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Last Year Made It Clear: Muni is Back, and Better

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Last Year Made It Clear: Muni is Back, and Better By Edward Wright On an average weekday last year, 433,000 people rode Muni. They know something those who aren’t riding Muni don’t: it’s faster and more reliable than it’s been in years.  We wanted to look back at the last year of Muni ridership to share how – with limited resources – we’re making targeted investments to improve our service and your experience as a customer. As a result, our ridership is growing.  People took 142 million trips on Muni in 2023, a 25% increase from 2022  Since the pandemic, we’re more nimble in how we plan and provide Muni service. After decades of focusing on downtown commutes, today we focus on connecting neighborhoods. We can’t add service without more funding. But we can still make improvements – and we are. We’re pinpointing the exact times lines are crowded and refining our service schedules to address it. Before the pandemic, we looked at crowding data in two-hour windows. Today, our transi
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Photo Exhibit Event: Vintage Bus Display and Tour

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Photo Exhibit Event: Vintage Bus Display and Tour By Jeremy Menzies Join us Saturday, Jan. 27 at a special event for our exhibit, " 120 years: SFMTA Photo Archive 1903-2023 ." Based at the Harvey Milk Photo Center , the exhibit showcases the last 120 years of San Francisco's transportation history.  This Saturday, we hope you'll join us at a two-part event as the exhibit nears its final week. Hop inside a restored vintage Mack bus to experience a beautiful piece of our transit history. Then, take a tour of the photo exhibit with the curators. Learn the details below.  Vintage Bus Display   Photo Exhibit Tour  One of the 52 images featured in the ”120 years: SFMTA Photo Archive 1903-2023” exhibit. Vintage Bus Display   Where: Duboce Park, by the outbound N Judah stop on Duboce Avenue and Noe Street  When: Saturday, Jan. 27 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m.   A striking Mack bus, featuring its original green and cream paint scheme, will be parked at Duboce Par
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The SFMTA’s Year in Numbers

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The SFMTA’s Year in Numbers By Madhu Unnikrishnan The Covid-19 pandemic changed the way transit systems – and cities – across the country function, but with the worst of the pandemic now behind us, the SFMTA is focused on the future. In our latest annual report , we announced that Muni ridership had recovered to 63% of pre-pandemic levels, but our ridership has continued to recover, ending 2023 at 71% of its pre-pandemic level.  The reason for the discrepancy? Our annual report, Moving San Francisco Forward , reflects the fiscal year, which ends on June 30. So, our most recent annual report covers the period from July 1, 2022-June 30, 2023. In the six months since the data for the SFMTA annual report was collected, ridership has continued to recover.  Where we have made transit priority investments, the numbers are even better. Ridership on the new Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit corridor is exceeding pre-pandemic levels, at 131% of 2019 ridership. Similarly, the 22 Fillmore is at 138%
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Taken with Transportation Podcast: Breaking Glass Ceilings Halfway to the Stars

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Taken with Transportation Podcast: Breaking Glass Ceilings Halfway to the Stars By Fannie Mae Barnes smiles at the crowd while being recognized at a cable car 150th anniversary event in August 2023. Fannie Mae Barnes made history in January 1998 when she became San Francisco’s first female cable car grip. We hear her story in the latest episode of Taken with Transportation , “Breaking Glass Ceilings Halfway to the Stars.”  “I started working at Muni as a bus operator in 1981,” Barnes tells Taken with Transportation host Melissa Culross. “[But] I was kind of getting tired of the bus situation because it’s pretty difficult operating a bus in San Francisco because you have to deal with a lot of hazardous situations, people as well as the traffic. And so, I was about to quit my job.”  Instead of quitting, Barnes moved to the cable car division where she worked as a conductor for about six years before training to become a grip. The grip heaves the lever that grabs hold of the cable to
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New State Laws Are Coming to the Streets of San Francisco

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New State Laws Are Coming to the Streets of San Francisco By Melissa Culross As of Jan. 1, 2024, bicyclists in California legally can cross a street on a pedestrian walk signal, instead of waiting for a traffic light. Several new state laws that took effect on Jan. 1, 2024, will have an impact on transportation in San Francisco. Some of these impacts will be more widespread and immediately felt than others, but all are expected to make San Francisco streets safer.   Street Safety and Vision Zero AB 251 (Ward) - This law requires the California Transportation Commission (CTC) to study the relationship between vehicle weight and injuries to vulnerable road users, such as pedestrians and cyclists. Vehicles have been increasing in size and weight in recent years, while pedestrian fatalities in the U.S. reached a four-decade high in 2021. The CTC will also study the possible costs and benefits of a passenger vehicle weight fee and how the funds created by such a fee might be used to
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It’s Time to Modernize the Technology that Keeps Muni Metro Moving

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It’s Time to Modernize the Technology that Keeps Muni Metro Moving By Mariana Maguire Upgrades will replace the current train control system in the subway and extend the modern system to street-level Metro operation for faster, more reliable service.  Muni Metro, San Francisco’s light rail system, serves hundreds of thousands of people daily throughout the city. Since 2019, we have greatly reduced the delays and subway congestion that had plagued the Metro in the past. This success is due to a combination of advances in how we manage service and conduct ongoing maintenance.   But we need to fundamentally modernize to overcome Metro’s structural and technological limitations. With San Francisco projected to grow significantly in the next decade, there’s no better time to invest in the future of Muni Metro.  Current Automatic Train Control System (ATCS) Limitations  Despite being third busiest light rail system in the U.S., Muni Metro is the last to funnel five lines onto one path
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Jan. 20 Muni Service Changes Add New Caltrain Connection, Service on School Routes

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Jan. 20 Muni Service Changes Add New Caltrain Connection, Service on School Routes By Brian Haagsman The 15 Bayview Hunters Point Express route will add new stops in Hunters Point and SoMa.  Beginning Saturday, Jan. 20, the SFMTA will be adjusting Muni service on some routes to address crowding, including for school travel times. We’re also making several stop changes based on rider feedback and our own observations to add new connections and make Muni more reliable.  New Connections on the 15 Bayview Hunters Point Express   Since it launched in early 2021, the 15 Bayview Hunters Point Express route has been a key connector between neighborhoods. Connecting Bayview-Hunters Point, Dogpatch, Mission Bay, SoMa and the Financial District, the route was initially designed based on community input. Now we’re adding stops at two locations based on feedback from riders and operators:  Hudson Avenue and Cashmere Street will have new stops for both inbound and outbound trips. We’ve hear
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