November 3, 2011

Muni riders frustrated with on-time performance and over-crowding will soon see some service improvements on four major Muni lines, according to the Examiner – but the exact timeline has not been announced.

The SFMTA plans to change the stops and frequency of the N Judah, J Church, 28 19th Avenue Limited and F Market lines based on rider feedback, performance data and feedback from drivers and transit operators. These four Muni lines collectively carry nearly 93,000 passengers a day.

SFMTA will change the scheduling of the J Church line to run trains every nine minutes during peak periods, to help alleviate overcrowding. And as of October 15, 2011, SFMTA started offering service to Caltrain on the weekends for N Judah riders. The SFMTA also plans to add seven repaired historic F Market line streetcars back into service to help with crowding. Muni will also increase the frequency of service on the F line from 10 minutes to five minutes during weekdays.

Worst Performing Muni Bus To Eliminate Stops

Three bus stops will be eliminated from the worst performing Muni bus line the 28 19th Avenue, with only 42.3 percent on-time performance. The eliminated stops are the Noriega Avenue, Eucalyptus Drive and Balboa Street stops. The proposed stop elimination is supported by the agency’s own Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP) report, which shows the eliminated stops have some of the lowest boarding numbers along the route. A full list of changes for the 28 line can be found on the SFMTA website.

SFMTA director Ed Reiskin said the incremental changes are a small but important step toward improving Muni. Reiskin said in a press release, “While large capital investments are certainly required, many improvements can be made through more aggressive management and by simply trying new solutions.”

At Reset, we believe that there are solutions out there, so we’re glad that Ed Reiskin is moving forward with recommendations. Muni riders should definitely have a voice in what changes should be made – and the city should listen. That’s why Phil Ting and the Reset San Francisco community held Muni town halls throughout the city this fall. Imagine a Muni that actually works. It can happen – if we take charge and demand the changes needed to make Muni faster and more reliable.

You can view a full list of our town halls here.