SFMTA approves summer cuts to Muni bus service to address budget deficit

CBS News

02-04-2025

In a split decision, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency on Tuesday moved forward with cutting service to several bus lines this summer.
Muni is attempting to close its looming $50 million budget deficit by slashing and shortening five bus routes. In July 2026, that gap is expected to balloon to over $300 million, according to SFMTA.
The 5 Fulton and 9 San Bruno buses would still operate but turn around once they hit Market Street. The 5 Fulton Rapid and 9 San Bruno Rapid buses will operate as normal. When the 5 Fulton Rapid and 9 San Bruno Rapid buses are not running, which is during the weekend and after 7 p.m. on the weekdays, 5 Fulton and 9 San Bruno service will go down Market Street down to the Ferry Building.
The 31Balboa bus would also turn back at Market Street and not drive to the Caltrain station. Lastly, 6 Haight-Parnassus and 21 Hayes would combine into one line, containing portions of each route and turning around at Market Street.
Cutting service to this extent, Muni says, will help save about $7.2 million.
But the decision did not go through without pushback. Dozens of members of the public spoke out at Tuesday's meeting, urging the SFMTA Board of Directors to stop the proposed cuts.
Public commenters included members of transit labor unions, public transport advocates, transit workers, and residents who frequently use the bus lines to get to work or school.
"Public transportation is more than just a way to get from point A to point B," said Devon Anderson, president of Transport Workers Union Local 200. "It is the backbone of our cities, the lifeline for our workers, students, seniors and employees and countless others that rely on public transportation each day."
"The cuts to public transportation don't just inconvenience riders. They threaten economic stability, environmental progress and social equality," Anderson said. "Just as a lot of speakers up here mentioned, it's going to overcrowd a lot of the busses as well as the trains."
With many of the bus lines turning around at Market Street, several people argued that the service cuts are counterintuitive with the city's goal to revitalize downtown.
Supervisor Bilal Mahmoud, who represents the district where much of the service cuts will occur, addressed the Board in opposition. He argued that the cuts will disproportionately impact people of color, since District 5 has the second largest black population in San Francisco after District 10.
"I ask you as the Board of Directors here today to consider these communities that you are voting on behalf of," Mahmoud said. "This community and this neighborhood will be permanently affected. The history of this city is that District 5 and the neighborhoods of the Tenderloin and Hayes Valley and Western Addition, for years and for decades, have borne the cost of the city's challenges."
He also raised concerns about past Muni service cuts that were supposed to be temporary but then got eliminated altogether.
"The track record of cutting service is we do not often bring it back, even when things get better," Mahmoud said.
Under Title XI of the Civil Rights Act, major transit systems like SFMTA are required to conduct an equity analysis to ensure that the changes do not primarily affect low-income communities and people of color. Muni's equity analysis found that the cuts won't have a disproportionate impact on these groups.
But several members of the public called out the equity analysis for not measuring how the changes could affect disabled people. The narrow definition of the Title XI equity analysis does not include people who are disabled, according to the Federal Transit Administration.
Muni Directors Dominica Henderson, Steve Heminger and Vice Chair Stephanie Cajina felt more comfortable with the idea of dipping into SFMTA's reserves as an alternative to service cuts that could negatively impact residents dependent upon the affected bus lines.
"If we never touch the reserves, even to the extent of 5% of the total amount, which is what $7 million equates to, what's the purpose of having a reserve?" Heminger said. "It's called, commonly, a rainy-day fund, and it's been raining a lot."
Chair Janet Tarlov and newly appointed Board member Alfonso Felder agreed that digging $7 million out the reserves could be add to the future budget deficit.
"I just continue to feel very uneasy about pulling from the reserve when essentially what it will mean is having that add to our deficit," Tarlov said. "It it's $320 million, then it will be $327 million."
The resolution passed with four yeses from Directors Mike Chen, Fiona Hinze, Tarlov and Felder. The three noes came from Cajina, Heminger, and Henderson.
The Board decided to return to the previous equity analysis at a later meeting, in order to dive deeper into the data and consider looking into how the cuts will impact disabled people.