Video: Hey Muni, Why No Crossing Gates?

It's the perennial question: in a supposedly "transit first" city, why does SFMTA still make rail vehicles full of people subservient to cars?

By Roger Rudick

4:50 PM PDT on October 29, 2026

Imagine how slow trains would be if, before they crossed a street, they had to stop and wait for traffic instead of the other way around?

In San Francisco, we don’t have to imagine, because that’s the situation with Muni rail. And while light-rail systems typically have sections that share lanes with traffic, no major city in North America has such slow trains, stuck behind and subservient to motorists throughout. The result: trains that can go 50 mph average less than ten.

View from inside an inbound M-Oceanview waiting behind a few motorists turning left into the Stonestown Galleria. Photo: Streetsblog/Rudick

It shouldn’t be this way. The humble crossing gate, which lowers and stops motorists whenever a train approaches, is used with light-rail systems everywhere—except in San Francisco.

Here’s our latest short video asking: “Why can’t we have grade crossing gates on Muni?”

Note: slow trains are better than NO trains. Be sure to vote “Yes” on RTM and Measure “H”!