Five Muni Lines Could Get The Snip

The way Muni keeps pruning back service, you’d think she was Joan Crawford cutting down her prize rose garden. Since November 2024, SFMTA has been threatening service rollbacks, citing a supposed record dip in profits. The first cuts went into effect February 1, and more are on the way. At the same time, Mayor Lurie expects thousands of city employees back in the office, and Muni is making it that much harder to get there. Meanwhile, Market Street remains car-free, but now the bus lanes will appear much emptier, exacerbating downtown’s ghost-town reputation. Is it irony, greed, or just terrible communication between departments that landed us in this mess?

More urgently, is your Muni line about to get the snip?

Big changes on the way 

If the board moves forward, riders of the 5-Fulton, 6-Haight-Parnassus, 9-San Bruno, 21-Hayes and 31-Balboa will pay the price. It’s the same excuse as always, if you’re curious. “Cost-cutting measures.” The SFMTA’s approval would eliminate the Market Street segments of all five lines, scaling them down to their crosstown runs. Each line would end where it intersects with Market, dump its passengers, take on more, and turn around. 

The Rapid versions of these lines (the 5R-Fulton, 9R-San Bruno) would remain unaffected. If you’re a 9-San Bruno or 5-Fulton rider, plan a few extra minutes for that longer walk to a Rapid stop. It seems like the more Muni flounders, the more riders suffer. The SFMTA keeps asking for further sacrifice from us, giving nothing in return but poor travel conditions and worse service. Cuts and alterations like these offer dissatisfactory, short-term solutions to a much greater problem. 

“And that’s precisely why SFMTA is hurting,” one might say. I would never say Muni isn’t hurting for cash. But it should come from somewhere besides the pockets of people dependent on Muni for their commute. It feels like City Hall and other San Francisco government agencies always overlook their constituents, and SFMTA’s actions suggest it. That or Jeff Tumlin’s replacement is a corporate raider bent on carving public transit to its bare bones for profit. 

It’s a real pick-your-own-adventure. An estimated $7.2 million savings—not even 15% of Muni’s alleged deficit (last month, $320 million at stake)—awaits you. 

RELATED: IS SFMTA HOLDING MUNI HOSTAGE? 

Gutting Muni for a drop in the bucket

The unkindest cut of all is something out of 1986’s The Fly. It is an unholy hybridization, a crude fusion of the 6-Haight/Parnassus and 21-Hayes. The 21-Hayes was lucky to return from beyond the COVID grave at all, albeit in truncated form. Hell, I still want the 47-Van Ness resurrected (I’ll hold my breath). Beginning June 1, the 6-Haight/Parnassus and 21-Hayes, heretofore known as the 6/21, will operate from Hayes & Market and end at the 6’s current outbound terminus. 

The abomination will turn left onto Masonic instead of continuing to the end of Hayes Street like usual. 21-Hayes riders between Masonic and Stanyan must walk uphill to the 5-Fulton or cross the Panhandle for the 7-Haight. And once inbound riders reach Market, it’s off the bus and onto whatever’s rolling down the Street, a 7-Haight or F-Market/Wharves streetcar if you’re fortunate. Or maybe you can descend into the Muni Metro, provided you get dropped off near a station. At this point, your uninterrupted bus ride has morphed into a longer, segmented commute. 

The other three lines (5-Fulton, 9-San Bruno and 31-Balboa) will start turning around where they meet with Market Street. The clumsily-dubbed 6/21 will double back at Civic Center, not far from where the 5-Fulton doubles back at McAllister. 9-San Bruno commuters from the sunnier side of the city will need to disembark at 11th & Market to go further. Let’s hope a Rapid bus is following close behind, as those buses are expected to rescue stranded riders. 

SFMTA is sending the wrong message

Muni rider Francesca Arrigoni told KRON4 that now is not the time to disincentivize people from coming downtown. “I think foot traffic is what we need downtown more than ever.”

9-San Bruno rider Zwad Goman isn’t happy with the service cuts headed his way. “I take it past this proposed spot it would turn around, so I would be stuck only taking the 9R. Not having the 9 is definitely an inconvenience.” (KRON4)

The SFMTA appears willing to entertain even the most desperate schemes. Did you know they considered installing pickleball courts on top of their underutilized parking structures? Pickleball. To resuscitate Muni. What they’re likely to do is jack up parking meter rates, squeezing a pricey violation from a few forgetful drivers. Anything but deprivatize or sweet-talk some federal funding out of a Trump-neutral California politician. 

SFMTA has flipped over every metaphorical cushion scrounging for loose change, too tightfisted to spend what’s in the bank. I’ve tolerated the side effects of spending cuts, increased Muni fare enforcement, and SFMTA’s hiring freeze. Yet none of it satisfied SFMTA’s higher-ups, who seem dead-set on enacting one service cut after another. What is the business equivalent of beating a dead horse? 

I join many other Muni riders in asking, When will enough be enough?