SFMTA board directs staff to pursue targeted summer service changes after split vote

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency board voted 3–2 on March 20 to direct staff to pursue a package of service changes and agency program adjustments intended to close an estimated $50 million shortfall that begins in July 2025.

The board’s instruction follows a months‑long review and a public comment period that included hundreds of riders, community groups, students and two members of the Board of Supervisors who urged preserving Muni service.

The agency said the $50 million shortfall is separate from — and in addition to — a larger structural funding gap it has identified for 2026–27. Sean Kennedy, SFMTA’s chief planning and implementation officer, told the board the agency had already identified about $35 million in program and one‑time adjustments and was proposing further service changes or reserve use to cover the remaining amount.

Kennedy outlined a package that minimizes frequency reductions and preserves connections where possible. The changes the agency proposed for staff to pursue include routing selected east‑west lines to turn on Market Street rather than continuing downtown (examples cited: some 5, 9 and 31 runs would turn at Market), and a consolidation proposal that would combine the 6 and 21 routes while continuing to serve the Parnassus and…