Latest news with #Kirschbaum
San Francisco Chronicle
18-06-2025
- Business
- San Francisco Chronicle
Muni is cutting service on five S.F. bus lines. Here's when the changes go live
Beginning Saturday, transportation officials in San Francisco will cut service along five bus lines, consolidating two of them and ending the other three routes at Market Street. Once the changes take effect, the 6-Haight-Parnassus and 21-Hayes buses will combine to form the 6-Hayes-Parnassus. Buses on this new route will loop back at the Market and Hyde Street stop near Civic Center. On weekdays, the 5-Fulton and 9-San Bruno will also turn around at Market, an adjustment Muni made because each of them have parallel lines that are largely redundant. Additionally, Muni will pare back the 31-Balboa route so that it runs from Cabrillo and La Playa streets near Ocean Beach to Fifth and Market streets downtown. These austerity measures will save $7.2 million, a small piece of the transit system's budget deficit that's expected to balloon to $322 million next fiscal year. If the city doesn't find new sources of revenue to patch that hole, Muni's next round of cuts could be crippling, warned SFMTA director of transportation Julie Kirschbaum. 'We are making small changes now to avoid devastating long-term cuts and changes,' Kirschbaum said. She and others are confronting worst-case scenarios in which the city drastically slashes transit service, leaving commuters stranded and causing nightmare traffic jams. Yet, even a relatively cautious reduction to bus service faced pushback in San Francisco. The new turnarounds will force some commuters to make transfers to reach their destinations, an inconvenience that could stymie people with mobility issues. Critics often note that transfers also create a psychological barrier that dissuades people from riding transit. During an April 15 public hearing at which the SFMTA Board of Directors approved the new service plan, transit advocates warned that it sent a grim message to the public. Many people would perceive the cuts as a sign of weakness, and intuit that 'public transit is not in the ascendancy, it is in the decline,' advocate Cyrus Hall said. He urged the board to postpone any claw-backs to service as city and state leaders rally public support for tax measures to bolster Muni and other transit systems. Kirschbaum said her agency is being pragmatic and minimizing pain for riders. For example, Muni will preserve resources by merging the 6-Haight-Parnassus and 21-Hayes routes, as both individual lines have underperformed since the pandemic. Data from SFMTA shows a 21% ridership recovery for the 21 when comparing April this year to the same month in 2019. The 6 recouped 56% of ridership across the same period. Transfers 'are really the only trade-off that customers are making at this point,' Kirschbaum said, noting that the current plan cuts costs while maintaining all bus connections and frequency. 'Making this small 2% change today will help fortify us as we face this larger challenge,' Kirschbaum said. Meanwhile, SFMTA staff are scrounging up money in other ways, such as raising the price of metered parking, pausing some capital projects and ending certain contracts. As budget officials trim around the edges, politicians aim to put multiple transit tax measures on the ballot next year, imploring voters for help.
Axios
19-03-2025
- Business
- Axios
San Francisco's new transportation director leading agency through turbulent times
As the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency's new director, Julie Kirschbaum is leading the agency during one of the most difficult periods in its 108-year history. Why it matters: She's assuming the role at a critical time for the agency as it stares down a $50 million deficit that could reach $320 million by July 2026. Driving the news: Kirschbaum in February was named permanent director after serving in the position on an interim basis following the departure of Jeffrey Tumlin in December. She is the first woman to hold the job as San Francisco's top transportation official and has worked at SFMTA for the past 18 years. What she's saying: Kirschbaum spoke with Axios to discuss her main priorities as she navigates the agency's dire financial crisis. "We do have a really significant funding challenge that we need to address. Financial stability will be my highest priority for the agency," she said. Catch up quick: The agency's financial challenges stem from the city's slow recovery from COVID-19, which led to less ridership and decreased revenue. The crisis is being exacerbated by the loss of state and federal pandemic aid and surging costs from high inflation. State of play: SFMTA is in the midst of developing short and long-term solutions. They include: Reducing service by 4% this summer to save $15 million, with plans to bridge the remaining $35 million budget gap with other cost-cutting measures like cracking down on fare evasion, implementing hiring freezes, raising parking fees and making changes to city parking programs. The agency is also advocating in support of proposed state legislation that would provide struggling public transit systems with $2 billion in state funding over the next two years to address operating shortfalls while they work to find new revenue streams. Between the lines: When asked about more potential solutions, Kirschbaum said a regional sales tax ballot measure next year could help secure an ongoing funding source — not just for SFMTA but for other struggling agencies, including BART and Caltrain, as well. The intrigue: Unlike her predecessor, Kirschbaum does not express the same hostility toward the rise of ridehailing companies like Waymo, Lyft and Uber. Tumlin — a once-polarizing figure — took a hard-line approach against cars to prioritize bicyclist and pedestrian needs and largely blamed rideshare services for the agency's financial woes. Kirschbaum, however, is more concerned with keeping people's many options to get around open. While she's "really proud of how MUNI is running," she said she's also invested in improving conditions for everyone, including drivers. Fun fact: As a resident of Ingleside, Kirschbaum loves the K light-rail line. Her other favorite, she added, is the 14R Mission Rapid because "it takes you to so many amazing places throughout San Francisco." The bottom line: While Kirschbaum acknowledges the challenge SFMTA faces, she said it's also "a really exciting time" as they work toward increasing ridership to pre-pandemic levels, reaching financial stability and improving street safety with initiatives like the city's new speed cameras.
