2022 Muni Service Network Proposal

In fall 2021, we asked San Franciscans what we should prioritize when we’re able to add more Muni service in early 2022. We received hundreds of comments via meetings, email and phone, and more than 4,500 survey responses. With this feedback, we have developed a plan that focuses on restoring connections for people with disabilities and seniors. We also heard a call for increased frequency to reduce crowding and wait times on high ridership Muni lines, so we are looking for these opportunities where resources allow.

By evaluating our service and working with the public we also developed ideas for new connections to take more people to more places.

Service changes will address the overwhelming public priorities we heard during outreach:

• Restore key pre-pandemic connections, preserve or restore Muni access in hilly areas and focus on access for people with disabilities and seniors
• Provide new direct connections from the Western Addition, Tenderloin, and Richmond District to Caltrain, Oracle Park (Giants’ Stadium) and SoMa
• Provide new through-service between North Beach, Fisherman’s Wharf, Russian Hill and the Marina through all the western neighborhoods

2022 Muni Service Proposal Details

Five of the seven remaining temporarily suspended pre-pandemic routes would be restored, with some changes. Other transit improvements would provide service to areas previously served by the two routes that will not be restored at this time.

See a summary of the proposed changes in the following table and read more details below.

Restore in Full

• 6 Haight/Parnassus: Restore route in full, with frequency of every 20 rather than pre-pandemic 12 minutes frequency.
  
  • The 52 Excelsior and 66 Quintara, which were extended during the pandemic to serve segments of the 6 Haight-Parnassus, would return to their former alignments terminating at West Portal and the Inner Sunset, respectively.
• 8AX Bayshore A Express: Restore route in full with 8 minute frequency.
• 8BX Bayshore B Express: Restore route in full with 8 minute frequency. 
• 28R 19th Avenue Rapid: Restore in full to improve travel times and increase frequency, reducing crowding and wait times along the route including 19th Avenue.
• 43 Masonic: Restore in full north of Presidio Avenue and California Street to the Presidio, the Marina and Fort Mason.

Remain Temporarily Suspended

Two all-day routes, the 3 Jackson and 47 Van Ness, would remain temporarily suspended. These routes largely overlap other routes that are or will be in service. Instead, we’ll make improvements to reduce crowding and wait times on high ridership Muni lines in the same neighborhoods.

Restore with Changes

• 2 Clement: Restore west to Presidio Avenue and California Street, by the Jewish Community Center, and no longer serve Clement Street in the Richmond. Operate every 15 minutes rather than every 20 minutes pre-pandemic, to offset the lack of service on the 3 Jackson.
• 10 Townsend: Restore north to Sansome and Montgomery streets in the Financial District instead of Van Ness and Jackson. Realign in Potrero Hill to operate on 16th Street rather than 17th Street, using the new transit lanes.
• 21 Hayes: Restore from St. Mary’s Hospital to Grove and Hayes streets, by Civic Center Station and the Main Library, no longer continuing downtown on Market Street. Operate every 15 minutes rather than every 12 minutes pre-pandemic.
• 31 Balboa: Reroute from its former alignment on Market Street downtown to 5th Street, Townsend Street, 3rd Street and Harrison Street, with a terminal at the 4th and King Caltrain Station. Maintain current 20-minute frequency. This would provide Muni service to people with disabilities and seniors living on 5th Street north of Harrison that don’t currently have a connection. This would provide new service along 5th Street (between Market and Townsend streets, replacing some segments once serviced by the 27 Bryant) and new direct connections from the Western Addition, Tenderloin and Richmond District with:
  
  • Caltrain Depot
  • Oracle Park (Giants’ Stadium)
  • SoMa
  • Mission Bay & Potrero Hill

Additional Changes

• 5 Fulton: Improve frequency to every 8 minutes rather than every 10 minutes pre-pandemic, providing a 20% increase in capacity, more frequent direct connections to downtown and reducing wait times and crowding.
• 12 Folsom/Pacific Short: Extend from Main and Howard streets to the 16th Street Mission BART Station via the existing 12 Folsom/Pacific alignment and 16th Street to offset changes to the 10 Townsend and lack of service on the 47 Van Ness. This would provide a new direct connection from SoMa and Rincon Hill to:
  
  • Mission Street’s commercial core
  • 16th Street BART
  • 14R Mission Rapid
• 12 Folsom/Pacific Long: Extend from Jackson Street at Van Ness Avenue to Jackson and Fillmore streets to offset the reduction of the 10 Townsend during the day on weekdays. This would provide new, all-day service from eastern San Francisco.
• 23 Monterey: Restore to its previous alignment on Sloat Boulevard to the San Francisco Zoo, rather than serving West Portal Station. This would provide a continuous connection between the Monterey and Sloat corridors.
• 28 19th Avenue: Extend from Van Ness Avenue and North Point Street to Powell and Beach streets in Fisherman’s Wharf to offset the lack of service on the 47 Van Ness. This would provide new through-service between North Beach, Fisherman’s Wharf, Russian Hill and the Marina through all the western neighborhoods, and serve multiple large public middle and high schools.
• 30 Stockton Short: Restore to its pre-pandemic frequency, every six rather than every 8 minutes, reducing crowding and wait times through Chinatown.
• 38R Geary Rapid: Operate every six minutes rather than every eight to offset the reduction in service on 2 Clement and lack of service on the 3 Jackson. This would increase capacity on the route by 25%, reducing crowding and wait times.
• 49 Van Ness/Mission: Continue to operate every six minutes to further offset the lack of service on the 47 Van Ness, rather than returning to eight to nine-minute pre-pandemic frequency.
• 57 Parkmerced: Extend from Eucalyptus Drive and Junipero Serra Boulevard to West Portal Station, restoring the previous connection.

Decisions to be Made

Changes could also be made to some routes that were temporarily changed during the pandemic.

The proposal includes three options for the J Church:

1. Remain as an all-surface route terminating at Church Street and Duboce Avenue. This allows us to limit the number of trains in the subway, reduce congestion and improve reliability for the entire Muni Metro system.
2. Revert to its previous route in the Market Street subway.
3. Revert to the subway evenings only, when there is less tunnel congestion.

The proposal includes two options for the 48 Quintara/24th Street:

1. Remain on its current alignment.
2. Reroute westbound from Castro Street to Douglass Street between 24th and Clipper streets. This would require reconstruction of the intersection at 25th and Douglass streets and may take significant time.

Next Steps to Finalize Muni Service for Early 2022

Public Hearings

The SFMTA will present this proposal and seek guidance at the SFMTA Board of Directors Policy and Governance Committee meeting, as well as the San Francisco Supervisors’ Governance and Oversight Committee and Land Use and Transportation Committee hearings.

Ongoing Public Outreach

We are targeting mid-November to update this proposal and continue to ask for input from the public through our project email, hotline, neighborhood intercepts, direct community outreach and briefings with the SFMTA’s Citizens’ Advisory Council, Multimodal Accessibility Advisory Committee and Youth Transportation Advisory Committee.

Proposal Approval and Implementation

We will present a final proposal to the SFMTA Board of Directors on December 7 for approval and expect to implement service restoration in February 2022. This time frame may be pushed back depending on transit operator availability.

Beyond Winter 2022: Service Expansion

We will continue community outreach and planning for additional service changes throughout 2022 as we resume a more regular cadence of Muni service changes.

We will continue to seek additional funding, which we will need to make any further changes.

We will continue our hiring plans to make sure staffing is not a constraint to adding service if we get additional funding.

We will also continue to work with the community and officials to develop an expansion of our Rapid network, express routes and other frequency improvements to address crowding and reduce wait times as the system continues to recover.