Gedioni Bolio was standing in the back of the 14R Muni bus rumbling down Mission Street on the evening of Aug. 7 when he smelled something foul. The culprit? A passenger behind him.
“He was lying down, taking a shit,” Bolio said.
Bolio regularly takes the bus to church or to visit cousins near Mission and 18th streets. Unfortunately for the 19-year-old sports photographer, his regular line is the crappiest, literally, in San Francisco. He estimates he’s seen or smelled poop on the 14 route half a dozen times this year alone.
Now, looming transit agency cuts — including to janitorial services — could make a filthy problem even worse. The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has directed all divisions to cut spending by 5% to 7% as it stares down a $322 million budget deficit. The cuts could affect the cleanliness of buses and bus shelters and the maintenance of transit vehicles. On Tuesday, Mayor Daniel Lurie floated plans for a new property tax to help fund Muni.
And nowhere could the cutbacks be felt — or smelled — more than on the 14. Of the 805 feces complaints on Muni logged between January 2024 and August 2025, the 14 line racked up 186, roughly 23%. The 38 and 38R ranked second, with 68, 8.3% of all such complaints.
Citywide, feces complaints rose consistently from 2020 through 2024, according to 311 data. During that time, the city spent millions to add public toilets, before this year debating slashing funding for some. The problem has plagued San Francisco’s public image, becoming frequent fodder for famous shit-talkers, including Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr., and Fox News.
The big question facing passengers and Muni drivers is “Why the 14?” The bus travels along Market and Mission streets — hot spots in the city’s homelessness and drug crises — passing behind the beleaguered San Francisco Centre mall and along the troubled 16th and Mission BART plaza. On a recent ride on the 14, The Standard spoke with 32 passengers, many of whom confirmed that they often saw human excrement on seats.
Teviate Naha didn’t have to think back far to remember the last time she encountered human waste on the 14. Just last week, on the inbound 14R, she saw a man who’d clearly soiled himself.
Naha, 59, who lives at the Hotel Isabel at Seventh and Mission streets and often rides the bus to health appointments, said she’s seen excrement on the bus roughly 10 times in the last nine months. She guessed it’s because homeless people often ride that line.
“I’ve seen people curled up, and it’s on themselves and on the seat,” she said.
Of the passengers on the 14 and 14R with whom The Standard spoke Aug. 22, eight said they had seen feces on either bus. Kutza Murrar, a nanny who takes the 14 or 49 down Mission Street for work, says she last saw human waste on the 49 bus roughly three weeks ago.
“It was on the seat in the back,” the 39-year-old said, pointing to the double seats by the middle door.
A 14 bus driver who declined to provide his name said he wasn’t surprised by the findings — even though he hasn’t seen or smelled feces on the buses he’s driven.
“The 14 is the worst. Trash, smoking, pee-pee,” he said. “The 14R is a little more clean.”
The only Muni routes with no feces complaints are niche lines with limited service: the 30X, which runs only at 7:15 a.m. and 7:45 a.m.; the 8AX and 8BX, which operate during peak commute hours; the 39, which connects Fisherman’s Wharf and Coit Tower but does not run in the morning; and the Powell-Mason and California cable cars, which charge $9 and primarily serve downtown.
Routes with a single complaint included the 21, 55, 56, 57, 58, 66, and 67, as well as the late-night bus shuttles that replace the T and L trains.
SFMTA spokesperson Parisa Safarzadeh said Muni complaints comprise 2% of issues reported to 311 and emphasized that keeping buses clean and safe is a top priority. Of the looming cuts, she said it’s too early to know how janitorial services could be reduced. Agency divisions are expected to submit proposed cuts to their budgets by Oct. 10, she said.
The agency said customer satisfaction is at its highest point ever and pointed to a 24-hour operation that includes daily vehicle cleanings and mobile crews stationed near hot spots. When incidents occur, buses are deboarded and sanitized — typically within 35 minutes — before returning to service.
It’s not just passengers who face toilet troubles. The SFMTA recently implemented rules requiring drivers to get a boss’ permission before taking a bathroom break, a change meant to speed up bus service.
Ryan Lopez, a home care worker, said he’s seen excrement on the bus but isn’t fazed by it, dismissing it as “dope fiends being dope fiends.” As he got off near Yerba Buena Gardens, the 34-year-old offered apt advice to Muni riders.
“You gotta look before you sit down,” he said.