The start of summer will begin with some cuts to Muni service, which includes route changes on several bus routes starting June 21.
On weekdays, Muni passengers on the 5-Fulton, 9-San Bruno, and 31-Balboa will have their routes shortened as part of a cost-saving measure by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA). Additionally, the 6-Haight/Parnassus and 21-Hayes will merge into one route and be renamed as the 6-Hayes/Parnassus as part of a new route.
The 5-Fulton local route will no longer terminate at the Salesforce Transit Center but instead turn around in the outbound direction at McAllister and Market streets. The local 9-San Bruno will also see its route truncated, no longer making stops along Market Street and terminating near the Ferry Building. Instead, it will turn around in the outbound direction at Market and 11th streets.
Both the 5-Fulton and 9-San Bruno rapid routes will continue to operate as normal on weekdays. On weekends when rapid service is not running, the local 5-Fulton and 9-San Bruno will serve their full routes.
For the 31-Balboa, the route will terminate at Fifth and Mission streets instead of at Townsend and Fourth streets.
The new 6- Hayes/Parnassus route will continue to serve the Golden Heights, Inner Sunset, and UCSF, but will no longer serve stops on Haight Street. Instead, the 6- Hayes/Parnassus will cover bus stops east of Masonic Avenue on Hayes Street. It will also no longer terminate at the Ferry Building but instead end its route near Market and Hyde streets. Passengers who need to continue on Haight Street can transfer to the 7-Haight/Noriega.
Transit officials previously said that the route restructuring is part of cost reductions aimed at closing a $50 million budget deficit that the agency projected at the start of the fiscal year, July 1. The reduction in Muni service this summer is expected to save the SFMTA $7.2 million.
Uncertainty surrounds the SFMTA budget next year
The SFMTA faces an even more dire situation come next year when it projects a $322 million deficit at the start of the 2026–27 fiscal year on July 1, 2026. That’s when one-time state and federal funding will run out. The SFMTA is counting on voters next November to approve ballot measures, including a regional tax measure.
State Senator Scott Wiener and Senator Jesse Arreguín are coauthors of Senate Bill 63 that, if passed in the state legislature, will authorize a regional ballot half-cent sales tax measure in San Francisco, Contra Costa, and Alameda Counties to fund transit operations. San Francisco can opt for a higher tax of one cent. Wiener said on Friday in a post on BlueSky that the bill made it out of its final committee and now heads to the Senate floor for a vote. The city could also be eyeing its local measure to fund transit.
The route restructuring is part of cost reductions aimed at closing a $50 million budget deficit that SFMTA projected at the start of the fiscal year, July 1.
Still, even if voters pass both measures, the SFMTA’s Director of Transportation Julie Kirschbaum told city supervisors at the San Francisco County Transportation Authority board meeting that the agency would not see the revenue generated from the measures until the spring of 2027. She added that the SFMTA needed “one more tranche” of bridge funding ahead of any ballot measures.
In March, Arreguín and Assemblyman Mark González from Los Angeles proposed $2 billion in state funding to address operating shortfalls over the next two years. In Gov. Gavin Newsom’s May budget revision, there was no mention of the $2 billion set aside. Additionally, the revised budget includes cuts to the state’s Cap-and-Invest program, which helps to reduce greenhouse emissions. Some of the funding from the program helps pay for transit projects and ongoing service.
The May revised budget did not go unnoticed by directors on the SFMTA board. Director Steve Heminger questioned Kirschbaum at the board’s May 20 meeting on the seriousness of the governor not including the $2 billion in bridge funding.
“How worked up should we get about that? Heminger said. “Is it just him negotiating because he’ll have to give it eventually … or is it really pretty serious?”
Kirschbaum told Heminger that the situation was “pretty serious” given the current status of the state budget, which faces a $12 billion deficit.
“I do think it is an uphill battle at this point,” Kirschbaum said.
Legislators have until June 15 to pass a budget so that Newsom can sign it ahead of the next fiscal year, which starts on July 1.
