Muni Forward

McAllister Street, a popular bike route where SFMTA's Muni Forward planners want to speed up the 5-Fulton, would have stop signs replaced by traffic circles at two intersections under the agency's latest proposal.

Muni's 28-19th Avenue will get a speed boost from bus bulbs and stop consolidations approved by the SFMTA Board of Directors yesterday. The upgrades, part of the Muni Forward program, are expected to be constructed starting in the fall of 2016 and completed by 2018.

San Francisco's parklet revolution has broadened the possibilities for how curb space can be used. Now, city planners in SF and the East Bay are taking the idea in a new direction: using temporary sidewalk extensions to make transit stops more efficient and attractive.

There's a reason Muni's 21-Hayes still stops twice on the block between Central and Masonic Avenues -- the owner of the cafe on the corner of Central demands it.

The SFMTA launched its "Muni Forward" wayfinding upgrades this weekend with new shelter features, sign posts, and changes to some bus route names. In the most sweeping change, the former "Limited" buses can now be seen rolling with the new "R" mark for "Rapid."

The days of Muni stops marked with no visual cue except a utility pole with yellow paint and black stenciled letters are coming to an end.

Muni is making major service improvements and shoring up the basics of running buses on schedule, and this time, officials say, the improvements will stick.

The SFMTA extended the red Muni-only lane on the east end of Haight Street last week, adding a third block to the red carpet rolled out for the 6-Parnassus and 71-Haight/Noriega lines in November. The lane, which includes a contra-flow block connecting directly to Market Street, lets Muni riders headed downtown bypass the queue of cars turning toward the Central Freeway.

The SFMTA is rolling out more red paint on transit lanes to keep cars out of Muni's way.