San Francisco, CA — On Tuesday, December 14, Mayor London N. Breed introduced a $400 million Muni Reliability and Street Safety Bond to the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to increase the system's efficiency and improve street safety citywide. To qualify for the June 2022 ballot, the Bond requires eight votes by the Board of Supervisors and then requires 2/3 approval by San Francisco voters. 

Based on Muni's infrastructure needs as well as priorities identified in the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) community survey conducted in Spring, 2021, the proposed Bond will focus on maintaining the system's equipment and facilities, providing quick and convenient transit access, ensuring Muni service is inclusive and accessible for all, and making street safety improvements for people walking and biking. 

“A reliable transportation system and safe streets are essential to the long-term health of our city and our residents,” said Mayor Breed. “The investments from this proposed Bond, along with significant new funding from the federal government, will allow us to modernize our facilities, upgrade our systems, and make Muni work more efficiently for everyone.” 

“With the recently passed Federal Infrastructure Bill, the funds from this bond would allow SFMTA to tap into nearly a billion dollars in matching funds from the federal and state government to meet San Francisco's local, transportation needs, including repairing and updating our aging and outdated bus yards and equipment that are nearly 100 years old, and cannot accommodate our modern, clean fleet,” said SFMTA Director of Transportation Jeff Tumlin.

Specifically, the Bond will invest in two major areas:

Making the Transportation System Work Better by:

• Repairing, upgrading, and maintaining aging facilities and equipment to speed up repairs and keep transit moving;
• Funding on-street infrastructure improvements that will result in faster, more reliable, and more frequent Muni service;  
• Modernizing the 20-year-old Muni train control system to increase subway capacity, reduce delays and deliver dependable, high-frequency transit.

Improving Street Safety and Traffic Flow by:

• Improving safety and visibility at intersections;
• Redesigning streets and sidewalks to strengthen walking, bicycling, and Muni connections along major corridors;
• Implementing traffic calming and speed reductions tools to reduce collisions.

Last week on Tuesday, December 7, the SFMTA Board of Directors voted unanimously to urge the San Francisco Board of Supervisors to place the Bond on the June 2022 ballot.  

“I support the proposed Muni Reliability and Street Safety Bond to improve our aging transportation infrastructure,” said Board of Supervisors President Shamann Walton. “As the District 10 Supervisor, I know firsthand the urgent needs of our community for reliable transportation and traffic calming measures to keep our streets and sidewalks safe.”

“The past two years have been a time of unprecedented challenges for transit,” said Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, who serves as Chair of the County Transportation Authority. “Now is the time to reinvest in our future as a transit-first city, and this bond measure puts us on a path to safer streets and rapid, reliable transit service for all San Franciscans.”

The proposed Muni Reliability and Street Safety Bond follows through on the priority recommendations made in the 2013 Mayor's Transportation Task Force and the 2018 Transportation Task Force that dedicated two $500 million General Obligation (GO) Bonds for transportation.   

The first GO Bond for transportation was passed in 2014, with all bond dollars issued to date. This funded pedestrian countdown signals on high injury networks, transit priority lanes on Church Street and throughout the Muni Rapid Network, transit stop improvements at the UCSF and Chase Center Muni stations, and other essential improvements.  

“The demands on San Francisco’s transportation system have grown and revenues from transit fares and parking fees have not kept up. COVID-19 has only exacerbated the problem,” said Gwyneth Borden, Chair of the SFMTA Board. “We have to keep the City moving. This critical funding source will positively impact each and every person who lives, works, and visits San Francisco.”

The 10-Year Capital Plan, more recently adopted by the Board of Supervisors on April 30, 2021, includes 2022 GO transportation funding. Published every odd year, the 10-Year Capital Plan is a fiscally constrained expenditure plan that lays out infrastructure investments over the next decade. The City Administrator prepares the document with input from citywide stakeholders, who put forth their best ideas and most realistic estimates of San Francisco's future needs.

“As San Francisco continues to recover from the COVID-19 pandemic, this measure will create needed jobs and invest in a more reliable transportation network for our residents and for our economy,” said City Administrator Carmen Chu. “As a City we have to pay attention to the nuts and bolts of how we operate and strive to build a stronger foundation – this bond continues that focus on our critical infrastructure.”

Transportation 2050 

The proposed Muni Reliability and Street Safety Bond is just one of the community's recommended strategies to invest in the transportation system and is only one piece of the Transportation 2050 strategy.  

Transportation 2050 considers a package of revenue sources over several years to sustain a more reliable, affordable, and safer transportation system. Through a combination of local ballot measures, continued state and federal grants, and the development of SFMTA properties, the City can establish strong financial support for Muni. If interested in learning more about Transportation 2050, please visit: sfmta.com/projects/transportation-2050.  

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