San Francisco transit officials are highlighting new numbers indicating that more people took Muni buses and trains last year compared to 2023.
The latest figures from the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) showed there were 13.5 million more trips taken on Muni in 2024 compared to 2023. In total, 158 million passenger trips were taken on Muni last year. Transit officials said ridership in 2024 was at 75 percent of prepandemic levels. Weekend ridership levels alone were at 88 percent of prepandemic levels.
“A thriving San Francisco needs an affordable, reliable, and safe Muni network so workers can get to their jobs, our seniors can get to their doctor’s appointments, and our families can get to school,” Mayor Daniel Lurie said in a statement. “We have a lot of work still to do, but this shows that we are on the right track.”
More transit passengers could be hopping on Muni over the next several years with the expansion of AI companies in the city and major sporting events taking place in the Bay Area, such as Super Bowl LX and the 2026 World Cup. Lurie has also ordered city employees back into office at least four times a week.
Some Muni bus routes are doing better than others, such as the 49-Mission/Van Ness, 22-Fillmore, and 14R-Mission Rapid — routes that concentrate on taking Muni passengers to the downtown area. Those three routes exceeded their 2019 average weekday ridership numbers last year.
Last year, special events in the city also played a role in the increased ridership on Muni.
The SFMTA’s manager of transit performance and analytics Simon Hochberg said on the day of the Sunset Night Market on Aug. 30, the 7-Haight/Noriega logged its highest ridership day of the year. Halloween also saw several Muni routes have their highest ridership day in 2024, including the 6-Haight/Parnassus, 24-Divisadero and 43-Masonic.
Muni’s rail lines, such as the N-Judah and T-Third are also seeing daily ridership increases.
“Muni’s ridership growth in 2024 reflects our commitment to delivering fast, reliable, and accessible public transit for San Francisco,” the SFMTA’s Director of Transportation Julie Kirschabaum said in a statement.
Despite the increase in ridership year over year, the SFMTA Board of Directors on Tuesday will contemplate cutting some Muni bus services this summer to close a $50 million budget deficit this year.
In April during its board workshop, directors will discuss the projected $320 million deficit the agency faces next year.