Amid increasingly contentious transportation debates, San Francisco’s transit chief has decided to step down after five years in City Hall.
Jeff Tumlin, the director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, is expected to announce his departure next week at the SFMTA board meeting.
“The opportunity to serve the city is the greatest honor in my life,” Tumlin said in a phone call Thursday afternoon. “We have made great progress and achieved more than we expected, including a more frequent and reliable Muni.”
Tumlin was appointed in 2019 by Mayor London Breed. Before that, he was director of strategy at Nelson\Nygaard Consulting Associates, a transportation planning and engineering firm. He also worked in Oakland’s transportation department.
Tumlin said he will take a “nice long sabbatical.”
According to SFMTA data, under Tumlin’s administration, major subway delays were down 76%, and short delays were down 89%. Muni has the highest customer rating in 20 years, with 72% of riders rating the system as excellent or good. Tumlin also touted that he had reduced crashes involving pedestrians by 32% and crashes involving bikes by 33% on streets where the SFMTA has installed Quick Builds.
However, in recent years, conflicts between motorists and advocates for public transit, pedestrians, and bicyclists have intensified, as residents who rely on cars have increasingly complained that city transportation planners have ignored their concerns. Many of those criticisms have been directed at Tumlin.
“This is a time of tremendous division,” Tumlin acknowledged.
City leadership praised his work, noting the challenges of running the cash-strapped transit agency.
“Jeff has been a leader in building infrastructure, improving Muni operations, and making the hard decisions necessary for our city as we grow,” said Breed. “Change can be hard, but Jeff was not afraid to make those decisions necessary to allow people to move safely and efficiently across this city.”
State Sen. Scott Wiener, an outspoken advocate for public transit, thanked Tumlin for his service to the city.
“I’m incredibly grateful to Jeff Tumlin for his service to the people of San Francisco and for his forward-looking approach to our transportation system,” Wiener said. “I’ve been a daily Muni rider for 27 years, and under Jeff’s leadership, Muni is better than it’s ever been during that time period.”
The SFMTA board will soon start a process to find the next chief. The current director overseeing Muni, Julie Kirschbaum, will serve as interim SFMTA director.