San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency employees gathered inside the agency’s Van Ness Avenue office on Tuesday morning to participate in the first annual Fare Day Out campaign, an effort to have more public transportation riders pay their fare and give thanks to those who do.
SFMTA Director Julie Kirschbaum and employees at the SFMTA donned neon green and orange vests as they set out to greet riders on Muni’s light-rail and bus networks, thanking those who paid their fare while providing information to those who hadn’t on how to remain fare-compliant and the financial assistance options the agency has available for those who need it.
Kirschbaum said the campaign is meant to bring awareness to the public of the importance of playing their part in keeping San Francisco running. Kirschbaum said that when compared to the previous fiscal year, ridership has increased by 10% and revenue by 12%, but she believes more could be done to optimize their pool of funds.
“We are committed to stretching every public dollar, and a big part of our overall budget is reducing cost and maximizing revenues that that we control,” said Kirschbaum. “Our budget primarily goes directly to our Muni service, paying for operators, mechanics, station agents, and custodians.”
The SFMTA director also said the agency approved the hiring of more fare compliance inspectors, staff who travel across the system asking riders to provide proof of payment and issuing citations. Nine are starting in August while more are set to join the team in October.
Boosting the bottom line
These efforts to maximize the current and potential pools of revenue come as the SFMTA, like other public transit agencies across the Bay Area, are at risk of cutting services due to major budget deficits.
July was the start of fiscal year 2026-27, which also marked the expiration of coronavirus pandemic-era federal funds that kept transit agencies afloat as their ridership dropped off. Although many agencies are on the road to recovery, challenges remain to secure stable sources of funding to keep operations as is.
This November, voters in San Francisco will see two transit-funding related measures on their ballots. One is a regional measure called Connect Bay Area that, if passed, would implement a sales tax in San Francisco and other counties for regional transit agencies, while the other is a city parcel tax that would provide funds for the SFMTA.
Programs for low-income residents are available through the SFMTA. They include discounted rides for riders or even free fares for younger and older residents.
More information on how to apply to the SFMTA discount programs can be found online.