By Megan Robertson

This summer, the San Francisco Municipal Railway is expected to cut service by 4%, due to a $50 million budget deficit, attributed to the COVID-19 pandemic. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) claims that if these cuts are not implemented, by July the service will no longer be able to afford to replace operators and cleaning and maintenance staff.

These cuts would be the latest in a trend of reductions to citywide Muni service. As of Feb. 1, Muni reduced the frequency of the 24-Divisdero bus, in addition to the 1X (California Express), 38-Geary and 43-Masonic lines in the Richmond and Sunset districts.

These cuts are “not what we want to do,” SFMTA claims on its website. “We understand the outcomes this will have for the community.”

What Possible Cuts Look Like

Three approaches were presented by SFMTA to reduce service to meet the 4% budget cut.

The first approach would involve the suspension of a number of “low-ridership” routes in the City. For the Richmond and Sunset districts, the biggest change if this approach is approved is the complete suspension of the 31-Balboa bus line. The claim is that riders can walk to the 5-Fulton or 38-Geary bus lines. The 2-Sutter, 21-Hayes and 55-Dogpatch buses would also be completely cut. The 6-Haight/Parnassus and 19-Polk lines would be significantly impacted, with half of the routes being suspended.

The second approach would keep all routes but would greatly reduce the frequency of these buses. For example, in the Richmond, instead of the 38-Geary bus arriving every eight minutes, it would arrive every 16 minutes. Local service would be suspended on the 5-Fulton and 28-19th Avenue routes, only keeping the rapid routes.

A third approach would focus on maintaining service in neighborhoods it has deemed to have a “high percentages of households with low incomes and people of color,” according to SFMTA’s website. This would impact the Sunset by eliminating the local 28-line service. For the Richmond, the 31 is again at risk, with the possibility of it only running from Civic Center to Caltrain.

In its decision, SFMTA may decide on one of these approaches, or a combination of different elements from each.

Who is Resisting?

Throughout the past month, the “Muni Now, Muni Forever” campaign has implemented a number of efforts to resist the impending cuts. San Francisco Transit Riders is one association working to end the cuts.

“Our long-term goal is to find sustainable funding for me to not only prevent the cuts, but also to expand service,” said Dylan Fabris, the community and policy manager at San Francisco Transit Riders. “We know we can’t do that without stopping these most imminent cuts in the short term.”

Since the campaign started, Fabris said they have seen “thousands of people write to the mayor and the Board of Supervisors, which shows that this is a pressing issue for a lot of people.”

Fabris hopes to see a path, possibly including state funding, that not only keeps the current Muni service, but expands it in the future.

“The vision is to have a fully funded Muni system that goes back to pre-pandemic service levels to really serve all of San Francisco,” they said. “And (we want) to have a system where we don’t have to keep worrying about cuts every few years.

“We’re seeing a really big outpouring of support for Muni,” Fabris continued. “We hope that our elected officials and the decision makers at the SFMTA can recognize how important Muni is for the city and help us keep service.”

Officials at SFMTA did not reply to a request for comment before going to press.

What is Next?

On March 3, SFMTA will share its proposal online, and the board will vote to approve it on March 18. Based on the final approved plan, service cuts will be implemented this summer.

More information can be found at sfmta.com.