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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