Express toll roads and congestion pricing during peak commute times. Curbs that force Uber and Amazon drivers to pay up instead of double-parking for free. Heftier neighborhood parking fees for anyone who enters the city.
These are just some of the extreme, long-term, every-idea-is-a-good-idea proposals to stave off San Francisco’s transportation apocalypse as the city’s transit agency stares down the barrel of a $322 million deficit starting next year. Conversations on these approaches will take place next week, according to newly released city documents.
Ahead of that, city officials and concerned residents on Thursday held the more sober of two public brainstorming sessions to figure out how to prevent massive cutbacks in service by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency and BART.
Alicia John-Baptiste, an incoming policy chief in the Lurie administration who will be overseeing SFMTA operations, laid out the stakes in stark terms.
“The question that we are grappling with right now is not only critical to Muni, but critical to the future of San Francisco,” John-Baptiste said. “I think most of us in this room understand that Muni truly is the lifeblood of this city. There is no economic recovery without Muni. We don’t meet our social and environmental goals without Muni. So, understanding how we get to a sustainable solution is of utmost importance.”
The first and most necessary step to rescuing SFMTA will involve two ballot measures in 2026: one citywide, and one that is regional, across four counties. Both could involve sales and/or parcel taxes. But that funding wouldn’t be enough to save Muni lines from being cut and keep BART running later into the night.
The shortfall comes from a variety of factors, including rising operating costs, lower ridership, and a nosedive in revenue from citywide parking since the pandemic.
Presentations from city officials and comments from concerned residents Thursday focused on the ballot measures, as well as ideas to extend operating hours for parking meters to 10 p.m. or on Sundays. Other ideas included a $25 million annual tax on ride-hailing companies like Uber, Lyft, and Waymo, which passed in November via Proposition L but was invalidated by a broader tax reform measure, Prop. M; new private and public parking taxes; and tax hikes on cell phone communications and utilities.
Officials aren’t sugarcoating just how calamitous the SFMTA deficit could be for San Francisco’s economy if the public transportation system is forced to substantially scale back. The number of visitors to the city would drop, leading to a trickle-down effect on the bottom lines of restaurants and other small businesses. Commuting workers would also have a harder time getting in and out of the city.
“It clearly would be a serious negative shock to the city’s economy if Muni was forced to make draconian cuts to service,” said Ted Egan, the city’s chief economist. “There is literally no way to fill downtown with commuters unless you have public transit.”
State Sen. Scott Wiener, who authored SB 63 to put a regional ballot measure in front of voters in San Francisco, Alameda, Contra Costa, and San Mateo counties, said elected officials and residents are waking up to the “existential threat” to transportation services caused by historic underfunding and pandemic-related revenue declines.
“We must act boldly and with urgency to prevent major service cuts, which could include ending BART weekend service, hourly BART trains, and eliminating a number of Muni bus lines entirely,” Wiener said.
Some of the most controversial long-term ideas, which wouldn’t go into effect until 2029 or later, will be discussed Jan. 31. The proposals include:
- A visitor parking fee for drivers who enter San Francisco that would be higher than rates residents pay and could create more than $100 million a year.
- Pay-to-go, express-style lanes and congestion pricing at peak hours that could generate as much as $20 million a year.
- Curb fees for ride-hailing companies and delivery drivers for short-term parking that could garner $12 million a year.