Kampwalk

A Letter from our Leadership: Values and 2024 Priorities By Amanda Eaken The beginning of a new year is always an auspicious time. It’s an opportunity to reflect on what we’ve accomplished and learned over the last year, as well as a time to pause and align on where we are going in the year ahead.  As recently re-elected Chair and Vice Chair of one of the most diverse and historically female SFMTA Board of Directors ever (thank you Mayor Breed!) in what has traditionally been a male-dominated field, we want to take a moment to share with you all what we value, how we approach the privilege of leading this Board, and what the SFMTA Board of Directors is prioritizing for the year ahead in our service to the city.   First, our values. We believe that, as public servants, we work for all of you. We believe that every voice in this city matters. We honor the lived experience of all San Franciscans, and we know that we have a lot to learn from you. We believe in inclusivit...

2024 Night of Ideas: A Celebration of Culture, Heritage and Muni Magic By Sophia Scherr For the first time, the SFMTA is participating in the annual Night of Ideas with thought-provoking discussions and interactive experiences focused on the one and only Muni. Join us to discuss the integral role Muni plays in the city's identity and how we can build a deeper sense of community through public transit for the social good of San Francisco.   The event, a collaboration with Villa Albertine, San Francisco Public Library, KQED and Circuit Network, includes philosophical debates, talks, performances and screenings. It’s an opportunity to meet new people, discuss pressing issues and revel in the city’s culture and heritage.  View the full schedule for the Saturday, March 2 event: “ Night of Ideas: Fault Lines: Outside the Lines .” The event is free however registration is required and is available here.   SF Public Library Main Branch Events:  Panel Discus...

Taken with Transportation Podcast: How to Muni By Passengers board a classic streetcar on the F Market line. Getting around on Muni might feel overwhelming if you aren’t used to it. So we’re giving you a practical guide for using the system in “How to Muni,” the latest episode of our podcast Taken with Transportation . Whether you've just moved to San Francisco, are planning to visit or simply haven't taken advantage of all Muni has to offer, this is the episode for you.  “How to Muni” covers paying fares, safety and security and being a good passenger. “There’s a lot to be said for someone that just is polite to other people and so on and so forth, right?” Castro Street Station Agent Rigo Ortega tells Host Melissa Culross. “The Golden Rule applies. As long as everyone can just leave each other alone and get to and from in the safest way possible, we’re having a great day.”  Operator Arnold Gray discusses riding “dos” and “don’ts” in “How to Muni,” the latest episode of...

Muni Connects Communities for Lunar New Year By Edward Wright People celebrating the San Francisco Lunar New Year Parade on Feb. 23, 2019 Happy Year of the Dragon!   Lunar New Year celebrations kicked off last weekend and continue throughout the month. To welcome the Year of the Dragon, we’re excited to share a few ways you can reach events for free! And, we’ll highlight how we’re connecting neighborhoods to Chinatown year-round.   Free Muni on Feb. 24 for the San Francisco Chinese New Year Parade  Thanks to funding from the Board of Supervisors, you can take Muni for free to the big parade. Bus reroutes and extra service on the 8 Bayshore, 12 Folsom/Pacific, 30 Stockton and T Third Street lines will begin at 2 p.m. The Community Youth Center of San Francisco will provide ambassadors to assist Muni riders.  Free parking all of February at Portsmouth Square Garage – first two hours daily   The funding from the Board of Supervis...

A First Look at the Valencia Bikeway Evaluation and Next Steps By Project Staff People biking on Valencia Street use the center-running bikeway installed as a pilot last August. Last August, we installed a pilot bikeway project on Valencia Street with a protected bike lane running down the center of the street between 15th and 23rd streets. This center-running design isn’t standard, nor was it the first design we proposed . We chose this unconventional solution to meet two major needs of the corridor: (1) creating a protected bike lane while (2) preserving more loading, parking and the Shared Spaces parklets that businesses rely on.   Our project team has been hard at work crunching the numbers to see how the pilot has been performing. Given the strong interest in the project, we’re sharing an early snapshot of data collected three months into the pilot. However, it typically takes about six months for people to adapt to a new roadway design.   Drivers, bicycli...

Cable Car 53 Climbs Halfway to the Stars in Honor of Tony Bennett By Jeremy Menzies On Feb. 14, Cable Car 53 was dedicated to Tony Bennett. Valentine’s Day was a fitting day, despite overcast skies and a chill in the air. After all, Bennett famously immortalized the city and its cable cars in his rendition of “I Left My Heart in San Francisco”.   To mark the occasion, we take a brief look back at the history of Car 53 and how it was chosen to be the Tony Bennett car.  Cable Car 53 climbing halfway up Nob Hill on California Street in 1967.  Cable Car 53 was originally built in 1907 by the San Francisco-based W.L. Holman Car Company for the California Street Cable Railroad Company. It initially ran on the O’Farrell, Jones and Hyde Line.  Muni acquired the car from the Cal Cable Company in 1952. Around this time, Muni also reconfigured the entire cable car system into the three lines we have today. All but 12 of the cars from Cal Cable were auctioned off. Those th...

Muni Love: How Your Praise Reaches Our Teams By Glennis Markison Celebrating our operators at an awards ceremony.  This Valentine’s Day, we’re celebrating Muni love.    We all know it when we feel it. An ordinary trip takes a turn. Something wonderful happens, and you’re suddenly filled with hope and gratitude. You just can’t wait to tell somebody.   Today, we’ll share what happens when you tell us!   We'll explore how positive feedback reaches our teams and the impact it makes. We’ll also reveal what kind of praise we got the most in 2023. And, in case you have a story of Muni love to share down the line? We'll cover how to get in touch.  Getting positive feedback means a lot to our staff. When you submit praise for Muni staff, our customer service team works hard to route your message.  They tag the note as “praise” and use vehicle numbers and other info to identify who earned it.    They send the note to ...

New Chapter for Community Green Space in the Tenderloin By The Golden Gate Greenway taking shape in the Tenderloin. An expanded community green space on Golden Gate Avenue between Leavenworth and Jones streets will remain in place for another year.  The SFMTA Board of Directors approved the extension at its Jan. 16 meeting. For another year, residents and visitors will be able to easily access:   Free community services and activities  Additional recreational green space  The Golden Gate Greenway community space opened in April 2020. It started as part of the multi-agency, pandemic-era Roadway Shared Spaces program. The goal: provide accessible essential services and more safe gathering space in the Tenderloin. The St. Anthony Foundation applied for a permit through the program to temporarily close the roadway of the 100 block of Golden Gate Ave. every day for nine hours, from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m.   Last April, the Shared Spaces program was ...

Janet Tarlov Joins SFMTA Board of Directors By Madhu Unnikrishnan San Francisco Mayor London Breed swearing in Janet Tarlov as a new member of the SFMTA Board of Directors. The SFMTA is excited to welcome Janet Tarlov, a longtime small business owner, to its Board of Directors. Tarlov was nominated by Mayor London Breed in November. The Board of Supervisors voted to approve her appointment on Jan. 23.   Tarlov currently serves as the president of the Glen Park Merchants Association. Previously, she was vice president of the San Francisco Council of District Merchants Associations, which advocates for measures to improve the business climate in the city. Her work with the merchants associations and her experience running a small business have deepened her understanding of the many challenges businesses in San Francisco face.   Tarlov and her husband, Richard, founded Glen Park’s popular Canyon Market in 2006. They operated it for 16 years before selling it to Gus’s Co...

Friedel Klussmann and the Fight to Save the Cable Cars By Kelley Trahan Friedel Klussman, an activist who fought to save San Francisco's cable cars. She's seen here in 1981.  San Francisco nearly lost its cable cars in 1947, but thanks to the Citizens’ Committee to Save the Cable Cars, these landmarks are forever part of how we navigate and experience our dynamic city. Here’s how a woman named Friedel Klussman helped the committee wage – and win – an uphill battle against city leaders.  After World War II, San Francisco experienced many changes. The city faced a population boom, housing shortages, financial deficits and blight. The Municipal Railway was no exception to the challenges facing the city. After heavy use during the war and a lack of maintenance, the aging cable cars had become rickety and old.   Mayor Roger Lapham was focused on progress and renewal, and that included modernizing the city’s “old, outmoded and inefficient” transit system. The cable ca...

Weigh in on the SFMTA’s FY 2024-2025 and FY 2025-2026 Budget By Andrea Buffa This week, the SFMTA Board of Directors discussed the agency’s upcoming two-year budget, which must be submitted to the Mayor’s Office before May 1.   The budget will cover two fiscal years:  FY 2024-2025 (July 1, 2024 – June 30, 2025)  FY 2025-2026 (July 1, 2025 – June 30, 2026)  Transportation is vital to San Francisco’s livability and vitality, as well as to the city’s economic recovery, equity and environmental goals. The next two-year budget will fund a variety of programs and services, including:  Muni service on 72 routes supported by operators, maintenance staff, station agents, car cleaners, transit planners, engineers and more.  Pedestrian and bicycle infrastructure, Vision Zero, traffic calming measures, major street infrastructure improvements and parking curb and traffic management.  Mobility services including paratransit, accessibility...

Last Year Made It Clear: Muni is Back, and Better By Edward Wright On an average weekday last year, 433,000 people rode Muni. They know something those who aren’t riding Muni don’t: it’s faster and more reliable than it’s been in years.  We wanted to look back at the last year of Muni ridership to share how – with limited resources – we’re making targeted investments to improve our service and your experience as a customer. As a result, our ridership is growing.  People took 142 million trips on Muni in 2023, a 25% increase from 2022  Since the pandemic, we’re more nimble in how we plan and provide Muni service. After decades of focusing on downtown commutes, today we focus on connecting neighborhoods. We can’t add service without more funding. But we can still make improvements – and we are. We’re pinpointing the exact times lines are crowded and refining our service schedules to address it. Before the pandemic, we looked at crowding data in two-hour windows. Tod...