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Modified OWL Service to Start 4/8 at 10 pm By Bradley Dunn The COVID-19 public health crisis is changing ridership patterns and affecting the availability of key staff who operate, clean and maintain our buses. Due to these shifting resources and needs, the SFMTA will be starting late-night Owl service at a new, earlier time during this crisis. Instead of switching from daytime Muni service to Owl service at 1 am, beginning Wednesday, April 8, our late-night Owl routes will start every night at 10 pm. All regular Owl routes will operate with the exception of the 5 Fulton and 48 Quintara/24th Street, which will be temporarily discontinued. We know that this and other Muni Core Service Plan changes will be difficult for many San Franciscans. We are making these changes to ensure that the limited resources we have are used to provide service for essential trips on our busiest lines with the highest demand with adequate space for passengers.  Starting Wednesday, April 8 - Map of the

SFMTA Prepares to Deliver Essential Trips Muni Service Only By Bonnie Jean von Krogh In the rapidly changing environment caused by COVID-19, the SFMTA is making additional updates to Muni service. While ridership has fallen significantly, our bus operators still serve approximately 100,000 passengers a day – getting nurses, cooks, custodians, and other essential workers to their jobs. The SFMTA has instituted some of the strongest health protections for our operators, mechanics, car cleaners and customers to minimize risk of transmission on our buses. These efforts have been paired with our continued effort to maintain regular service, so remaining essential workers have the space to maintain recommended distances on Muni.   However, it has become increasingly difficult to continue delivering service on our current network due to operator availability and the changing trip needs of the community.  Following public health guidance, there are operators are in self-quarantine out of a

How We're Adapting During Coronavirus By Amy Fowler We’re doing everything we can to reduce the risk of COVID-19 transmission, and we’re asking San Franciscans to help do the same by only taking Muni for essential trips that can’t be made by walking, biking or driving. The SFMTA’s number one priority during the COVID-19 outbreak is the safety of our staff and the public. With this in mind, we’ve taken a number of steps, including making service changes to focus our cleaning resources, improving our operators’ environment and helping to amplify citywide shelter-in-place guidelines . Beginning this week, all Muni Metro Light Rail routes are temporarily being served by Metro buses . Closing the Muni Metro underground system allows us to simplify our operations and refocus cleaning staff from largely empty subway stations to other critical areas, such as bus yards, field operations and other facilities that are currently seeing more activity. It also minimizes risks to our publ

Support San Francisco Small Businesses By Sophia Scherr As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to impact communities across the country and here in San Francisco, the San Francisco Council of District Merchants Associations (SFCDMA) is asking for your help in supporting small businesses and the people they employ during this unprecedented time. What can you do to support your favorite San Francisco small businesses? The SFCDMA asks that you consider donating and sharing a recently-launched   GoFund me campaign   with at least two other contacts to, encourage further online donations . With the mandatory shelter in place order still in effect and the potential for it to be extended, local merchants such as your favorite clothing store, bar, café, restaurant, hair salon, gym or spa, are all entering a period of concern and jeopardy. Donations will be passed directly to the SFCDMA member associations (see below) and will be distributed amongst the small businesses most in need.

SFMTA Budget: Revenue, Expenditures and Future Projections By The Coronavirus pandemic and current shelter-in-place order have changed our daily routines. The timeline for the SFMTA budget approval has not yet changed, and as such, we are taking steps to ensure we continue to engage in a thoughtful and comprehensive community process in light of the current circumstances. If you would like to comment on the budget, please email sfmtabudget@sfmta.com , call (415) 646-2222, or post on our Facebook page or Twitter using #sfmtabudget. You can also visit our budget webpage. This is the second in a series of blog posts diving into the budget process. The first blog was a high-level overview. This post will discuss the state of our projected revenue and expenditures and how they inform budget development. Future blog posts will include content focusing on: Policy objectives and funding priorities Overview of our outreach Adopted Budget and what it includes Overview of the Budget