San Francisco Muni Sees Highest Ridership Since Start of Pandemic

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) transit system saw its highest ridership since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic this September, reports James Salazar for the San Francisco Examiner.

“The transit system averaged more weekday riders in September — 521,050, or about 74% of levels from the same month in 2019 — than any month since February 2020, crossing the threshold of 500,000 average weekday boardings for the first time since then, according to a newly published San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency report.” Weekend boardings were at 92 percent of pre-pandemic levels, Salazar adds.

The agency acknowledges that the bulk of trips has shifted from office commuters to off-peak travelers, prompting SFMTA to make changes to routes to accommodate new travel patterns. “The agency rerouted the 22 Fillmore — the monthly ridership of which was at 122% of pre-pandemic levels — to serve additional parts of the emerging Mission Bay neighborhood. SFMTA also built transit-only lanes on 17th street, which Tumlin said helped the bus line’s speed and reliability.” According to SFMTA, subway delays have decreased by 50 percent since before the pandemic.

The system is refocusing its efforts on serving attendees to music festivals and other events in San Francisco, weekends that often see spikes transit ridership. According to SFMTA director Jeffrey Tumlin, “Chase Center event tickets doubling as Muni passes has driven ridership to the arena and its surrounding neighborhoods.”