What should Muni service be like in 2022?
Over the past months we have shared three alternatives for how service could be increased in early 2022. We received public input through dozens of meetings and popups, hundreds of phone calls and emails and thousands of survey responses.
Now our transit planners have used this input, paired with data that shows which lines are being used most and where ridership is highest, to develop a proposal for increasing Muni service in early 2022.
Recent proposed changes include:
- Modifying option 3 for the J Church: Train service in the subway from Balboa Park to Embarcadero in the evenings. Train service from Balboa Park to Church and Duboce, and bus service every 30 minutes to provide a single-seat ride from Noe Valley to Embarcadero during the day.
- Restoring the 8AX Bayshore Express with an 8-minute frequency.
- Restoring the 8BX Bayshore Express with an 8-minute frequency.
See the full details of the 2022 Muni service proposal.
We continue to seek feedback on changes that have been made to Muni service since April 2020:
- Provide feedback on the shortened J Church route. You can also visit the J Church route change webpage and the J Church Transfer Improvements webpage for more information about changes at Church and Market streets to support the transfer experience for J Church riders.
Please contact TellMuni@SFMTA.com or 415.646.2005 to provide specific feedback.
Staff uses this input to refine the proposal for Muni service additions and modifications in early 2022. The SFMTA Board will use it to make a decision that reflects the values of San Francisco.
We continue to seek public feedback to help us refine the proposal before we present it to the SFMTA Board. Feedback may be provided by contacting TellMuni@SFMTA.com or 415.646.2005. The proposal for Muni service in early 2022 will be brought to the SFMTA Board for its consideration December 2021.
Why now?
The SFMTA initially reduced Muni service during the COVID-19 pandemic, creating a Muni Core Service Network that would accommodate public health measures to reduce risk of COVID-19 and best serve essential workers and trips. Since April 2020, we have repeatedly increased service, restoring service that previously existed as well as adding service in busy corridors and creating new lines. These efforts focused on improvements in neighborhoods identified by the Muni Service Equity Strategy with higher numbers of low-income residents and people of color.
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We dramatically increased Muni service in busy corridors such as Mission and 16th Street, with buses running as often as every two minutes. We are now operating more Muni service along several corridors including the Mission and Potrero/San Bruno corridors than we did pre-pandemic.
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We introduced Muni’s new 15 Bayview Hunters Point Express bus route provides fast connections between local stops in the Bayview and major destinations along Third Street into the Financial District.
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We rerouted the 22 Fillmore to serve Mission Bay, including the UCSF campus, medical center and Chase Center. We worked with the community to determine stops for a new connection to the 16th Street corridor, replacing the 22 Fillmore on Potrero Hill and replacing the 55 16th Street with the new 55 Dogpatch.
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Muni’s new 58 Lake Merced provided new connections to the Westlake District in Daly City while the 57 Parkmerced was rerouted to the east side of Lake Merced.
At this time, seven all-day Muni bus routes have not been restored: 2 Clement, 3 Jackson, 6 Haight/Parnassus, 10 Townsend, 21 Hayes, 28R 19th Avenue Rapid, 47 Van Ness.
Why revisit the Muni network?
Muni connects communities in San Francisco. As the city recovers from the COVID-19 pandemic, the SFMTA is developing a proposal for how Muni service will be restored in 2022. Over the past several years, and throughout the pandemic, we have seen travel patterns and needs shift.
To determine how best to use SFMTA resources, three scenarios were developed that would increase the level of Muni service in early 2022 at a level the SFMTA can sustain. In an alternative that doesn’t restore the seven remaining pre-pandemic Muni bus routes, we aim to make other Muni improvements that reduce wait times and crowding in the same general neighborhoods.
We are conducting three rounds of outreach in 2021:
1. Initiating Stakeholder Engagement (Completed)
Presentations and discussions with key community-based organizations and advocacy groups to discuss the three scenarios and involve stakeholders in determining which of the scenarios best suits San Francisco's needs, and identifying any challenges or concerns with a goal of refining the scenarios based on this feedback for the second round of outreach.
2. Citywide Engagement (Completed)
Involve the public by discussing the three scenarios and identifying any challenges or concerns with each of the scenarios using our StoryMap, hosting virtual Open Houses with interpretation available by request, meetings and office hours and multilingual media outreach to involve the widest possible audience with attention to audiences that have been historically marginalized. A survey available online and via telephone collected input on the three alternatives through October 1. The feedback gathered during this round, paired with transit data, was used to develop a proposal for the 2022 Muni Service Network.
3. Addressing What We Heard: Fine-tuning the Network (Underway)
In this phase we will consult with stakeholders, present the proposal for the 2022 Muni Service Network and provide details about how public feedback influenced the proposal. Once the proposal is refined during this state, it will be brought to the SFMTA Board for its consideration for approval, expected December 2021.