Tenderloin reeling from cuts to Muni

SFMTA grapples with ideal of equity amid the 2020 fiscal crisis

Cheryl Shanks tottered from one foot to the other, leaning on her cane as she paused to catch her breath on the corner of O’Farrell and Jones streets Monday morning.

Before the pandemic, she could have caught the 27 bus up the steep hill to St. Francis Memorial Hospital, the closest clinic, or down to Foods Co. in the Mission, the nearest affordable grocery store. But for more than eight months, the bus stop has sat empty, with a sign that shows 30% of Muni service hours lost because of COVID19.

This year, the colliding forces of the pandemic and economic recession have pitted the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s ideal of equity against the harsh reality of a fiscal crisis, leaving its leaders with excruciating decisions about how to save money and jobs while still serving the public.

When shelter-in-place hit, revenue at the SFMTA, which runs Muni and oversees the city’s streets and taxis, nosedived. The agency had resources to run only

60% of service hours. Two routes lost were the 31 and the 27, the only lines that run through the Tenderloin. With ridership and revenue failing to rebound, the SFMTA is staring at a $ 68.2 million deficit this fiscal year and $ 168 million next year, and will likely have to lay off workers and cut more service, director Jeffrey Tumlin said Monday.

The loss of bus routes isn’t the only thing worrying lowincome residents. To bring in needed revenue, the SFMTA will start enforcing

fares again Tuesday after an eightmonth hiatus, although it hopes more education will reduce the need for citations. The agency is caught in the conundrum that if there are no buses, no one will pay fares, but those who need buses the most are also most likely to be unable to pay.

Tumlin said service reductions and restorations are made with a focus on serving essential workers, seniors, the disabled, people of color, children and neighborhoods

that lack stores and jobs.

“From the very beginning of COVID, we made our transit service cuts very much with equity in mind,” Tumlin said.

But in the transit dependent Tenderloin, residents say losing buses has eliminated a lifeline for many who can’t afford a car, taxi or ride hail, especially those who are elderly or have mobility issues.

“For disabled people, it’s really a hardship to be able to walk up the hills. It’s almost impossible,” said Shanks, who is recovering from spine surgery and needs to get to outpatient therapy. She’s lucky to have a volunteer caregiver from a local nonprofit drive her to appointments, but not everyone has that help.

“This is a congested part of the city, with lots of people here, people of color, low income,” said Shanks, a resident community organizer with the Tenderloin People’s Congress and Tenderloin Neighborhood Development Corp. “The Tenderloin always seems to be neglected.”

Tenderloin residents said they understand the budget crisis, but also expressed feeling neglected by the agency. Since the initial reductions, Muni restored the 45 bus that runs through the wealthier neighborhood of Pacific Heights.

“If they can bring

back the rich people’s bus, why can’t us poor people get buses? It’s just not fair,” said David Elliott Lewis, tenant advocate with the Central City SRO Collaborative. “This is critical.”

Tumlin said the 45 is the only bus line that runs to Union Street and the agency wanted to keep the service running for retail and restaurant workers. Tumlin said the SFMTA is planning to bring back the 27 bus in January — but some residents who said the agency made a similar promise in the fall were skeptical.

Some of the same residents decried the agency enforcing fares again. The SFMTA didn’t enforce fare payment for the first eight months of the pandemic,

with fare inspectors assigned to other duties as disaster workers. In September, the agency sent rebranded fare inspectors back onto the streets, focused more on education. In October, inspectors returned onboard, and starting Tuesday will enforce fares again.

“We know that times are tough and even paying for the bus can be a challenge,” SFMTA spokeswoman Kristen Holland said. “The pandemic has created significant fiscal deficits as safety precautions increase our costs and limit our capacity. We rely on Muni fares for about 20% of our revenue. That funding is critical to our ability to provide essential transit service that San Franciscans

rely on.”

Holland pointed out programs to help pay fares, including free Muni for youth, seniors and people with disabilities and the Lifeline program, Clipper START and essential trip cards offering reduced fares.

At the SFMTA’s board meeting in November, Tenderloin residents and representatives of social service organizations challenged the agency to do more. Wesley Saver, policy manager at nonprofit GLIDE, applauded the agency for taking bold actions for equality, including creating the Access Pass to give free rides to homeless individuals, but he said the news the agency would start enforcing fares again was “of great concern.” In a survey of 18 San Francisco social service organizations, 76% responded that their clients take Muni without paying the fare, Saver said. The same people receive $ 125 fare evasion citations, half of which went unpaid in recent years, The Chronicle reported.

“We cannot allow transit access, or associated punitive consequences, to be a deterrent for our most vulnerable San Franciscans to meet their basic needs,” Saver said. “We cannot criminalize people for their poverty.”

Saver and other callers asked the SFMTA to extend the moratorium on citations until shelterinplace ends, make the Access Pass available to San Franciscans who live in supportive housing, clear citation histories if someone signs up for an Access or Lifeline pass, and make Muni free for people who live on less than $ 1,000 a month. Supervisor Dean Preston, who won reelection this year, ran on a platform of free Muni for all in 2019.

In the midst of a raging pandemic and budget crisis, such demands may be pipe dreams. Still, Tenderloin residents argue they should be served first because of high needs.

“I get it that they have budget cuts and things, still I feel like they should make us a priority,” said Laura Sinai, a senior citizen with knee and vision problems who depended on the 27 bus to get to the grocery store and hospital.

On Monday, Shanks and Lewis walked down Ellis Street, weaving past tents and taquerias, the occasional needle and feces beneath apartment buildings adorned with bright murals. Both said loss of transit is a safety issue: Even the few blocks to Market Street to catch a bus can be dangerous, given drug dealing and violent crimes.

Eliminating bus routes also cuts residents off from food, since the Tenderloin has no real grocery stores. Janine Evans used to take the 31 bus to Safeway or Grocery Outlet. Now she has to catch a cab or pay someone to drive her. She fears the bus will never come back — a concern SFMTA leaders have also expressed.

Lisa Galinis receives a discounted bus fare because she’s lowincome, but now doesn’t have a bus to ride in the Tenderloin. She knows people with walkers and wheelchairs who have no other way to travel.

“We’re all suffering big time,” she said. “We need it back as soon as possible.”

Photos by Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle “The Tenderloin always seems to be neglected,” says Cheryl Shanks, navigating Ellis Street.

A Muni notice alerting passengers to “Core Service Only” is posted at a bus stop at Jones and O’Farrell streets in San Francisco.

Lea Suzuki / The Chronicle Janine Evans ( left), corner captain for Tenderloin Safe Passage, and Cheryl Shanks of the Tenderloin People’s Congress talk about the loss of Muni lines.