FINAL UPDATE: Stalled train is cleared and the southbound #TThird has resumed service. (More: 10 in last 48 hours)

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Commuter Shuttle Mid-Program Evaluation and Hub Study Now Available

The SFMTA has been collecting and analyzing data about commuter shuttle behavior and we are pleased to share a Status Report from April – September 2016.  Key findings indicate that despite a 15% ridership increase since the Pilot there has been:

  • A 91 percent decrease in the total number of shuttles operating on small, residential streets each month (3,696 shuttles in April 2016 to 334 shuttles in August 2016).
  • A 65 percent reduction in shuttles stopping on small, residential streets between the Pilot Program and now (842 to 292). The only stop events remaining on non-arterial streets are small buses under 35 feet in length.
  • A 23 percent reduction in shuttles stopping in Muni zones between the Pilot Program and now (2302 to 1783)
  • A 129% increase in the number of citations issued each month between the Pilot Program and now (72 to 165)

In addition, at the request of the Board of Supervisors, the SFMTA worked with the San Francisco County Transportation Authority to analyze an alternative regulatory approach to commuter shuttles—a “hub” model, which would concentrate commuter shuttle loading and unloading at a small number of designated locations in the city rather than providing a dispersed citywide network for loading. 

The hub study is now available online. Under four concept models analyzed, key findings included:

  • Shuttle ridership would drop between 24 to 45 percent, and nearly all those prior shuttle riders would switch to driving, resulting in 1,780 to 3,300 more cars on the road each day.
  • Vehicle miles traveled (VMT) in the city would increase 422 to 729 percent annually (from 7.9 million VMT today to at least 41.6 million VMT, and at most 66 million VMT.)
  • All hub scenarios analyzed would increase the risk for crashes, due to the significant increase in car trips.
  • Voluntary participation and compliance rates among the shuttle operators are the greatest unknown under a hub system, with the possibility that shuttle operators would opt out of the program and its regulations.

Thank you for your continued interest in the SFMTA’s Commuter Shuttle Program.