San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Proposes to Eliminate 55-Dogpatch

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) proposes to reduce the number of bus lines, stops and service frequency by four percent as a means to shrink an impending $50 million budget shortfall. Included on the chopping block is the 55-Dogpatch line, originally designed to transport riders up and down Potrero Hill between high-traffic areas, particularly the 17th, 18th, and 20th street commercial districts and the 22nd Street Caltrain station. During the week the 55-Dogpatch transports 1,600 riders.

SFMTA fare revenues are 13 percent lower than pre-pandemic levels for weekend rides, 26 percent for weekdays. Temporary federal, state, and regional relief money will expire next year. The proposed service reductions would cut expenditures by $15 million. The agency is searching for other ways to make up the budget deficit. 

At a February meeting, SFMTA senior manager of transit and transit planning, Sean Kennedy, floated three scenarios to modify bus service, all of which would impact the 55-Dogpatch. Under the first scenario, low ridership routes would be suspended in cases where there are parallel options; bus routes a few streets over. If the first scenario is passed, Dogpatch riders would have to shift to the 19, 22, or 48 bus lines, prompting the need to traverse steep hills.

The second scenario would maintain all connections and coverage but reduce frequency on Rapid corridors and connector service across the system. It could mean that the 55-Dogpatch would run every 30 to 45 minutes rather than 20 to 30 minutes.

The third scenario prioritizes service on Muni Equity routes and access in Muni Equity Neighborhoods by suspending routes and reducing frequencies elsewhere. Muni Equity Neighborhoods are ones that rely on Muni the most, including Visitacion Valley and the Inner Mission. Dogpatch isn’t considered a Muni Equity Neighborhood. In this scenario, the 55-Dogpatch would be suspended.   

“We do not obviously want to make these cuts,” Kennedy said. “These are going to be painful. This is the wrong time if you look at ridership trends and ridership recovery. But the respective budget issues are real and I think doing nothing would be far worse than doing something.” 

At the February meeting transit riders pushed back against service cuts, insisting that people critically rely on Muni, and advocating that funds be shifted from other municipal programs to close the deficit. 

“Any reduction in service would be a step back,” one attendee said.

According to Potrero Boosters President J.R. Eppler, the 55-Dopgatch is a vital part of the neighborhood’s transportation infrastructure, created to replace the 22 Fillmore when that line was repositioned off the Hill to serve Mission Bay. 

“It connects people to our library, one of our elementary schools, and our grocery stores,” Eppler said. “It was originally designed to run every 7.5 minutes. But because it was implemented during the pandemic, it ran only every 15 minutes. It now only runs every 20 minutes.” 

Before the pandemic, two buses served the Hill’s commercial corridors: the 22 and the 10 Townsend. The 10 was suspended as COVID-19 spread and hasn’t been reinstated. 

“We’ve already taken our share of transit cuts,” Eppler said. “Suspending the 55 would leave our neighbors without a transit option to access our key neighborhood resources.” 

Eppler’s opinion is largely shared by SFMTA’s board of directors. Director Steve Heminger said there needs to be more options. 

“The choices are cut transit service, cut transit service, and cut transit service,” he said. “I think this analysis is incomplete if we only look at scenarios that cut service.” 

Heminger proposes dipping into SFMTA’s operating reserve.

“It’s available to us and we can thank our forebears for putting that reserve together,” he said. “It’s $140 million and so a $15 million reduction would be about 10 percent, which I think it can survive.”  

Other directors echoed Heminger’s comments, criticizing the proposed service cuts as not prioritizing riders’ needs.

A decision must be made by March 18 because if the agency does reduce service adjusting operator hiring and schedules takes a few months to implement.