boulevard and Lake Merced Hill. The SFMTA has teamed up with SamTrans to launch this pilot program, which allows residents to sign up to use the 122 while Muni service is limited due to COVID-19. After applying to the program , customers will be sent an email with a MuniMobile pass link that will be valid for six months. There will be an opportunity to extend the pass if the program is still needed after that, pending the return of Muni’s 57 Parkmerced. Map of new SamTrans stops in the Lake Merced neighborhood The SFMTA will post signs at the new bus stop locations and at essential destinations including grocery stores near Stonestown Galleria Shopping Center in order to inform community members about this free pilot program. For more information and to apply, visit  the Samtrans Route 12

By The Numbers: The SFMTA’s COVID-19 Response By Erica Kato The COVID-19 pandemic has brought about unforeseen c hanges to San Francisco’s transportation network. And the impact of the crisis will continue to be felt city-wide long beyond the end of the public health emergency. On March 13, 2020, when it became clear that San Francisco needed immediate adjustments to the transportation system, Director of Transportation Jeff Tumlin launched SFMTA’s Department Operations Center (DOC) team. Since then, the DOC has served as a centralized hub to ensure that we are minimizing health risks to employees and the public as we keep transportation running, both by coordinating internally within the agency and by collaborating closely with our city, state, and federal partners to deploy resources and information in the most effective way possible. San Francisco's response to the COVID-19 pandemic included implementing temporary emergency transit lanes  Our COVID-19 response has challenge

Muni Experts Troubleshoot Obsolete Control System to Keep Trains Running By Dan Howard Two weeks ago, we experienced yet another subway train control system failure caused by aging equipment. A failure like this is certain to impact everyone working on or riding Muni. What’s not widely known is that the ingenuity and skill of Muni’s technical staff makes the difference between these failures crippling the system for weeks or for just a few hours. On March 3, a control computer failed that governs part of the underground network of tracks and switches between Embarcadero Station and the surface, where most Muni Metro trains turn around. When our Signal Maintenance team is called to address a problem like this, all they start out knowing is that there are a bunch of “disturbed” switches and track segments. The Automatic Train Control System, or ATCS, constantly watches over the system’s track and switches, and reports them as “disturbed” when it gets a peculiar reading, or when a sys

New Routes to School for In-person Instruction By Kate McCarthy As SFUSD considers a return to in-person instruction, many families are adapting how they will travel to school and work and SFMTA is proud to provide a strong set of mobility options to help facilitate school trips. Bicycling, scooting, skateboarding and walking to school have never been more accessible in San Francisco. Presidio Middle School Nearly 30 Slow Streets introduced during the shelter-in-place limit through traffic on certain residential streets with signage and barricades. Slow Streets has significantly expanded the network of low-stress routes families can more safely use to get to schools by walking or bicycling. The SFMTA’s Safe Routes to School team is here to help students get to school safely and sustainably, with resources and trainings on how to walk or bike to school and use the city’s new Slow Streets. As San Francisco emerges from the pandemic, planning for schools to reopen has been at the

Applications are now open for SFMTA's 2021 Powered Scooter Share Program By Richard Aicardi Today the SFMTA opens applications for the next round of Powered Scooter Share permits . The current permits for operators expire in June 2021 and the next round will go into effect as soon as the current permits expire. Powered scooters are an increasingly popular way for San Franciscans to move around the city. SFMTA’s Powered Share Scooter program is aligned with San Francisco’s goal to provide numerous, reliable transportation choices for people moving in and around San Francisco. This is particularly important given the significant reduction in Muni service as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The 2021 Powered Scooter Share Permit program builds on the lessons learned from the current permit program and feedback from our community stakeholders to create a more useful, safe, and equitable citywide program. As part of the development of the updated application process, staff conduc

An Update on Cable Cars and Muni's Historic Fleet By Erica Kato Unbeatable views. Unforgettable trips. No experience is more uniquely San Francisco than a ride on a cable car. Cable cars have come to symbolize our great city.   The Powell/Hyde Cable Car turnaround at Fisherman's Wharf Last March, in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, we temporarily halted cable car service as part of the city’s emergency response. This decision was made to best protect our operators and the public. Muni resources were then shifted to  a core network  to serve our essential workers and accommodate physical distancing on our most utilized lines and to retain access for transit dependent neighborhoods.   We’re excited to announce that we have a timeline to phase in cable car service, as well as bring back service on our historic F Line fleet. Thanks to the acceleration of the COVID-19 vaccine and a more optimistic outlook for federal funding for public transit, we can craft a path forward. O

Temporary Ramps Provide a Platform for Local Artists By Jonathan Streeter San Francisco’s arts community has been hit particularly hard by the shelter-in-place guidelines that have been in place since March 2020.  Inspired by the challenges faced by the arts community during the pandemic, SFMTA staff undertook an initiative to fund public art installations on two temporary wooden rail platforms installed last summer. For the project, a partnership between the SFMTA and local arts organization Paint the Void was formed with a mission to keep artists engaged and paid as a response to COVID-19. This effort was spearheaded by SFMTA project manager Liz Brisson, who oversaw the contracting and coordinated the necessary approval from the San Francisco Arts Commission. In consultation with the local community, two artists were selected to create murals that would be an attractive addition to the streetscape. These works, by Simón Malvaez and Emily Fromm , now greet passengers and passers-