Saturday, December 10, 2022
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Hop Onboard Muni and Enjoy Downtown Union Square
By Pamela Johnson
The iconic Cable Cars are just one of the many options to get you to all the holiday festivities in Downtown Union Square!
The SFMTA would like to wish you a Happy Holidays! With festivities, dining, shopping and all the many holiday activities to choose from, Downtown Union Square, much like the rest of the city is making optimistic strides in the city’s economic recovery. Catching Muni, paratransit or a taxi to downtown supports small businesses and is a big boost to our transit goals. Below is a comprehensive list of transit and parking options to head into the heart of the downtown shopping and festivities this holiday season.
Central Subway Special Weekend Shuttle
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The Central Subway’s Special Weekend Shuttle has got you covered on Saturday and Sunday’s every 12 minutes from 8 am to 12 am. Deboard at our new Union Square/Market Street Station. From here, you can also transfer to BART’s Powell Station, our regional transit partners.
Muni Metro Light Rail
Muni Bus Lines
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For more information, please visit SFMTA Trip Planner.
Cable Cars
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Invented here nearly 150 years ago and named a National Historic Landmark in 1964, hop on any of our beloved world famous Cable Cars this season. Be sure to lookout for several Cable Cars decorated in the spirit of the holidays by our dedicated and talented staff. Passengers will travel up and down the hills of San Francisco in this annual holiday tradition.
Additional Services
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Free One-Hour Parking at Union Square Garage - the Mayor will be providing one-hour of free parking at our Union Square garage through the end of the year, regular posted rates apply thereafter. All facilities have increased staffing and security, restriped its parking spaces, and upgraded much of its overhead lighting, to make parking easier and safer this holiday.
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Additional SFMTA parking garages - Ellis O’Farrell, Sutter-Stockton and Fifth & Mission / Yerba Buena
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If you drive, parking in a city-owned garage may be the way to go. And parking rates at city-owned garages are typically 40% less expensive than parking prices in privately-owned garages.
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Visit the general holiday parking advisories to learn more about holiday parking rules.
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Visit the SFMTA’s list of city-owned parking facilities for a list of public parking garages and lots.
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Taxi - with knowledgeable and trustworthy drivers, save some gas and catch a taxi. You’ll not only ride in a clean and safe vehicle, your taxi can use our red transit-only lanes to get to your destination quicker. And since November 9, the Taxi Upfront Fare Pilot Program has been helping customers book a taxi trip through a taxi e-hail app and pay a flat-rate, upfront fare. Being able to request a taxi through approved third-party apps provided customers with upfront information about their fares, relieve meter anxiety and allow customers to price shop for similar on-demand services.
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Essential Trip Card - older adults, people with disabilities and other eligible participants can benefit from this discount program paying 20% of the cost of a regular cab. Don’t forget our Shop-a-Round program, a convenient, low-cost shuttle that makes it easier to go grocery shopping for all your holiday meals. The shuttle takes groups of riders to grocery stores or supermarkets in San Francisco where they want to shop. The service offers registered older adults and people with disabilities personalized assistance that is not available on Muni bus and rail lines.
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SF Paratransit - is a van and taxi program for people unable to independently use or access public transit because of a disability or disabling health condition. Participants may also use their Essential Trip Card for this service.
For real-time updates, follow us on https://twitter.com/sfmta_muni or visit SFMTA.com/EmailText to sign up for real-time text messages or email alerts.
For details of Muni re-routes, visit SFMTA.com/Updates. This website will be updated when it is closer to the event date.
For additional notifications and agency updates, subscribe to our blogs, daily or weekly updates.
Published December 09, 2022 at 11:50PM
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Friday, December 9, 2022
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Riders are Feeling the Difference on Geary
By
The results are in: the Geary Rapid Project has delivered a faster, more reliable bus trip and a safer street, according to the SFMTA’s recently published evaluation report for the project.
A faster, more reliable bus ride
One out of every ten passengers stepping onto a Muni vehicle will ride on Geary Blvd., which makes reducing travel time on the corridor a key piece of improving transit in the city. The transit lanes installed as part of the Geary Rapid Project protect buses from traffic congestion, while smarter traffic signals allow buses to get green lights more often. Similar transit upgrades have been made across the city as part of the Muni Forward program, making your next San Francisco destination closer than ever.
Transit travel time improved after the quick-build phase of the Geary Rapid Project in late 2018 and early 2019, and again after the full project was completed in 2021 — with savings as great as 18%. Westbound travel times generally improved the most — up to 3.6 minutes during the PM peak — providing a daily 38R Geary Rapid rider 18 hours of savings per year. Although the biggest time savings were seen during commute hours, with 36,000 riders traveling on Geary around the clock each day, even smaller gains outside of peak hours adds up to major travel time savings for all Geary riders combined. Travel time reliability also improved up to 37%, which means that the time spent waiting for the next bus is more consistent.
A safer street
Reducing Muni-involved collisions is critical to protect our passengers and operators. It also keeps Muni service running smoothly; even non-injury collisions cause buses to be taken out of service. Adding dedicated transit lanes on Geary Boulevard has substantially reduced the rate of Muni-involved collisions on the corridor. The collision rate of 38/38R buses decreased by two-thirds and is now about half that of the current citywide Muni bus collision rate. Several years of data will be necessary to fully evaluate the project’s impacts on reducing traffic collisions in general. But one promising indicator is that there was a 70-80% reduction in vehicles traveling over 40 mph (more than 5 mph over the speed limit). A suite of improvements to calm the “expressway” section of the corridor, including a reduction in general-purpose travel lanes to two per direction, new crosswalks, narrower travel lanes and bulb-outs (sidewalk extensions) were implemented to encourage people driving to slow down.
Comparison graph of 40 mph travel speeds before and after the Geary Rapid Project.
Keeping transit lanes clear
One of the final portions of the project was painting the transit lanes red. This “red carpet” treatment makes it easier for drivers to know where they’re allowed to drive. When we make transit lanes extra clear with red paint, drivers are less likely to get a citation for unintentionally driving in a transit lane. Previous SFMTA studies showed that the number of private vehicles illegally using transit lanes declines about 50% when the lanes are painted red. Sure enough, the number of vehicles entering the lanes on Geary dropped by 47% from 2019 to 2022, even as traffic congestion returned after COVID restrictions eased (vehicles driving legally in the transit lane to turn right or access curbside parking or driveways were not included).
The full evaluation report is available on the SFMTA website and covers several additional metrics, including street space allocation, Muni customer experience and parking availability.
The success of the Geary Rapid Project has informed the final design for the second phase of upgrades, the Geary Boulevard Improvement Project, which proposes to expand these improvements west into the Richmond District.
A photo is worth a thousand words to show the improvements made on Geary Boulevard. These birds-eye shots provide representative examples of the street design on Geary before (August 2018) and after implementation (February 2022) of the Geary Rapid Project.
Published December 09, 2022 at 03:32AM
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