Muni, cable cars may be impacted as SFMTA faces looming budget deficit
Public transit in San Francisco is facing an uncertain future due to a massive budget deficit that could put the city's recovery in jeopardy.
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) will have to make some tough decisions about which routes to eliminate and could even impact the city's iconic cable cars.
"Even my cousin says if you're coming to San Francisco, you have to visit and you specifically have to sit in the tram to enjoy the ride," Sachin said waiting in line for one of the cars. "It's historical."
All the way from Dubai, Sachin had to see the cable cars during his visit; San Francisco's rolling landmark, turned possible budget crisis target.
"We're looking at even more painful losses like trimming back the cable car system or the F line," SFMTA Director Jeffrey Tumlin said Thursday. "These are services that are very expensive to operate but are at the core of our city's identity. Including bringing back a strong visitor economy."
Tumlin was, again, sounding alarm bells about the budget crisis that starts in 2025, and balloons in 2026, possibly to more than $300 million.
"It is the equivalent of eliminating over half the system," Tumlin explained to CBS News Bay Area.
For Muni, the downtown downturn emptied out the downtown transit stations, and while bus lines have recovered, downtown is still a long way from recovering and that's not just lost revenue.
"In addition to all of those downtown office buildings having a lot of empty desks, they're also having a lot of empty parking spaces in their basements." Tumlin said. "That is all lost revenue to us. As you probably know from last week's news, it is unlikely that the federal government is going to come to our rescue again."
Muni isn't alone here, its fate is tied to BART in many ways. And that means a big rescue line will likely have to come from voters if the most painful cuts are to be avoided.
"So the work that we are doing at the region, in partnership with the other counties, is proposing a pretty significant ballot measure for the 2026 ballot," Tumlin said.
A working group is now running the numbers, looking at all of the different ways they can raise revenue, save money or cut service.
In January, they are going to wrap up work and present a menu of different options for different scenarios. Then there will be the matter of the ballot measure in 2026, so these conversations are just getting started.