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What’s new on the west side? By Andrea Buffa The west side of San Francisco is home to some of San Francisco’s most beloved recreational destinations — Golden Gate Park, the Presidio, Lake Merced, Fort Funston and Ocean Beach, among others. But many of these natural attractions — and others like Mt. Sutro and Twin Peaks — are also geographic barriers that can make travel to and from the west side of the city more difficult. This may be one reason why three out of four people traveling within, to or from the west side do so by personal car. It’s also why we need to make sure there are more safe, reliable and affordable transportation options between west side neighborhoods and other citywide destinations. This month we released an interactive website, San Francisco’s West Side on the Move , describing local experiences, transportation challenges and solutions in neighborhoods from the Richmond and the Sunset to Lake Merced, Parkside and West Portal. The website pulls together our l

75 Years After the Battle to Save the Cable Cars By Jeremy Menzies Seventy-five years ago, San Francisco’s cable cars were viewed as more of a costly nuisance.  A few city leaders wanted to tear out the 1870s-era transit system of wooden vehicles towed by an underground cable system. Pioneer of civic activism, Friedel Klussmann led the charge to preserve this moving landmark that draws of visitors from around the world looking to fulfill their dream of riding the cable car over our hills.   Friedel Klussmann founded the Citizens' Committee to Save the Cable Cars. The committee began a public campaign demonstrating that the cable cars’ value to San Francisco was far greater than their operational cost. As a result, the lines were saved and the cable cars became enshrined as a cultural icon of San Francisco.  We will celebrate this anniversary with Market Street Railway and Mayor London Breed on October 26th at Market and Powell streets at 11am. Here’s a brief look at the events

Paratransit Services 2022 Update By Erin McAuliff This past year, the SFMTA’s paratransit programs safely provided close to half a million trips to older adults and people with disabilities around San Francisco. These services provide door-to-door transportation to people unable to independently use the Muni system. They include SF Access P aratransit , Group Van service , Shop-a- Round shuttles, the Essential Trip Card Program (ETC) and the Van Gogh Recreational program.   In addition to traditional van services, the SFMTA partners with the local taxi industry to provide cost-efficient and customer-friendly taxi options. Payment is accepted in every San Francisco taxi, including accessible ramp-equipped taxis, with the swipe of an SF Paratransit Taxi debit card.    Here are a few accomplishments staff at the SFMTA and Transdev (the contractor responsible for managing SF Paratransit services) have been working on behind the scenes to improve our service offerings and cont

How Muni is Tackling the 10 Worst Delay Hot Spots Across SF By Cassie Halls The SFMTA has had its fair share of ribbon-cutting ceremonies  over the last two years. These celebrations draw attention to some of our biggest projects. Also attention-worthy are some of the more incremental efforts happening at the agency. One such effort led by the Muni Forward team is the Transit Delay Hot Spots Program , launched in February 2020 . Muni Forward is known for corridor projects such as the L Taraval Improvement Project , 16 th Street Improvement Project , and M Oceanview Transit and Safety Project . These efforts are increasing the already sizeable 80 miles of transit reliability upgrades since 2014. There are also other ways we’re working to slash travel times and improve reliability across the Muni network. The Transit Delay Hot Spots Program aims to tackle the 10 worst “delay hot spots” each year, where buses crawl between stops at four miles an hour or less. We’re looking closel

What’s in Proposition L? By Andrea Buffa On November 8, San Francisco voters will decide whether to continue a half-cent transportation sales tax that has been funding city and county transportation projects since it was first enacted in 1989. Proposition L is not a tax increase but does require a two-thirds majority vote to pass. The half-cent sales tax is administered by the San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA).  Proposition L would approve a new 2022 Transportation Expenditure Plan for how these funds will be spent for the next 30 years. The 2022 Transportation Expenditure Plan will fund projects in these categories: 41% for transit maintenance and enhancements : Funds Muni, BART, Caltrain and ferries. The money goes toward maintenance, rehabilitation and replacement of vehicles; station and access improvements; and planning for the next generation of public transit. Examples : New buses and light rail vehicles, electrifying Muni’s bus fleet, maintaining bus

What a Year It Has Been! Let the Celebration of Transit Month Continue By Erin McMillan 49 Van Ness/Mission using the brand new bus rapid transit lanes on opening day in April. During Transit Month this September, we’re continuing the celebration by looking back to more of the work we’ve done over the last year— some that has been less obvious to Muni customers, but critical to a well-functioning system and other work that is more front and center. Fix It! Week and Continuing State of good Repair Work Muni is an impressive transit system. Moving thousands of people on rail and buses every day takes a lot of coordination and a lot of work. Dealing with unique challenges like San Francisco’s geography and shifting travel patterns, we also have to deal with issues related to the Muni system’s age. Proper care and maintenance of a transit system many decades old takes strategic planning as regular maintenance needs to happen while continuing to provide service. Typically, regular Mun

Celebrating BART at 50: A Critical Link for San Francisco By Jeremy Menzies This month, our sister agency BART, celebrates its 50th anniversary . BART service changed transportation in the Bay Area forever, connecting communities in a way that hadn’t been done before. For San Francisco, the construction of BART not only provided new travel options within the city and to the East Bay but also built the Muni Metro system. Here’s a look at some of BART’s history through the SFMTA’s historic photos. This conceptual drawing from around 1960 shows the combined BART and Muni Metro subway underneath Market Street at Powell. The story of BART goes back decades before the opening in September 1972. It wasn’t until the early 1960s that a plan and funding were in place for BART to come to fruition. Originally, five counties formed the Bay Area Rapid Transit District. In a 1960 engineering report , proposed route maps showed lines extending both north across the Golden Gate into Marin and s