SFMTA director highlights meter-shop overhaul, regional funding push, Van Ness BRT gains and subway cell service

San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Director Julie Kirschbaum opened her director's report at the board's April 1 meeting by honoring the agency's meter shop for completing a citywide conversion to new multi-space meters and other upgrades that staff said make maintenance simpler for the agency and payment easier for customers.

Kirschbaum said the meter shop program now maintains roughly 27,000 parking spaces citywide, installs and services pay stations and signs, manages license-plate-recognition data and parking-collection contracts, and performed an estimated 45,000 service events since Thanksgiving. "These kinds of win–wins are exactly how we're going to have to navigate this very difficult period," Kirschbaum told the board. Streets Director Victoria Wise and Meter Shop Manager Tony Mazzetti spoke at the recognition; Mazzetti said the meter shop now can track the operational status of every device and that in-house fabrication has reduced reliance on outside contractors.

Kirschbaum also summarized the final meeting of the Muni funding working group, which included business, labor, neighborhood and city stakeholders and ran multi-month reviews of potential packages to close the agency's structural shortfall. The SFMTA and the city controller presented six policy packages to the group; Kirschbaum said the set will be winnowed for an April 22 workshop so the board can evaluate trade-offs. "There is no big win here," she said, adding the working group showed broad support for placing a regional ballot measure to help protect transit service.

On the state level, Kirschbaum reported that Senator Scott Wiener introduced Senate Bill 63, described in the meeting as the "Connected Bay Area Act," to authorize a 10–15 year regional sales-tax measure for Alameda, Contra Costa and San Francisco counties with an opt-in for San Mateo and Santa Clara counties by July 31. Kirschbaum said the bill would authorize up to five cents in local sales tax in the participating counties (the staff presentation described a 5¢ authorization option and a separate option allowing San Francisco to raise one cent more to direct funding to Muni).

The board also heard results from an evaluation of the Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit corridor, which the SFMTA said has improved operations and safety since the 2022 ribbon-cutting. Kirschbaum cited data in the agency evaluation showing faster bus travel times, a reported 50% drop in injury collisions on the corridor and improved reliability and rider perceptions compared with pre‑BRT conditions.

Finally, Kirschbaum announced expanded cellular coverage in the Muni Metro tunnels, noting the Central Subway had service earlier and that a new public–private partnership has brought Verizon and AT&T service inside the Twin Peaks tunnel and other segments. T‑Mobile service was expected in July and a remaining small stretch of the Sunset tunnel was projected to be completed in May. Kirschbaum said the private partner covered staff time and that there was no ongoing cost to the agency for the initial installations.

The director's report did not include formal board action; public comment on the report included praise for the underground cell service and both support for and concerns about the Muni funding working-group process.