Muni Chief: Don't Ride Our Buses Unless You Need To

San Francisco's Muni today bears little resemblance to the transit service that was carrying more than 700,000 daily bus and rail passengers just a month ago.

The agency is currently carrying about 100,000 passengers a day on its drastically pared-back bus network. The region's shelter-at-home orders, prompted by the coronavirus pandemic, have kept Muni operators, commuters and tourists off mass transit.

Now the city's top transportation official is trying to talk more people out of using the system, at least for the time being, to help protect essential workers.

"Riding Muni as a non-essential traveler means you’re denying the opportunity for nurses and custodians and security guards and dishwashers to be able to ride Muni safely," said Jeffrey Tumlin, director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, which runs Muni,

The coronavirus crisis has had a significant effect on Muni's workforce. 

The agency says about half of its drivers are out on some form of COVID-19 related leave. Only six of Muni's 2,000-plus operators have tested positive for the coronavirus so far, but that's forced employees who came into contact with them to self-quarantine.

Some workers are off because they are in vulnerable groups themselves. Others are caring for vulnerable or sick family members or children who are home from school.

In response, the agency has shut down its light rail network, mothballed streetcars and cable cars and, most recently, suspended 80% of its bus lines and refocused the remaining service on routes that get people to major medical facilities and commercial hubs.

But Tumlin sees much more work ahead. One priority task: reducing crowding on the 17 core bus routes the agency is still running. That's necessary so that riders can maintain the required minimum six feet of physical distance from other passengers.

To do that, Tumlin says Muni is actively discouraging "non-essential travelers" from riding, emphasizing that the remaining service should be reserved for those whose travel is truly necessary: hospital workers, first responders, those on their way to other essential work and people headed to medical appointments or other needed errands, such as grocery shopping.

He says a wide range of people are still getting on buses when they don’t have to.

"There are a lot of San Franciscans who just decide, ‘It’s a nice day, so I’m going to take Muni out to the beach,'" Tumlin said in an interview earlier this week.

Some Muni drivers have also complained that large numbers of homeless residents are seeking shelter on buses and making it harder for all passengers to maintain physical distance while riding.

Tumlin says the agency is responding by reaching out to people at five Market Street bus stops.

"We know we need to do this with some care," Tumlin said. "There are unsheltered individuals who need to use Muni to access services — that is an essential trip. Because you are unsheltered does not mean you should not be riding Muni."

The work involves Muni employees talking to would-be riders, encouraging them not to board buses if their trip is not essential and offering referrals to services. Tumlin says the response has been positive.

"What we're finding — and it's not surprising — is that even people who are struggling with mental health issues or who are seeking refuge on Muni because they're unsheltered, if you treat them with care and compassion, they will respond with compassion," Tumlin said. "We’re seeing compliance. We don't need to bring in the National Guard to forcibly remove people."

Tumlin says he hopes that same approach will work with those who continue to get on Muni without thinking about the impact on those who really need to be on the bus.

"We're San Franciscans — we're deeply self-involved," Tumlin said. "But when we're reminded that our actions have consequences for others, we often change our behavior. This is not true for everyone, but it's true for most people."