Over 100 advocates chanted “fund the bus” on the steps of San Francisco City Hall Tuesday morning.
“The board is considering a $7.2 million cut from SFMTA” rather than tapping its reserves, explained advocate Cyrus Hall, seen in the lead image, one of the managers of the Prop. L campaign to fund Muni. He’s also a member of the “Muni Now, Muni Forever” coalition, which organized Tuesday’s event.
“We are here to say ‘no’ to any service cuts,” said advocate Chris Arvin, addressing the crowd, which included reporters from most major Bay Area media outlets. Arvin explained that in the coming years transit agencies will be asking voters to continue funding Muni and other operators. “If you cut service, this is not going to help make your case.” He added that a city with the wealth of San Francisco should not be cutting service, they should be expanding it.
District 5 Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, another of the speakers, pointed out that his district has more transit-dependent residents than any other. “Three-quarters of the Tenderloin are car free,” he said. “This is a district that moves on Muni. This was really disheartening to see in my first few weeks in office.”
Mahmood was referring to a staff proposal made in February for various strategies to cut service on Muni in order to make up for a $15 million funding gap. The SFMTA stated at the time that increasing meter times, to raise money from drivers instead of transit riders, was off the table.
“For five decades, we’ve supposedly been a ‘transit-first’ city,” said Mark Sawchuk, chair of the San Francisco Transit Riders and another of the speakers. Instead “we’re a cut-transit-first city.”
Several speakers underscored how transit is indispensable for the poor, children, seniors, and the disabled. They stressed the hypocrisy of the city talking about equity while it continually favors drivers over transit riders.
“‘Walk a few blocks, take another bus line,'” said Arvin, mocking those who support Muni cuts. He gestured to advocates representing seniors and people with disabilities. “That doesn’t work for everyone!”
The rally came an hour before the start of an SFMTA board meeting where there would be further discussions about scenarios for cutting transit. However, Tuesday’s meeting is informational. The actual vote on cutbacks won’t be until April 1.
“This was a great rally,” said Streets Forward’s Luke Bornheimer. “The amount of people supporting transit is a strong indicator that, well, the city should fund transit.”
