Muni service cuts are coming this summer, and some riders will have to transfer to another bus or rail line to get farther down Market Street.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Board of Directors voted 4–3, directing staff to make the service cuts starting June 21, which will have several routes terminated earlier on Market Street before heading any farther to the downtown area.
An earlier proposal saw much more drastic cuts to service that would have included longer wait times for buses, suspended routes and a reduction of subway hours.
Transit officials said the service cuts will save the agency about $7.2 million as the cash-strapped agency faces a $50 million budget deficit at the start of the new fiscal year that begins July 1.
Riders on the 5-Fulton, 9-San Bruno, and 31-Balboa will see those routes terminate earlier, while the 6-Haight/Parnassus and 21-Hayes will merge. One example of the change will have the 5-Fulton terminate earlier at McAllister and Market streets on weekdays instead of at the Salesforce Transit Center, where the bus route currently ends. The rapid route for the Fulton line will remain the same, as well as the rapid route on the 9-San Bruno.
A new 6/21 route will see the 6-Haight no longer serve Haight Street but instead continue on Masonic Avenue to Hayes Street to serve some of the 21-Hayes bus stops. The 6/21 will end at Hyde and Market streets.
Three directors on the board, Janet Tarlov, Fionza Hinze, and Mike Chen, had indicated at the previous board meeting last month that they would support cutting service instead of using the agency’s reserves. They did not change their minds at the board’s Tuesday meeting. Alfonso Felder, newly appointed by the board, also voted in favor of the service cuts.
Several Muni lines will be shortened or combined to help the SFMTA’s looming budget deficit.
Tarlov, who chairs the board, said she “regretfully” maintained her position of preserving the agency’s reserves. The agency has a reserve of $141 million, but any use of the funds will need to be replenished as part of the board’s policy.
“There’s a lot that can happen between now and then, and that is what keeps me up at night,” Tarlov said. “I think about what happens when we are wrestling with the 26–27 budget.”
Next year, the SFMTA faces an even larger fiscal crisis of $320 million and may need to rely on voters to approve funding measures in November 2026.
Director Dominica Henderson, who was not present at the previous meeting, voted against the cuts, citing that it could hurt the agency’s credibility after already increasing Muni fares last year.
“I don’t want to do it this way, and I’m hoping that we can revisit the idea of the looking at the reserves,” Henderson said.
Director Heminger also favored using the reserves, known commonly as the rainy day fund, and questioned the point of having the fund when it’s being used.
“It’s been raining,” Heminger said, “And the thing is, this seven million bucks is not going to fix our $320 million problem, it can fix a $7 million problem, which is what we’ve got in front of us.”
Dozens of transit riders and advocates spoke out against the cuts, including District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, whose district is impacted by the service cuts.
“If you vote for cuts, the community is going to need reassurance because there’s going to be a break in trust with the communities that rely on Muni every day to get to work, to get to school, and to visit their loved ones,” Mahmood said.
