SF Muni Riders Oppose The Proposed Increase In Muni Fares

Photos by Wilfred Galila

San Francisco and Bay Area residents who ride MUNI on a daily basis are expressing outrage and vehement disagreement at the proposed fare increase. For a year now, people have been meeting and organizing about transit justice. Since the last two months, the support and discussions are only getting stronger.

SOMCAN and various community groups came together on Tuesday, February 4, 2020 at the United Nations Plaza at Civic Center demanding to make MUNI free for all the residents of San Francisco, to stop fare enforcement, to create a transit system that is more dependable, and to give a living wage to the operators of the transit system.

Photos by Wilfred Galila

A majority of the working class and low-income residents of San Francisco are dependent on MUNI as their main form of transportation. The MUNI fare increase will add more financial burden for low-income families and residents in the city that is already fast becoming harder to live in.

District 5 Supervisor Dean Preston himself expressed concern and disagreement with the fare increase by introducing a resolution urging the Municipal Transportation Agency to refrain from any MUNI fare increases for the FY2021-2022 budget cycle.*

The resolution reminded the city of the 1973 “Transit First” policy of the SF charter which governs SFMTA. The policy states that the transit system should “ensure quality of life and economic health in San Francisco.” It states that, “within San Francisco, travel by public transit, by bicycle and on foot must be an attractive alternative to travel by automobile.” In the past meetings with concerned citizens, this does not seem to be the case as traffic and congestion is increasing with the rise of private vehicles including Uber and Lyft, which are sadly not ecological choices. In addition, MUNI is just starting to hold budget process meetings to get feedback from the public about what SFMTA budget should be, while SOMCAN has already outreached to over 800 SF transit riders about their views and opinions on the issue. The results showed that 82.3% oppose the fare increase. The fare increase will only decrease ridership and overburden riders. Concerned SF MUNI riders are demanding equity, affordability and reliability in accordance to the “Transit First” policy.

Photos by Wilfred Galila

Since 2005, the city of San Francisco has experienced a 100% inflation in MUNI fares, and it has been steadily increasing approximately 7% each year. The cost of living continues to increase in a city that is rich in resources. If the next increase is allowed to happen, this increase will be 116% difference since 2005 ($1.50), the price hike has more than doubled in these past years. “I don’t really see a change in service, buses are still late and some communities are still underserved, the only difference now is riders are hopping on MUNI because they can’t afford it,” says one MUNI rider. MUNI’s plan is to increase the single adult cash fare to $3.25, from an already difficult to comprehend $3.00 for most people. The $2.50 clipper card fare is proposed to rise to $2.75. The MUNI monthly pass will rise from $81 to 85. And gone are the days that the cable car is accessible to all. Only tourists can afford a whopping $9.00 increase by 2022.

Photos by Wilfred Galila

During the January 28 SFMTA Board of Directors meeting, when SFMTA reverts to share their equity programs to counter affordability issues, concerned citizens rose up to say that a huge percent of people do not qualify for the equity programs. It seems the average Bay Area median income for qualifiers does not meet the income of working class students and parents who are forced to take on two or three jobs to survive in the city.

“We don’t gain equity by paying for bus fares. I’ve been riding buses for years and I’ve seen the rapid rise of fare prices, but there are no improvements on the buses’ reliability, safety, and cleanliness. Matter of fact, what I’ve seen more are MUNI police and authorities taking pleasures in harassing and collecting fines from tax-paying citizens,” says MJ Mariano of SOMCAN.

*Read more about the resolution introduced by Supervisor Dean Preston here.

#FreeMuni4AllSF