SFMTA outlines Transit Effectiveness Project to boost reliability, service and sustainability

Julie Kirschbaum, operations planning and scheduling manager at the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, presented the agency’s Transit Effectiveness Project to the San Francisco Commission on the Environment during a regular commission meeting. The agency said the project combines a policy framework, service and route changes, and targeted capital investments to make transit more reliable and to shift more trips to sustainable modes.

"As an agency, SFMTA is very committed to a sustainable San Francisco," Kirschbaum said, describing an agency strategic-plan goal to have sustainable modes account for 50 percent of all trips. She said the program is data-driven and grounded in extensive community outreach and that implementation planning and environmental review are complete and phased implementation is planned over the next two to three years.

SFMTA said it has equipped roughly 30 percent of its buses with automatic passenger counters and used that data to identify heavy-ridership corridors — including Geary, the Mission and the Judah corridor — that carry about three-quarters of customers. The agency proposed a net service increase of 12 percent, route redesigns to reduce crowding, expanded limited-stop service on busy corridors, and new or modified routes intended to better connect neighborhoods.

Kirschbaum described complementary capital measures that give transit priority in traffic, citing the J Church pilot — a dedicated transit lane with turn restrictions on the most congested segment between Duboce and 16th Street — along with stop consolidation and signal timing changes on rail lines to reduce delays.

The agency presented projections from its CEQA analysis showing no significant environmental impacts and estimated that, when fully implemented, TEP would reduce daily vehicle miles traveled by about 65,000 and could cut travel times by up to 25 percent on 15 busy corridors. Kirschbaum said SFMTA has already purchased "over a 100 new buses" and plans a multi-year fleet turnover to improve emissions and capacity.

To fund implementation, Kirschbaum said SFMTA is pursuing two funding mechanisms for an upcoming November ballot, including a proposed $500 million general-obligation bond. She said $150 million of the bond would be dedicated to implementing the Transit Effectiveness Project and that the proposal would rely on retired-bond capacity rather than a new property-tax increase.

Commissioners asked about current progress toward the 50 percent mode-share goal (Kirschbaum said she did not have the exact current percentage), how cycling and bike-lane gaps are being considered (the TEP includes opportunities to close key cycling gaps), and measures to address personal security at stops. Kirschbaum said SFMTA is reviewing collision hot spots within the proposed 40 miles of transit improvements and that in some locations security concerns have affected whether changes proceed; the agency is considering piloting security measures in coordination with service changes.

Commissioners suggested SFMTA use the five-limited-stop pilot on the 5-Fulton as a communications opportunity and discussed coordinating outreach through the Department of the Environment. Nicholas Josefowicz and other commissioners volunteered to help develop communications that explain how travel times and reliability will improve for riders.

The commission did not take a formal vote on TEP; commissioners expressed support and offered to coordinate further engagement through a policy committee.