Skip to main content

Behind the Scenes: Making Muni Service Changes

Behind the Scenes: Making Muni Service Changes
By Sean Kennedy

photo of N Judah train with temporary sign indicating stop changes

Have you ever wondered what it takes to modify or add Muni service? Customers often ask if we can bring back or make changes to their routes. Making Muni service changes usually takes many steps over several months. In a typical year, the SFMTA conducts three major service changes: in spring, late summer and winter. Each of these requires months of work and many different SFMTA teams to get implemented.

The COVID-19 pandemic has been anything but typical, and we adapted our service change process to quickly prioritize public health guidance, support essential travel and steadily bringing back routes for communities who depend on transit the most. By August 2021, SFMTA staff will have implemented 12 service changes in 18 months --up to five times faster than usual! With each change, we worked to bring back Muni better. The speed and operational dynamics required to deliver a service change process that typically takes months in a matter of weeks has meant temporarily adjusting how we make service changes. This pace has meant a significantly reduced ability to do pre-implementation public outreach.

We’ve launched a web page that explains the process in detail, before and during COVID. There you can learn about the steps involved in each phase of a typical Muni service change, and how COVID-19 Muni Core Service changes have been different.

Non-COVID Service Change Process

Historically, the process for making service changes consists of the following phases and takes about six months or more:

  1. Developing a service change plan
  2. Vetting the service change plan
  3. Legislating the service change plan
  4. Scheduling operator shifts
  5. Union approval of the operator shifts
  6. Operator sign-ups for shifts
  7. Implementation, when the changes go into effect

COVID-19 Muni Core Service Plan Changes

Once the COVID-19 pandemic hit, demands for Muni service and resource constraints changed quickly. The service change process was compressed to speed up the restoration of service, with significant cuts to steps in almost every phase.

Learn more about what changed and how the dedicated SFMTA Transit Planning team have worked to prioritize service restoration.

Looking Ahead

As of January 2021, 100% of neighborhoods identified by SFMTA’s Muni Service Equity Strategy are within two to three blocks of a Muni stop. By August 2021, in time for school to restart, 98% of all San Franciscans will have Muni access within two to three blocks of their home or work.



Published June 18, 2021 at 08:58PM
https://ift.tt/3zF6Sc3
Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

150 Years Ago Today – The Cable Car is Born

150 Years Ago Today – The Cable Car is Born By Kelley Trahan August 2, 2023, marks the 150th anniversary of the world’s first successful cable railway, born right here in San Francisco. To celebrate the occasion, we bring you the story of Andrew Hallidie and the very first cable car company, the Clay Street Hill Railroad.  Andrew Hallidie (1834-1900) was a pioneering inventor and entrepreneur who changed urban transportation. In 1852, at the age of 18, Hallidie emigrated with his father from the United Kingdom to San Francisco during the California Gold Rush. His father, an engineer and inventor, had a wire rope patent that played a crucial role in his son's future success.   Portrait of Andrew Smith Hallidie in 1890. Inspired by his father's wire rope business, Hallidie developed a steel cable mineral mine hauling system in 1857. About a decade later, he designed a wire rope aerial tramway for transporting materials over mountainous terrain. Then, after a stint in bridg...
Post a Comment
NEXT

Fare Inspection Reimagined

Fare Inspection Reimagined By Kimberly Burrus As Muni’s Transit Fare Inspectors return to service, the SFMTA is excited to share a new approach that we have for how we will check for fare payment and interact with our customers. Rather than focusing solely on enforcement, the priority will shift to helping customers comply with fare policies. To support this new approach, our Transit Fare Inspectors will be returning over multiple phases this fall and they will have a new look. At the beginning of the public health emergency, Muni fare inspectors took on disaster service worker duties, but Muni never stopped collecting fares. Muni customer fares provide approximately 20% of our revenue and we depend on fares to provide transit service. A Transit Fare Inspector models their new uniform. Phased-in Return This week Muni fare inspectors have joined SFMTA’s larger ambassador program to provide customer assistance throughout the system. This is the start of the phased-in process for M...
Post a Comment
NEXT

Shared Spaces are Here to Stay. Permit Renewals are Due January 15, 2023.

Shared Spaces are Here to Stay. Permit Renewals are Due January 15, 2023. By Anne Yalon Shared Spaces, amongst many other benefits, allows our residents and families to enjoy safe and social outdoor dining. Seen here are the the owners of Tio Chilo’s Grill and their children in the restaurant’s parklet on 24th Street in the Mission.  San Francisco’s popular Shared Spaces program allows merchants, restaurants and arts and culture organizations to use the curbside, sidewalk and other public spaces to conduct local business activities and stay afloat. What emerged as an economic lifeline during the pandemic is making San Francisco’s streets more energized, engaged and activated. Many of the Shared Spaces parklets have become central gathering places for the local community. “ Our parklet makes me feel like when I go to Mexico, where outdoor seating is everywhere. People end up joining their friends in our parklet. It is a space for our customers and our community," said Liz V...
Post a Comment
NEXT