San Francisco sees passenger boost as fares set to increase

San Francisco’s Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has reported a 25 percent increase in passenger numbers on its Muni bus and rail network in 2023 – reaching an average of 433,000 weekday riders.

Overall, the agency’s ridership is now 71 percent of pre-pandemic (2019) levels, with weekday ridership at 68 percent and weekend ridership at 86 percent.

“Few cities have been more impacted by work-from-home than San Francisco,” said SFMTA Director of Transportation Jeffrey Tumlin.

“The loss of downtown commuters severely impacted Muni transit ridership and our finances.

“Yet in many ways, Muni is back and better than ever, with ridership on lines like the 22-Fillmore at 138 percent of pre-COVID weekend numbers.

“We’ve done this by rearranging service to match today’s travel patterns, and a relentless focus on making transit fast, frequent, reliable, clean and safe.”

Prior to the pandemic, downtown commutes were the backbone of the agency’s ridership, but with the subsequent shift to remote working, Muni has adapted its service to reflect changing ridership patterns, such as focusing on connecting neighbourhoods.

Deficit

Despite the rise in ridership, Muni revenue is at 56 percent of pre-pandemic levels, according to the SFMTA.

The agency anticipates a US$12.7 million deficit over the next two years, and as a result wants to raise fares.

Several ideas have been floated to achieve this, including eliminating a discount on its contactless Clipper card which would generate US$5.2 million over two years.

The discount was put into place to get Muni riders to switch to the Clipper card from cash payments, which most riders have already done.

Other plans include increasing parking fines by five percent which would generate US$3.7 million, an “automatic inflation adjustment” for residential parking permits generating US$2.9 million, and reinstating taxi fees which would add US$1.2 million.

“The decrease in revenue makes our long-standing structural deficit worse,” the agency said in a statement.

“Even before the pandemic, our revenues were less than what we needed. They were not enough to meet the increasing demand for our programmes and services.

“Beginning in FY 2026-2027, we expect a far larger deficit of US$240 million – that’s because federal, state and regional emergency relief provided to the SFMTA and other transportation agencies will run out.”

Members of the public have also been invited to online and in-person meetings to suggest ways to fill the gap in its 2024-2026 budget, which is due before the mayor’s office by 1 May.

Image: SFMTA