SFMTA seeks decade-long Tanforan lease for consolidated bus-operator training; supervisors seek cost analysis

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency asked the Board of Supervisors Budget & Finance Committee on Feb. 24 to approve a lease at 30 Tanforan Avenue in South San Francisco to establish a consolidated bus-operator training facility and training yard. The agency said a permanent site would stabilize classes, improve safety and support new vehicle types.

SFMTA representatives told the committee that operator training is central to service reliability and safety, that classes for new operators run about 44 days and typically include 30–40 trainees, and that the system now manages roughly 2,000 operators. "We entrust the lives for of over 700,000 trips a day to our operators," one agency presenter said, arguing a dedicated facility would reduce canceled classes and the operational disruptions that follow.

Budget analyst staff cautioned that the proposed lease carries significant costs and conditional long-term certainty. The Budget and Legislative Analyst (BLA) report cited first-year rent of about $2,480,304 and an estimated $25,938,003.44 to rent, operate and maintain the facility over the proposed 9-year, 5-month lease term. The BLA also noted the site is subject to a South San Francisco development agreement that could limit long-term use for training and recommended amending the resolution to reflect the correct 9 years, 5 months lease term.

Supervisors pressed for concrete data tying the facility to service improvements and savings. Supervisor Norman Yee said he was "not ready to vote on this" and asked for specific numbers showing how many classes were canceled, how many trainees were delayed and what overtime or service loss those gaps produced. SFMTA agreed to provide a cost analysis and counts of missed or reduced classes; the agency said it would submit the requested information within a week so the BLA could review it.

Public commenters included Transport Workers Union Local 250A President Eric Williams, who said peer transit agencies maintain their own training facilities and called a permanent site "needed," and several real-estate professionals who described the Bay Area industrial market as tight and said the Tanforan parcel (about 7.3 acres, according to the developer) is among the few viable options for Muni training.

Because of the outstanding requests for data, Supervisor Yee moved to continue the item for two weeks to allow SFMTA and the BLA to provide the additional analysis; the committee agreed to the continuance. Next steps: SFMTA will provide the numeric backup and cost analysis the supervisors requested; the committee will reconvene on the item after the BLA has time to review the materials.

Provenance: Item introduced by clerk and agency presentation (call and agency remarks), BLA report and public comment are recorded in the committee transcript between the item call and the motion to continue. Ending: motion to continue for two weeks approved, with SFMTA committing to provide follow-up numbers.