Transit Month Set for September – Streetsblog San Francisco
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Transit in San Francisco and across the country was hit hard during the pandemic. This was made worse in San Francisco by lack of maintenance that resulted in subway closings for over a year. Muni is struggling to come back as rider numbers are still at just 224,000 weekday boardings – a third of what it was before the pandemic. With this challenging backdrop, the San Francisco Transit Riders hope that this year’s Transit Month, which is slated for September, will help push Muni’s return a little further.
“Transit lanes set up during the pandemic make journeys faster and more efficient. Headway management has made travel more reliable. Drivers we spoke to in the Mission District said they really appreciate the added service and reliability they have experienced over the past year, ”SFTR’s Cat Carter wrote in an email to Streetsblog.
And from an SFTR publication about the event:
For our sixth annual celebration, we’re switching from a week-long program to a full month as the city is out of the pandemic, students are returning to school, businesses are opening up, and people are returning to their jobs.
The group has already started planning, with the following events set up to start marking in calendars:
- September 8th: Community members and city guides take Muni to the town hall
- 1.-30. September: Ride Muni Challenge for city guides, members and the public to ride along (with prizes!)
- October 1st: Public transport and drivers celebration at the Rider First Awards Party!
Meanwhile, the following graph shows the trend lines for the number of passengers. Note the black and green lines that show the drop in passenger numbers in 2020/2021. And while it is clear that passenger numbers are rising again, things are moving slowly and it remains to be seen how passenger numbers will eventually change.
As the graphic shows, Muni cut things down to its core bus route utility at the start of the pandemic, but they have slowly brought the lines back. The M Ocean View train service between Embarcadero station and Avenues San Jose and Geneva will resume in mid-August. Likewise the 5R Fulton Rapid service from La Playa to the Transit Center Bus Plaza. A full list of scheduled service restores is available on Muni’s website.
The question is whether the passenger numbers will follow. For this to happen, it will not be enough to go back to the pre-pandemic way of doing business.
“When we talk about the future of transit we need to remember that before the pandemic we saw missed trips everywhere, which meant huge travel delays and drivers missed transfers. SFMTA made service promises it couldn’t keep and it looks like they are trying to avoid this mistake when they bring service back. We want all routes to return by winter, but we also need to be realistic about what the service levels will be, ”added Carter. “We’ll talk about it a lot throughout the transit month and beyond.”
The SFTR also has a petition asking the mayor and board of directors to give Muni their own lanes, priority at intersections and the ability to return 100 percent and beyond.
