Drivers can now reserve spots at most city-owned parking garages throughout San Francisco up to six months in advance. SFMTA also announced it’s phasing out the Pay by Phone app this month to be replaced by two new options.

The SFMTA announced the launch of its online reservation system Monday, which was first piloted last summer at the Civic Center and Performing Arts garages. Drivers can reserve spots up to six months ahead at 16 of the city’s 22 publicly owned garages.

The agency says city-run garages are generally 30–40% cheaper than private lots, and the city offers flat-rate event parking at its Civic Center and Performing Arts garages.

The SFMTA notes that reservations are not available at the 16th & Hoff and Pierce Street garages or the Kezar Lot, and they will soon be available at the Japantown, Portsmouth Square, and Music Concourse garages.

Reservations can be canceled up until the start time with no penalty — for users who create an online account versus reserving as a guest. Payments are made at the garage by scanning a QR code, either digitally or printed out.

SFMTA is also retiring payments through the PayByPhone app beginning in mid-May to be replaced by two new parking payment apps, HotSpot and ParkMobile, which are already active across the agency’s parking meters.

Drivers can still pay with cash or cards at the meter, while the new apps include the same basic functions as PayByPhone, including extending parking and checking remaining time remotely. Each app also charges a 35-cent convenience fee per payment.

The agency notes that the PayByPhone app still serves as the primary mobile payment source for areas in town that fall outside of city jurisdiction, including the Presidio Trust, UCSF, USF, SF State, and private garage operators.

As the Chronicle reports, SFMTA officials say mobile payments have reduced the need for drivers to circle blocks hunting for parking or deal with paper tickets and attendants at garages. SFMTA also notes that fewer physical transactions at meters helps reduce maintenance and battery wear on parking equipment.

"Modernizing our parking infrastructure and network of city garages and meters is an important piece of our commitment to a smarter, more efficient San Francisco," said Julie Kirschbaum, SFMTA Director of Transportation, in a statement. "Transitioning to new, mobile payment apps alongside the upgrade to paperless garage payments, ensures we are keeping pace with the needs of our customers, saving them time and improving their overall experience."

Related: Local App-Maker Makes Viral App to Track SF Parking Cops

Image: Murillo P/Google Maps

As ridership for Lime and Spin continues to climb, so do complaints about improperly parked e-scooters. Meanwhile, the SFMTA board voted to extend the companies’ permits another two years — without addressing the parking issues.

San Francisco transit officials voted Tuesday to extend operating permits for scooter rental companies Lime and Spin for up to two more years, despite a sharp rise in complaints tied to improperly parked e-scooters blocking sidewalks, driveways, and ADA-accessible areas, as KQED reports.

The companies operate through the city’s Powered Scooter Share Permit Program, which allows fleets of up to 3,250 scooters. Both companies began operating in 2019, as SFist reported at the time. Ridership has continued climbing, with Lime reporting more than 260,000 trips in October 2025 alone — its highest monthly total in San Francisco to date. Complaints against Lime also reportedly doubled between 2024 and 2025, rising from roughly 5,000 to over 11,000.

North Beach residents have been among the most vocal critics of the program, with many 311 complaints originating from the neighborhood, per KQED. Former Supervisor Aaron Peskin accused Lime of routinely leaving scooters in the middle of sidewalks and near curb ramps, calling the situation “an ADA lawsuit waiting to happen.”

Lime disputed the claims, saying improperly parked scooters are typically left that way by riders. The company said it deploys scooters according to city rules, uses foot patrol teams to correct parking issues, and is launching a new incentive campaign aimed at reducing sidewalk riding and bad parking.

Under the permit program, the SFMTA can issue citations to scooter companies for parking violations and other infractions, though fines may be waived if issues are resolved quickly, according to KQED. Since the end of 2023, the agency has issued nearly 17,000 parking citations to Lime and more than 7,000 to Spin, according to the SFMTA's citation tracking tool, though both companies remain in good standing with the city.

SFMTA staff said it continues meeting regularly with Lime and Spin and can impose parking restrictions where needed, including updated rules adopted last year that banned scooter parking in Fisherman’s Wharf and other crowded areas.

While the SFMTA cannot regulate privately owned scooters and other personal mobility devices, officials said the city’s permit system gives it leverage to hold shared scooter operators accountable.

Advocates argue the vehicles help reduce car trips, traffic, and emissions while advancing the city’s transit and street safety goals. Streets For All SF director Robin Pam suggested the city convert some newly restricted “daylighting” curb zones into designated scooter and bike parking corrals to keep sidewalks clear while improving visibility at intersections.

Previously: 750 Additional E-Scooters Allowed In San Francisco As The City's Expansion Program Matures

Image: SFTMA

Four people, including the driver of a car, were injured Monday afternoon when a Muni bus collided with a car in the Mission District.

The crash happened around 4:20 pm on Monday (4/20), in the area of 17th and Mission streets. The SFMTA posted an alert on X about the Muni-involved collision and consequent bus delays at 4:26 pm, noting that the inbound and outbound 14, 14R, and 49 buses were all impacted by the crash scene.

The scene was cleared as of 5:22 pm the agency said and the buses resumed regular service.

As the Chronicle reports, three bus passengers were injured and went to the hospital, along with the driver of the car, who was alone in the vehicle — and no cause for the crash has been publicized. None of the injuries were considered to be life-threatening.

The SFMTA has not commented on the incident.

This crash occurred just four days after another crash involving a vehicle and a Muni bus. In that Thursday incident, the driver of the car was allegedly fleeing from police in a stolen vehicle, and crashed head-on into the bus near Lake Merced.

Anyone with information about Monday's incident is asked to contact the SFPD tip line at 415-575-4444, or text a tip to TIP411 and begin the message with “SFPD.” Tipsters can remain anonymous.

A 47-year-old DUI suspect in a three-piece suit crashed his Jeep into the cable car turnaround at Powell and Market streets Wednesday evening, requiring overnight repairs, and all cars on the line were momentarily turned around at Washington Street.

SFTMA first posted an alert about the incident at 8:11 pm Wednesday, announcing that inbound cars would be momentarily switched back at Washington and Powell due to a “non-Muni collision” at the Powell Street turnaround. Police responded to the crash around 8:29 pm, as SFGate reports.

An SFPD spokesperson told the outlet that a 47-year-old male driver entered the restricted area of the cable car turnaround and caused damage to the turnaround signal and a protective concrete barrier, but no injuries were reported.

The suspect reportedly fled on foot and was detained by SFPD officers near Cyril Magnin and Ellis streets. He was booked into San Francisco County Jail on suspicion of driving under the influence, hit and run, and unlawfully disobeying a traffic sign.

Reddit user MarineJAB told SFGate they came upon the scene when the Jeep was being towed, noting its bumper was missing. They said an SFMTA worker described the driver as “wearing a three-piece suit,” and said he “somehow ended up reversing but got stuck.”

The cable car turnaround was closed until Thursday afternoon, with cars switching back at Washington Street, per SFGate. Substitute buses were deployed to transport riders between Market and Washington streets.

Image: MarineJAB/Reddit

As we've heard multiple times in recent years, Muni has a major fare-evasion problem even though ridership has rebounded somewhat since the pandemic. But the actual numbers are pretty startling.

Buried in a new report from SPUR, titled "Taking Muni's Vitals," and tucked behind the good news that Muni has largely been a nimble and efficient agency in recent years, is the bad news that Muni fare revenue remains way, way down. Fare revenue is actually less than half of what it was a decade ago — $97 million in 2024 compared to $283 million in 2015 — even though ridership is now above 70% of pre-pandemic levels.

What does that mean? In part, it means that most people are back to using Muni trains and buses, but a good chunk of them aren't paying their fares. While ridership was down about 27% in 2024 (it's reportedly improved in the last year), fare revenue was down by 66% that year.

"Stated another way, independent of changes in total ridership, Muni experienced a 53% drop in per-passenger fares between 2015 and 2024, resulting in a significant loss of revenue for the system," the report says — though it goes on to explain that this revenue drop can also be attributed to expanded discounted and free fare programs for the elderly, students, and the homeless.

Still, anecdotally, we have all seen scores of people hop on Muni buses without tagging a phone or card at the fare box, and the state has taken notice of the discrepancy. A 2023 bailout package from the state came with the stipulation that both BART and Muni had to address their fare evasion problems. And a June 2023 report from ABC 7 cited the drop in fare revenue and quoted a Muni bus driver saying that "on a good day" maybe 40% of passengers pay their fares. (Muni's official number of fare-evading passengers, as of 2024, was 20.8%.)

The uptick in fare evasion seems tied to the pandemic, when the SFMTA laid off or furloughed many fare inspectors, and issued almost no fines for two years. The agency has since beefed up its fare enforcement, but clearly there are still far too many scofflaws and opportunities for free rides, and a few dozen fare inspectors have not been enough of a deterrant.

The Chronicle picked up the story about the SPUR report, and got a statement from SFMTA spokesperson Parisa Safarzadeh, who said, "We appreciate how this deep analysis shows that Muni service performance compares favorably with our peers, but we also know there is more work to do. Operating Muni as efficiently as possible is essential as we face unprecedented budget challenges."

On the plus side, Muni is performing well compared to its peer transit agencies in other cities. The MARTA system in Atlanta, has seen a 51% drop in ridership since 2015 and it has barely rebounded since the pandemic. Meanwhile, the peer average drop is 31%, with Muni doing a few points better than that at 27%.

The report also cites the fact that Muni has increased efficiencies, with its cost per rider numbers well below the peer average.

"SFMTA, like all large transit agencies in the United States, has had a challenging last 10 years," writes Sebastian Petty in the SPUR report. "Despite difficult conditions across the industry, Muni has performed well, sustaining and recovering ridership and productivity faster than its peers, on average, while holding its aggregate service output constant."

Now if they could just start collecting more fares...

Previously: You May See More Muni Fare Inspectors on Buses This Year as SFMTA Vows Crackdown on Fare Evasion

A male pedestrian was struck and killed by a Muni bus early Tuesday morning near Union Square, after he reportedly fell from the sidewalk into the path of the bus.

The collision happened near the intersection of Geary and Kearny streets around 6:50 am Tuesday, according to a tweet from the SFMTA.

"We are deeply saddened to share that at approximately 6:50 a.m. this morning, a 38 Geary bus was travelling west (outbound) on Geary Boulevard near Keany [sic] Street, when a male pedestrian reportedly fell from the sidewalk and made contact with the Muni bus," the agency says.

They add, "Emergency personnel responded to the incident and transported the man to the hospital, where, tragically, he died. Our deepest condolences go out to his friends and family."

As per protocol, the bus driver involved is undergoing drug and alcohol testing and is being placed on non-driving leave.

The SFPD is reportedly investigating the crash, and the victim has not been publicly identified.

This adds to a string of a pedestrian deaths that have happened in the first three months of the year.

As Walk SF noted, as of mid-March, the city had just seen five pedestrian deaths in the span of five weeks, including the tragic death of a two-year-old girl in Mission Bay. Arrests were made last week in connection both with that death, and an early March collision in North Beach that killed a pedestrian and injured a scooter rider.

Photo via SFMTA

The group Safe Street Rebel installed plastic buffer posts at the intersection of Fourth and Channel streets in SF’s Mission Bay where a two-year-old girl was killed, in an effort to push SFMTA to take more drastic measures to improve pedestrian safety there.

As the Chronicle reports, a group of residents and street activists called Safe Street Rebel installed plastic buffer posts at the intersection of Fourth and Channel streets in Mission Bay, where a two-year-old girl two weeks ago was killed by a driver who ran a red light, and her mother was seriously injured, as SFist reported.

The group told the Chronicle that the wide, skewed intersection creates poor sightlines and encourages fast turns, which is explained in more detail on the group's website. The group wrote in a social media post that the buffer posts are made of the same materials SFMTA uses, and they're meant to mimic a curb extension by narrowing the roadway and tightening turns to slow drivers.

"Intersections are the most deadly part of our roads," says the post's caption. "Our simple change shortens crossing distances for people walking while slowing down turning cars."

Safe Street Rebel said the action was prompted by frustration with the city’s response and is intended to push transportation officials to implement a formal redesign, even if it’s just temporary until a longer term solution is created.

SFMTA officials said the installation was illegal but did not indicate whether it would be removed, as the Chronicle reports. The agency noted it had previously made safety upgrades at the intersection, including high-visibility crosswalks, red curbs to improve sightlines, and adjusted signal timing to give pedestrians a head start.

“Unregulated installations are not legal and may result in unintended consequences without the guidance of engineering best practices and public notification to road users of any road changes,” SFMTA said in a statement.

Crews also repainted crosswalks and repaired a streetlight within 24 hours of the crash, per the Chronicle.

“We are working on additional changes to improve safety which require careful engineering consideration,” said SFMTA.

As the Chronicle reports, Safe Street Rebel said the city’s response was inadequate and did not address the wide roadway.

"138 of our neighbors have died in the last 5 years — real change is possible, and it doesn’t have to come from multimillion dollar projects or intense feedback sessions."

The group has previously installed similar unsanctioned measures following fatal crashes, including nearby at Fourth and King streets, where a 4-year-old girl was killed by a driver in 2023. Per the Chronicle, the group said the actions it took in 2023 prompted the city to eliminate a turn lane and install a traffic signal at the intersection.

Regarding dangerous intersections, the group says, “It doesn’t need to be that way. That’s what we’re trying to show.”

Image: Safe Street Rebel

Previously: Bystanders Describe Horrific Scene Where Toddler Was Killed In Mission Bay Intersection

This week: PBS Kids’ Mychal Threets at South SF library, the Counter-Culture Museum, free books for kids, San Mateo desserts, and Alysa Liu at Paris Fashion Week. Plus, honoring the female Muni drivers through history and cutting hair and giving space.

A chair and a listening ear

A new community barbershop called “The Shop” has opened inside GLIDE’s Tenderloin building, offering free haircuts alongside a place to sit, talk, and connect with help. The space draws on the long tradition of Black barbershops as neighborhood gathering spots, pairing domino games and conversation with counseling, overdose prevention, and links to treatment and housing support through the San Francisco Department of Public Health.

At the ribbon cutting, actor and longtime Glide supporter Danny Glover took the ceremonial first haircut as the pilot program got underway. The pilot, funded through the city’s opioid settlement funds, comes as San Francisco continues to lose dozens of residents each month to accidental overdoses, many in the Tenderloin. — Bay City News

Library joy, spoken aloud

Bay Area librarian and literacy advocate Mychal Threets will lead a mindfulness talk and community gathering on March 28 centered on reading, wellbeing, and the quiet magic of libraries. The PBS Kids resident librarian plans to share parts of his own mental health journey before hosting a story time and book signing for his new title, I’m So Happy You’re Here: A Celebration of Library Joy.

Threets, who was recently named one of Time’s Next Generation Leaders, has built a following by championing libraries as welcoming spaces for curiosity and calm. The all-ages program invites families and neighbors to gather for conversation, stories, and a chance to meet him in person at the event. — Eventbrite

A warehouse of books

At a Bayview warehouse run by The Children’s Book Project, visiting students browse rows of donated books and choose five to take home free of charge. The nonprofit hosts field trips for schools serving low-income communities, giving kids time to explore the shelves after a story time with a visiting author.

On a recent visit, fourth graders from Moscone Elementary School listened to Bay Area writer Gennifer Choldenko read from her new book Dogtown. Founded in 1992, the project has distributed more than 3.4 million free books to children in San Francisco and 37 counties across California. — Mission Local

Streetcars and wartime grit

During World War II, with many men overseas and transit demand surging, San Francisco Municipal Railway turned to women to keep the streetcars running. New operators like Dolores Piluso and Ellen Peterson stepped into the roles of motormen and conductors, guiding packed cars through the city at a moment when the system was under intense strain.

Their work helped maintain daily life in San Francisco while quietly pushing against the limits of who was expected to run public transit. The agency is highlighting their contributions this month during Women’s History Month and ahead of Transit Employee Appreciation Day. — SFMTA

From ice to runway

Fresh off her historic Olympic season, figure skater Alysa Liu turned up at Paris Fashion Week, taking a seat at the Louis Vuitton Fall 2026 show.

The 20-year-old shared snapshots from the night on Instagram, praising designer Nicolas Ghesquière and calling the experience unforgettable. — Parade

Crunch and memory

Inside her longtime San Mateo home, former mayor Claire Mack still answers every phone call herself, taking orders for the layered desserts she bakes under Claire’s Crunch Cake. Customers choose from flavors like mocha, lemon, chocolate, strawberry, whiskey, or banana, each topped with the brittle-like “crunch” she coats by hand.

Mack started the business decades ago after trying to recreate a favorite treat from the now-closed Blum’s bakery. Orders are picked up from the same house she bought with her husband 70 years ago — a spot now marked nearby by a street sign reading “Mack Family Way.” — KRON4

Echoes of Haight-Ashbury

At the corner of Haight-Ashbury, the Counterculture Museum traces the movements that reshaped San Francisco in the 1960s. Visitors move past looping footage of the Human Be-In and into rooms filled with music, protest ephemera, and artifacts tied to civil rights, women’s liberation, and early gay rights activism.

The museum was founded by Estelle Cimino and Jerry Cimino, who also launched the Beat Museum in North Beach. The space opened in June 2025, adding a new stop for visitors tracing the city’s counterculture past. — Time

City rhythms

DJ Buck was a fixture of San Francisco’s dance and electronic music scene, spinning at clubs and events throughout the ’90s and beyond. His mixes and records drew from the city itself, layering local sounds into house and rave tracks.

Friends and fellow DJs recall his influence on the music community and the energy he brought to the scene. — 48 Hills

Image: Glide Memorial/Facebook

Previously: Field Notes: Rare SF Tree Map, Dad Punk, and the Fight for Reproductive Rights in 1960s SF

Predictably, SF’s most ticketed neighborhoods see a mix of commercial, commuter, and tourist traffic along with heavier enforcement, including the Financial District, SoMa, the Marina, and North Beach, garnering the majority of citations for street-cleaning and expired meters.

The Chronicle went down a bit of a SFMTA rabbit hole and came up with the most ticketed neighborhoods in San Francisco by category. Overall, for every 100 residents, the Financial District, the Marina, North Beach, and SoMa received the most parking citations in 2025, the majority of which included street-cleaning and parking meters. As the Chronicle notes, these neighborhoods are tourist, commuter, and nightlife hotspots, which require heavier parking enforcement.

“Consistent enforcement helps ensure turnover in busy areas, maintains access for residents, and keeps buses and emergency vehicles moving,” said SFMTA spokesperson Erica Kato, in a statement to the Chronicle.

When broken down by category, the Chronicle reports that street-cleaning tickets are the most frequent citations drivers received in 2025, with the Marina, Presidio Heights, Pacific Heights, and Hayes Valley receiving the most per resident.

Next up, about 56 for every 100 Potrero Hill residents received tickets for exceeding residential time limits, which the Chronicle says is due to an influx of tech commuters working nearby, followed by North Beach, Russian Hill, Presidio Heights, and Castro/Upper Market, due to a large mix of restaurants and shops alongside residences.

Marina had the most tickets for blocking driveways, as many spots in the neighborhood contain so-called “mirage” spaces, which aren’t quite large enough but give the illusion they are, with runners-up being Pacific Heights, Haight Ashbury, and the Mission, per the Chronicle.

Regarding blocked sidewalks, the Chronicle reports that the Bayview had the most tickets, followed by the Excelsior and the Mission, and SoMa to a lesser extent. Kato told the Chronicle that factors such as sidewalk width contribute to the frequency of citations in certain neighborhoods.

Double-parking citations are the most frequent in the Mission, North Beach, the Financial District, and Nob Hill due to being denser commercial areas with a higher demand for curb space, per the Chronicle.

Naturally, residents in some of the hilliest locales received the most tickets for failing to curb their wheels, including Nob Hill, Potrero Hill, and Pacific Heights, as well as the Financial District and South Beach, which the Chronicle notes have sloped areas.

Back in 2017, the last time SFist wrote a post like this, the Financial District and North Beach were at the top of the list as well, along with the Inner Richmond and Civic Center, neither of which appeared on the current list.

Image: Edward/Wikimedia

Related: Local App-Maker Makes Viral App to Track SF Parking Cops

Where In SF Are You Most Likely To Get A Parking Ticket?

• MC Hammer made an impromptu appearance aboard an honorary Black History Month cable car Thursday. SFMTA posted a reel featuring the Oakland-born Hammer, who now lives in the Central Valley, posing for photos and breaking out into robotic dance moves. [Chronicle]

• San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie stepped in to help with negotiations during the teachers’ strike a mere week and a half ago, even though educators officially began negotiating a new contract almost a year ago, and an impasse was declared in October, leading to a practice strike in November. [Mission Local]
• The preservationists who want to save the Vallaincourt Fountain at SF’s Justin Herman Plaza have filed a lawsuit demanding that the demolition be paused until the environmental impact report is released, accusing the city of fabricating an emergency in order to bypass the report. [Chronicle]

National:

• The Free Press is compiling 14 hours worth of video footage from the January 30 batch of Epstein files to make it more accessible to the public, and they’ve released part one out of two, although much of the screen is blacked out in many of the clips. [The Free Press]
• Amazon has ended its deal with Ring following backlash over its “lost dog” Super Bowl commercial, which revealed that all the Ring devices in the neighborhood can potentially be used to spy on residents. [CBS News]
• Health officials are raising awareness about the increase of colorectal cancer among people under 40 following the death of Dawson’s Creek actor James Van Der Beek, who died at 48 this week, and Black Panther star Chadwick Boseman, who died at age 43 in 2020. [Associated Press]

Video of the Day:

Cory Barnette, the new “Bay Area Bush Man,” was in his element at Fisherman’s Wharf during Super Bowl weekend, scaring the daylights out of locals and tourists alike.

Image: Leanne Maxwell/SFist

After pausing new requests through its popular Residential Traffic Calming Program in June, SFMTA will begin fulfilling its blacklog next week with the installation of speed humps and other traffic-calming measures at 141 locations, a large portion on the city’s westside.

As NBC Bay Area reports, the San Francisco Municipal Transit Agency will begin honoring its blacklog of speed-reduction requests next week as part of its popular Residential Traffic Calming Program, which was listed as a priority in the recently signed Street Safety Act, per Walk San Francisco. Launched in 2001, the traffic-calming program collects feedback from communities where speeding is a concern. Per the Frisc, the queue for the program currently consists of hundreds of applications dating back to 2021.  

“Our Traffic Calming Program is resident driven,” per SFMTA. “When neighbors tell us they’re worried about speeding on their block, we listen. We collect data to confirm there’s a speeding problem, and then we take action.”

Per KRON4, the installation is expected to be completed by February, weather permitting, with each location taking two days. The agency notes that residents near the 141 locations should have received a postcard about the project in the mail. The devices to be installed during this phase include speed humps, speed cushions, and speed tables.

Walk SF's website provides more details on the three types of traffic-calming devices. “Speed humps and tables are one of the most powerful tools available to reinforce safe speeds, plus they’re cost-effective and durable. Speed humps, tables, and cushions are all ‘vertical speed reducers,’” Walk SF explains. “Speed humps are rounded; speed tables have a flat top; and speed cushions are speed humps with wheel cutouts designed to allow large vehicles, such as fire trucks and buses, to pass with minimal slowing or rocking.”

Marta Lindsey, communications director at Walk SF, tells NBC Bay Area in the below video segment that traffic-calming strategies are in high demand on San Francisco streets. “These are proven to work. They're one of the cheapest, best solutions out there,” Linsey told NBC Bay Area. “So, it is fantastic that the city’s about to get a big surge of these. And we’re going to need more.”

SFMTA notes that 14 additional locations will be receiving traffic-calming devices in the spring under a second contract with more details to come.

Per the Frisc, eligible locations for the program must be residential streets with less than 7,500 cars per day at speed thresholds of 85 percent or higher (the percentage of vehicles exceeding the speed limit by 5 mph or more). Whether or not locations have any nearby bus stops or hospitals are also factors taken into consideration.

SFMTA was awarded a $6.9 million grant in July to help the agency complete its backlog, while also stipulating that the agency create a new traffic-calming plan by the end of the year, per the Frisc.

The Frisc spoke to Robin Pam, executive director of  Streets for All SF, who’s pushing SFMTA to return to its old method of installing traffic-calming devices in entire neighborhoods — especially those in underserved communities — rather than street-by-street, like Boston recently did.

Pam tells the Frisc the current request-based system is problematic because areas with residents who have more time on their hands to fill out applications and rally neighbors are the ones whose requests are getting filled. Per the Frisc, almost half the total traffic-calming devices are being installed in the city’s westside neighborhoods, including the Sunset, the Richmond, and West Portal during this phase. By contrast, neighborhoods such as Excelsior, SoMa, and Cow Hollow are only getting one or two installations.

“It’s not fair for the loudest, most connected people to get speed humps while others don’t,” Pam told the Frisc.

Pam is encouraging residents who live near one of the new locations to install one of Streets For All SF’s 20 Telraam traffic sensors, which the group is using to collect data on vehicle volume and speed once the calming devices are installed.

SFMTA plans to implement $15.6 million in upgrades to its red bus lane ticketing program, which consists of two officers manually reviewing video footage and issuing around 20 citations per day. The new system is expected to help them generate about 100 per day.

As KQED reports, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency voted Tuesday to implement a series of upgrades to its existing Transit-Only Lane Enforcement (TOLE) program, which launched in 2008 and equipped buses with forward-facing cameras to collect footage of bus lane violations to be analyzed later. Due to staffing limitations, there are currently only two designated parking control officers who analyze this footage, according to an SFMTA staff report, per KQED.

The new project, titled “Next Generation Transit Lane and Bus Stop Enforcement System,” will add new innovations to the existing system, including “real-time data transmission, automated license plate readers and violation detection, as well as GPS mounted on buses to automatically generate evidence packages,” per KQED.

Per NBC Bay Area, SFMTA expects the new system to generate a 500% increase in citations, from 20 to about 100 per day. SFMTA is currently seeking proposals (PDF) for the project, and it expects to choose a contractor in the spring of 2026.

KQED notes the system will be implemented in stages. SFMTA will first run it as a pilot program on two of its buses, which will be expanded to 210 additional buses if approved. The agency could also potentially deploy the system on its new fleet of around 600 New Flyer buses at a later date, upon city approval.  

SFMTA estimates the total cost for the initial three-year term of the project will be $15,639,776, with potential for three additional one-year terms, per KQED. A Caltrans grant will cover $2.5 million in installation costs, and the agency anticipates that fines generated by the TOLE program will pay for the remaining costs.

“It will be self-funding, so it would not draw down the agency's capital or operating resources,” SFMTA Director of Transportation Julie Kirschbaum said, per NBC Bay Area.

Per KQED, SFMTA says the TOLE program is credited with improving travel times and reducing injuries on city streets. “Transit lanes are an essential tool to keep Muni moving on San Francisco’s busy streets as traffic congestion increases. Parking in bus lanes is both a safety issue and impedes Muni’s reliability,” says Erica Kato, Chief Spokesperson for SFMTA, per KQED.

The agency also says the program is effective at keeping drivers from repeating the offense again. “While an initial increase in citations is expected, the long-term goal is a reduction in violations as awareness and compliance improve,” says SFMTA’s report, per KQED.

Image: Muni Forward/SFMTA

Video from a runaway Muni light-rail incident next to Duboce Park on September 24 shows that the train operator likely fell asleep at the wheel, and had been hunched over barely awake several minutes earlier.

The SFMTA has been less than forthcoming about what, exactly, happened during a frightening September 24 incident on an N-Judah train during the morning commute, in which a crowded train sped out of control out of the Sunset Tunnel at East Portal, past the Noe Street/Duboce Avenue stop, and into oncoming traffic on Duboce Avenue.

The train was in the operator's, not a computer's, control while above-ground, and failed to slow down in order to come to a stop at Noe Street — proceeding into a dangerous S-curve and onto Duboce Avenue at full speed before coming to a stop just shy of Sanchez Street.

As one passenger told SFist of the harrowing incident, "It was like 'This might be it!'"

A Redditor named Cheezball claims to have requested the onboard camera footage from the SFMTA, and they uploaded it to YouTube and shared it on Reddit Monday.

The video shows the N-Judah train as passengers are boarding at Carl and Cole streets, in Cole Valley, before entering the Sunset Tunnel. The operator is seen with her head resting on her arms, hunched over the dashboard as people board. When she sits up to again operate the train, she appears somewhat alert, and navigates the curve into the tunnel at an appropriate speed — the speed reading on the camera shows her entering the tunnel at 6 miles per hour.

In the tunnel, the train accelerates up to 50 miles per hour before it reaches the portal on the other side, and the operator can be seen for most of the tunnel ride with her eyes apparently closed and head nodding off, as if she briefly falls asleep.

As the train emerges into the light and is about to take that S-curve, the operator appears to awaken and immediately try to slow the train down. But it does not stop until nearly a block downhill — and it has a near-miss with a car driving up Duboce Avenue, which came within feet of being in the train's path.

The driver then stands up and addresses the shrieking, shaken passengers, saying, "Relax, relax! I'm sorry, relax. We didn't crash. Relax. Relax. It wouldn't stop."

SFMTA officials said at the time of the incident that they were investigating, and assured the public that the "vehicle is mechanically sound and operating properly."

Now, the SFMTA says that the employee has been placed on "non-driving status," but they've released little other information.

"We know this was a frightening experience for our riders, and we take that very seriously,” said SFMTA Director of Transportation Julie Kirschbaum, in a statement. "Safety is always our top priority. We are committed to accountability in response to this specific incident, and we are taking all necessary steps to keep Muni safe and reliable for all riders and the public."

This is a developing story.

Previously: Passengers Describe Scary Runaway Muni Train Incident By Duboce Park

Look how freakin’ festive the 49-Van Ness bus will look for the holidays, with snowflakes, mittens, wrapped gifts, and more. But is that… a Christmas coyote near the front left wheel?

It was admittedly something of a cute cult-hit thing this summer when the SF Municipal Transit Agency (SFMTA) decided to roll out Grateful Dead/Summer of Love-themed Muni buses to get people all stoked for the Dead & Company shows in Golden Gate Park. They were like wraparound advertising, except they didn’t really advertise anything other than Muni itself.

Now as we head into the holiday season, the SFMTA is back at it with a more holly, jolly flair. Today the agency announced that buses on the 49-Van Ness route would have a wraparound decorative holiday design, as seen below.

“Starting today, one Merry Days of Muni bus will be picking up riders on the 49 Van Ness / Mission route,” the SFMTA says in their announcement. One of these holiday buses is seen above. But wait a minute… is that a coyote near that bus’ front left wheel? I bet some coyote haters in certain neighborhoods are going to be pissed off by that.

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The “Merry Days of Muni bus” (that is what they are calling it) was designed by in-house SFMTA artist Anton Belov, the designer of the Muni ugly holiday sweater, which they prefer you call a “holiday pullover.”

“The patchwork idea came from thinking about how Muni connects different neighborhoods, people, communities – how it stitches the city together,” Belov said in an SFMTA press release. “I wanted people to get excited and surprised when they expected to see a regular bus in gray and red and then, all of a sudden, this bright wrap comes their way and makes them feel even happier going to work and school.”

Again, the SFMTA claims that these went into circulation today, though apparently only one bus on the 49-Van Ness line each day will be the holiday decorated bus. The agency’s announcement says these will remain in circulation “through the end of the year.”

Related: Muni Is Truckin’ Grateful Dead-Themed Buses for Next Weekend’s Big Dead & Co. Concerts [SFist]

Image: SFMTA

November 12 is the last day for any fans to take a final ride on one of the light-rail trains that have been running through the streets and tunnels of San Francisco since 1996, as the last of them is finally getting retired.

It's finally time to say arrivederci to the Italian-built light-rail trains that have defined Muni service for more than a generation, with their distinctive silver and red body paint, and vaguely European shape. The Chronicle reports on the swan song of the last Breda LRVs (light-rail vehicles), which have been gradually getting phased out over the last seven years as the completed fleet of newer, Siemens-built train cars were put into service.

We first reported on the arrival of those new trains in mid-2016, so this has been a long time coming. At the time, the Breda LRVs were just 20 years old, and they are about 30, having first arrived in pieces from Italy in 1995, getting final assembly at Pier 80.

Longtime San Franciscans may remember the debacle when the SFMTA learned that the assembled train cars exceeded their promised weight by about 10,000 pounds, which led to unanticipated vibration and maintenance issues. While the agency worked to lower the weight of the cars, their heftiness limited the length of trains and therefore the system's capacity, leading to delays early on.

The Chronicle piece, clearly culled from SFMTA sources, notes that the Breda cars were far more reliable than their predecessors, which had been made by Boeing — but many commuters would likely argue the system went from terrible to merely bad. And, as has been noted many times, Muni service has also suffered due to its antiquated computer train-control system — but we learned last year that the agency is undertaking a ten-year process to upgrade what remains a floppy disk-based system.

"We will miss the Bredas, and they will always be part of San Francisco’s history,” says Julie Kirschbaum, the newly elevated director of the SFMTA, speaking to the Chronicle. "They were there for a lot of firsts."

Those firsts include the first service on the T line and the first service to Oracle Park — then known as Pac Bell Park.

The new Siemens trains are reportedly three to four times more reliable than the Bredas were, and overall satisfaction with Muni is up year over year — with fewer of the sort of systemwide meltdowns that have been more the purview of BART lately.

The full fleet of 219 new Siemens LRV4s is expected to be in service by late 2026, with 164 already in service across the system.

The final Breda train will be out on the J-Church line next Wednesday, November 12, for one final day of service.

Previously: Muni Is Getting A New Fleet Of Train Cars, Starting This Year