Streetfilms: Making Muni Faster and More Reliable by Consolidating Stops

A common complaint among Muni riders is that the bus simply stops too often. It turns out they may be on to something: according to transit experts and the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which operates Muni, consolidating some bus stops is one of the cheapest and quickest ways to speed up Muni.

That’s the subject of this film, the second in a series on making Muni faster and more reliable. It was shot and edited by Streetfilms’ John Hamilton.

Muni’s stops are actually much closer than its own standards advise. Only 17 percent of Muni’s bus stops fall within the recommended range of 800-1,000 feet (closer on steep hills); 70 percent are closer than that. As SFMTA staff has pointed out in the past, nationwide research shows most people are willing to walk a quarter-mile to the nearest bus stop.

The SFMTA’s first attempt to consolidate stops — a pilot project on the 38-Geary in the Tenderloin — turned out poorly for the agency. Residents got the Board of Supervisors to block the proposal, pointing out that it appeared to speed up service for wealthier commuters from the Richmond by forcing Tenderloin residents to walk farther. Now, the SFMTA hopes it can dispel that impression by proposing a comprehensive consolidation plan, at least on the city’s busiest routes.

In the film, we hear from the person responsible for developing that plan, Julie Kirschbaum, project manager for the SFMTA’s Transit Effectiveness Project, Livable City’s Tom Radulovich, San Francisco Transit Riders Union organizer Dave Snyder, and Senior Action Network’s Pi Ra.