Muni Metro Fix-It Week Maintains the Subway Infrastructure

Muni Metro Fix-It Week Maintains the Subway Infrastructure
By Jessie Liang

Track crew removing old rail at the Van Ness crossover 

The first Muni Metro Fix-It Week of 2023 was a resounding success in March, and it’s also the first Fix-It Week since the SFMTA launched the Central Subway in early January of this year. Here is a behind-the-scenes video recap. Fix-It Week is the SFMTA’s quarterly effort to optimize work time by closing Muni Metro early for critical maintenance. The SFMTA’s Maintenance of Way (MOW) teams did an excellent job maintaining the subway and preventing future breakdowns. 

Fix-It Week helps the Muni Metro get a 20% improvement in speed and about a 20% improvement in reliability in the subway. It takes fewer minutes to take the N Judah from the Outer Sunset to Embarcadero now than it did in 2019. 

 From March 16 to March 22, 2023, the Muni Metro Subway between Embarcadero and West Portal closed at 9:30 p.m. to provide SFMTA maintenance crews an extended window to perform underground infrastructure improvement work that cannot be completed during the usual overnight windows. During the subway closure, buses provided substitute service for Muni Metro lines on the surface and connected all stops on Market Street.   

Track crew powerwashing station walls

The goal of Fix-It Week is to make Muni metro subway operations more reliable, ensure safety, and improve the customer experience. Nine MOW teams, Track, Cable Car, Motive Power, Maintenance Engineering, Mechanical Systems, Overhead Lines, Underground, Paint Shop and Signal, were involved in the maintenance work. 

Major maintenance work includes: 

• Track replacement and reinstallation from the Ferry Portal to the Van Ness Crossover 
• Mechanical systems cleaning, maintenance and installation  
• Signal repairs and upgrades, including the demolition of old train control system racks, equipment and wiring 
•  Track fastener and subway lighting surveys, and drain cleaning around switches  
• Overhead Line inspections and Overhead Section Break hardware adjustments 
• Debris removal and traction power substation inspections 
• Cable Car maintenance and repairs 

Custodial staff cleaning Church Station

The SFMTA teams completed over 2,000 hours of maintenance and inspections over the seven night shutdown. They were able to perform 161 feeder operations, replace more than 125 bulbs for trackway lighting in multiple locations, renew 750 feet of Overhead Contact System contact wire, replace eight blue light phones and inspect approximately 8,000 track fastener plates from the Ferry Portal to Powell Station. 

Track crew powerwashing and removing trash from trackway 

A support team was also contributed to the success of Fix-It Week. These staffers helped coordinate maintenance work, upheld all safety standards and ensured that subway service resumed on time every day. 

The SFMTA will continue to keep the Muni Metro system in a state of good repair. The next Fix-It Week is scheduled for July 2023, and we thank you for your patience and understanding while we do this vital work.  

For more information, visit Muni Metro Maintenance Project (SFMTA.com/SubwayMaintenance).  

Track crew moving new rail into position by hand at the Van Ness Crossover 

Published April 28, 2023 at 11:47PM
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Track Work Through the Years

Track Work Through the Years
By Jeremy Menzies

San Francisco’s unique rail system brings together 150-year-old cable cars, historic electric streetcars of all shapes and sizes and modern light rail vehicles.  

Many trades across the SFMTA play a critical role in keeping the system moving. This month we look back in time at the work of one such group, the Track Department. While the lines and technologies of SF’s street railway have changed over the years, some of the base-level work, tools and skills needed to maintain our tracks are the same today as they were over 100 years ago. 

A decade before Muni was founded, the United Railroads Company (URR) dominated San Francisco’s transit system. URR owned and operated nearly 400 miles of street and cable car track all over the city. To keep this network in service, their track department was fully equipped to handle any possible construction or repair job. 

All hands were on deck for this job outside the Ferry Building in 1912. Here, two special work streetcars equipped with cranes lift an entire section of track in one piece. 

The Municipal Railway was built in 1912 and expanded over the next 16 years to include multiple lines and two dedicated tunnels. The city relied on its own team to maintain this system on a daily basis.  

Following World War II, many streetcar lines were converted to bus routes, but Muni retained the J, K, L, M, and N streetcar lines. With those core lines still in service, the work of the Track Dept. continued. 

Taken on January 31, 1947, this photo shows Muni track workers Pat Kellerher and Con Maloney at Division and Bryant Streets.

In the 1970s, construction of the Market Street Subway transformed the city’s streetcar lines into the Muni Metro system. Miles of tracks were rebuilt to handle light rail vehicle (LRV) traffic, and an automatic train control system was introduced for subway operations.

In this 1977 shot, a crew replaces K Line tracks on Ocean Avenue just outside Lick-Wilmerding High School.

Today the SFMTA Track Department is primarily responsible for maintaining and repairing our rail infrastructure. Outside of this, they take on other jobs moving cable cars to and from the cable car carpentry shop, hauling heavy equipment in the subway, and supporting the work of the teams that maintain and repair our stations. With the skilled labor, know-how, and equipment to do a variety of heavy jobs, the department plays a critical role in keeping Muni moving.

Whether it’s 1903 or 2023, track work is a team effort. This photo was taken during the March 2023 Fix-It Week when the Track team replaced sections of rail in the Van Ness Crossover.

Published April 27, 2023 at 03:53AM
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Muni Improvements Draw Increased Ridership

Muni Improvements Draw Increased Ridership
By Kate McCarthy

38 Geary buses zip downtown on new transit lanes that improve travel times for Muni riders.

As Earth Day approaches and we think about how to encourage more people to take non-car trips, recent Muni improvement projects are drawing increased ridership across the city. While Muni ridership downtown has not yet rebounded to pre-pandemic levels, ridership has gone up on Muni lines where we have improved speed and frequency of Muni service. 

Muni is a lifeline for many of our riders: 70% of Muni riders have an annual income of less than $50,000. As we restored and added Muni service after the start of the pandemic, we invested in the routes that serve people who rely on transit and need it most. For example, after we installed transit lanes, increased frequency and re-routed the 22 Fillmore to bring people to their jobs and medical appointments in Mission Bay, ridership increased to 107% of pre-pandemic levels on weekdays and 118% on weekends. 

Since the start of the pandemic, we’ve implemented more than 21 miles of new transit priority lanes, growing our transit lane network (https://ift.tt/Sg1fLqV) to over 70 miles. These transit lanes are improving travel times for Muni riders across the city. After transit lanes were installed on Mission Street in downtown, travel times on the 14 Mission and 14R Mission Rapid are now 31% quicker. 

Ridership numbers on the 49 Van Ness-Mission also blossomed to 109% of pre-pandemic ridership on weekdays and 114% on weekends after construction on the Van Ness BRT corridor was completed last April. With physically-separated transit lanes and transit signal priority that gives the green light to Muni and Golden Gate Transit buses, riders there are seeing travel times reduced by 35%. 

A similar story has emerged on San Francisco’s busiest transit boulevard — Geary. Like other lines that serve downtown, the 38 Geary hasn’t fully recovered to pre-pandemic ridership levels. But the route did nab a spot in the top 10 highest recovered routes in the Muni system. The 38 Geary’s 36,000 daily riders have recently seen travel time savings of up to 18% since we installed three miles of new transit lanes, bus stop changes and other improvements as part of the Geary Rapid Project. We plan similar improvements on the western end of the corridor as part of the Geary Boulevard Improvement Project.     

Muni riders have noticed that improvements to our busiest Muni lines are making service faster and more reliable than it has been in decades. Two-thirds (66%) of Muni riders who took our Annual Muni Rider Survey last fall rated Muni service as “good” or “excellent” — a 9% increase from 2021 and the strongest increase since 2018. 

These improvements can’t come soon enough. Most of San Francisco’s greenhouse gas emissions come from cars and trucks. As the urgency to address climate change mounts, so does the need to get the most out of our Muni system. To inspire riders to come back to Muni, we’re working hard to bring back the Muni system our city deserves: One that is thriving with the better frequency, improved reliability and better connections that these projects are delivering. 

Published April 21, 2023 at 02:24AM
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There’s a Community Shuttle Coming to the Bayview

There’s a Community Shuttle Coming to the Bayview
By

A new shuttle to serve Bayview’s diverse communities

A new community shuttle is coming to Bayview-Hunters Point in January of 2024, and we need your help designing it! The SFMTA is partnering with the California Air Resources Board and nine community-based organizations to launch a dynamic service community shuttle that truly meets your needs. A community shuttle has been a long-desired service for this geographically isolated community, and was identified as a top priority in the Bayview Community Based Transportation Plan. This program builds off of previous community shuttle efforts like the Bayview Moves program. To share your voice, take our survey now or attend one of our upcoming community partner events.

A “dynamic service” shuttle is one that doesn’t have a fixed route like a bus line, but instead operates in a “service area.” The shuttle will pick up and drop off riders anywhere within the Bayview area and connect them to hard-to-reach destinations like community centers, regional transit and grocery stores. Combined with Muni service, this program will help Bayview-Hunters Point residents get around more easily while reducing car trips and improving air quality.

A Community Shuttle only works if it is accessible, feels welcoming and gets people where they need to go. That’s why the SFMTA will be working with residents through the summer and fall of 2023 to build a service plan that works for the community.

This is where you come in. We want to know how you might use a shuttle like this. Would you use it during commute hours or on nights and weekends? Would you ride within your immediate neighborhood or to destinations like the 24th Street BART station and SF General Hospital? How long would you wait for a shuttle to arrive? Would you walk to the corner or a block away for a pickup? Answers to these questions will help us build a shuttle that meets your needs.

We want to establish shuttle service that effectively serves the people living in Bayview-Hunters Point today, and the more feedback we get, the better. You can get involved in the following ways:

• Sign up for our mailing list
• Take our shuttle service planning survey
• Attend an upcoming shuttle outreach event
• Attend a Community Congress meeting in the Bayview – details on the project website
• Contact us directly

This program also includes job training, a Community Congress that will provide project oversight, and a Third Street storefront for transit information and services. You can find more information on our Fact Sheet.

Published April 19, 2023 at 02:42AM
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10 Reasons to Love San Francisco Parking Control Officers

10 Reasons to Love San Francisco Parking Control Officers
By Pamela Johnson

SMILE, ready for our close ups! To learn more about the day in the life of a hard working Parking Control Officer (PCO), take a look here.

It isn't easy being a parking control officer (PCO) in San Francisco. None of us likes to get a parking ticket, and we sometimes wrongly take out our frustrations on the PCOs who are simply doing their job to keep San Francisco moving.

To help you avoid veering off into negativity during your next encounter with an SFMTA Parking Control Officer, we’re providing you with this list of reasons you should actually love PCOs. Keep your favorite reason in mind next time you see a PCO on the street. Instead of getting angry with them, you might even consider appreciating them for dedicating themselves to this tough job rain or shine.

Top 10 reasons to love San Francisco Parking Control Officers: 

1. They keep the intersections in the Financial District clear — and pedestrians safe — when commuters are desperately trying to get to the Bay Bridge at the end of the workday. 

2. They respond to your complaints when someone’s car is blocking your driveway or there’s a vehicle that’s been parked on your street for so long that it might be abandoned. 

3. They make sure disabled parking spots are available for people with disabilities — and aren’t being taken up by people who shouldn’t be using those spots. 

4. They direct traffic during major sports events, including the Warriors and Giants games, so fans can get to the game on time. 

5. They also direct traffic during major events like the Pride parade. On those days, they sometimes work 12-hour shifts to make sure the show goes on. 

6. They respond in moments of crisis – like during the pandemic when they helped direct traffic in and out of COVID-19 testing and vaccination centers. 

7. They make sure San Francisco firefighters can get to the fire hydrant when there’s a fire, which means making sure cars aren’t blocking the hydrant. 

8. They support citywide efforts like the Healthy Streets Operation Center so city workers involved in addressing homelessness and unhealthy street behavior can do their jobs safely. 

9. They stop people from double parking in the middle of the street, especially on retail corridors, which slows down Muni, creates traffic and can endanger pedestrians and people who bike, scoot, use a wheelchair or skateboard. 

10. They’re happy to give you directions if you need them. 

There are many other things PCOs do to keep San Franciscans and city visitors safe and able to move around the city. So, let’s celebrate them instead of hating on them! And don’t forget, taking out your anger workers who provide you with a service is not okay. Ever. If you get a ticket you disagree with, contest the citation: Contest a Citation | SFMTA 

Published April 11, 2023 at 10:32PM
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