We shouldn’t accept sh*tty public transit. Literally.

We’ve said it before and we’ll say it again - public transit will never work as well as it could without necessary investments in public safety at and around transit stops.

The SF Standard released an article earlier this month outlining which MUNI lines were - quite literally - the shittiest. Yes - the Standard went through all of the 311 complaints related to MUNI and isolated all related to run-ins with fecal matter by line. The most offensive of lines was the 14 and 14R, which runs from Market Street through the heart of our downtown through the Mission.

It’s no surprise that the 14 and 14R represent 23% of the total complaints related to fecal matter on buses (which is nearly 3X more than the next-worst offender, the 38 and 38R): all you have to do is look at what’s going on around the transit stops along its route. From rampant drug use in our downtown bus shelters to a the now-infamous 16th and Mission BART stop, it’s not that people are using our transit system as roving portable potties, but rather, the reports of fecal matter on buses are a symptom of the disorder on our streets spilling into SFMTA’s vehicles. 

Our transit system is facing a well-documented budget shortfall, and leaders have no plan to save it; from the whiplash of uncertain state-level loans to bail out our system to a new parcel tax being championed by Mayor Daniel Lurie, half-measures will only stem the bleeding, not stop it. The best way to help our system recover is to increase ridership. Part of that comes from rebuilding our population after the shock it endured during Covid. But the other - and arguably more important part - is making our public transit as compelling as private options (like ride share and Waymo). And that starts with safety. Until we are serious about addressing the disorder around our transit stops, it doesn’t matter how much money we throw at our failing system.

The numbers back up concerns around safety. A December 2024 SFMTA survey found that only 49% of riders said they felt safe “always” or “almost always” while using MUNI. When people did feel unsafe, the top reasons were harassment and crime—usually happening onboard. Just 44% of riders rated safety on MUNI as “good” or “excellent.” Those most likely to feel unsafe? Women, people with disabilities, non-English speakers, and youth. 

Even anecdotally, from the tragic stabbing of Colden Kimber to yet another stabbing incident in District 7 Supervisor (and transit absolutist) Myrna Melgar’s district on September 9 in which someone was stabbed on a MUNI bus, how many tragedies on and around our transit system will it take before we realize that an input of our failing transit system is a lack of investment in public safety around transit stops?

Even worse - we’ve doubled down on a system riddled with safety issues as the primary method of transportation to get to our downtown core. Since Market Street was shuttered to private cars in 2020, we’ve seen a hollowing out of our downtown core, the backbone of our city’s entire tax base and economy. It’s critical that we make it as easy as possible for people from all across the city - and the Bay Area more broadly - to get downtown, and even more importantly, to feel safe utilizing available transit options. It’s no surprise Mayor Daniel Lurie is reopening Market Street to Waymos and ride shares: the priority has to be our city’s greatest need-to-have: a robust downtown recovery, not the nice-to-have of a car-free Market Street. Only when downtown has experienced a robust economic recovery and we’ve meaningfully addressed the challenges around public safety at our transit stops can we mandate MUNI as being the primary way to access downtown.  

For those that have the choice between public transit and private transportation, amidst public safety challenges around our downtown stops, the choice is simple: personal safety. And the more that people choose private options, the less revenue the system brings in, condemning it to a further downward spiral of depressed revenues, decreased ridership, and ultimately, reduced service. Ultimately, those hurt the most by our city’s inability to address public safety around transit are those who rely on public transit the most.