San Francisco Sun

As September's Transit Month concludes, San Francisco Mayor London N. Breed and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority (SFMTA) celebrate the 10th anniversary of the Muni Forward program. This initiative was launched to redesign city streets and enhance transit speed and reliability, aiming for safer streets and more dependable transit options.

Since its inception, the Muni Forward program has led to the completion of 100 miles of new transit and reliability improvements. These include red transit lanes, enhanced bus stops for quicker boarding, and traffic signals that remain green longer for buses and trains. As a result, San Francisco now boasts over twice the per capita transit-only lane miles compared to New York City.

The Muni Forward projects have achieved several milestones:

- Travel times reduced by up to 35%

- Transit service improved by up to 51% in reliability

- Injury collisions on multiple corridors reduced by 50% or more

"San Francisco’s transportation system is a critical component to the City’s infrastructure – getting people to and from work, kids to and from school, and bringing residents and visitors to all of the entertainment, sports events, restaurants, and bars San Francisco is known for," said Mayor London Breed. "It is a top priority to make sure that our transportation system delivers reliable, safe, and efficient results. With our sustained focus through Muni Forward we are seeing real progress. I want to thank our Muni operators and maintenance workers, and all the SFMTA staff for making these significant improvements."

“It’s not at all surprising that Muni riders have given us higher ratings this year than at any other time in the agency’s history," added SFMTA Director of Transportation Jeff Tumlin. "We’ve made Muni fast, frequent, and reliable, and riders can feel the improvements. That’s why lines where we’ve made Muni Forward investments are seeing the highest ridership in the Muni system."

Before this initiative began, issues such as slower bus speeds, bunching at stops causing crowding were prevalent. The Quick-Build Program under Muni Forward focused on low-cost solutions aimed at reengineering streets for better transit priority.

Muni Forward has been pivotal post-pandemic:

- Faster ridership recovery on certain corridors since 2020

- Specific routes like 14R Mission Rapid achieving 118% pre-pandemic ridership

- Other lines like 22 Fillmore reaching 129%, while 49 Van Ness/Mission hit 140%

“Our work isn’t stopping here,” said SFMTA Transit Director Julie Kirschbaum. “In the near future we will focus on transforming Muni rail with programs like Train Control Upgrade Program allowing longer trains reducing crowding.” She also mentioned plans for new boarding islands on K Ingleside among other improvements.

Financially beneficial too: By improving bus speeds SFMTA saved an estimated $5-10 million annually which would otherwise be spent in operating costs.

Some examples of improved lines under this program include:

- The Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit saw up-to a time savings of up-to 36%.

- The SoMa area experienced up-to a time savings of around 31%.

These changes also align with San Francisco's Vision Zero policy aimed at eliminating traffic deaths by making streets safer with fewer crashes.

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