06-08-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Muni will beef up morning rush hour service on some downtown bus lines
Transportation officials in San Francisco will make tweaks to several Muni bus lines later this month, aiming to haul more riders downtown during rush hour.
After scrutinizing ridership data and feedback, staff at San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency restored two morning trips on the 1X California Express, a peak commuter route from the Richmond to the Financial district. The trips, departing from 33rd Ave. and Geary Blvd. at 7:15 a.m. and 7:45 a.m. respectively, were slashed earlier this year as the agency confronted a looming deficit and tried to stretch limited resources.
Muni will also beef up service on the 30X Marina Express, which runs weekday mornings from the Presidio to South of Market. That route will see an additional trip from Beach and Divisadero streets at 8:15 a.m.
All of the new trips on these two express lines will begin on Aug. 30.
Days later, on Sept. 2, Muni will adjust service on the 49 Van Ness-Mission, to alleviate crowding during the morning commute to Fort Mason. Accordingly, the agency will divert more bus trips to the busiest hours between 7:30 a.m. and 8:15 a.m., while adding three new inbound trips from Market Street and Van Ness Ave. to Fort Mason.
Presenting the changes during a Board of Directors meeting on Tuesday, SFMTA service planning manager Jessica Garcia characterized them as a more efficient use of Muni's finite resources. But she noted that the agency will continue experimenting, always seeking to benefit as many people as possible.
'This is a new strategy we're trying to pilot,' Garcia told the board, 'to see how effective it is.'
Barring the unforeseen, this round of changes is the third and last that SFMTA staff expect to make this year. The agency made initial trims in February — some of which it will override on Aug. 30 — followed by more dramatic cuts to downtown lines over summer.
