Christmas cuts might be permanent, Spring break cuts eyed

January 9th, 2013

The SFMTA is considering making 2012’s Christmas break service, where Muni uses a Saturday schedule instead of the normal weekday schedule, permanent each season. Ridership was 30% lower than a normal week, and running a Saturday schedule saved the agency $275k, with savings as great as $350k with additional tweaked cuts such as reduced express bus runs. With the purported money-saving success of Christmas break service, Muni is also considering a similar holiday cut during the end of March, during spring break, where ridership is lower than a typical week.

Which line has the most missed runs?

December 31st, 2012

According to a set of weekly reports obtained by Rescue Muni, for the week of Nov. 12-18, the most gutted major line is the 14, with the 45 and 47 getting gutted to as low as 95% service. The worst performing line was the 2, with only 89% of it’s service hours deployed

For light rail, the system’s busiest line, the N, was the worst performer at 93.2%, followed by J at 94.7% and F at 95.6%.

The SFMTA doesn’t publicly post weekly missed run reports, but they do post a daily operations report that is available for viewing here. The reports posted are nearly a year out of date, but according to Jeff Flynn, SFMTA’s Data Development Manager, daily reports should be updated once again after data integration with the SFMTA IT department is completed.

On time rate, service rate improve after half year slide

October 19th, 2012

Muni’s on-time rate is finally on the move upward again, at least compared to last month, to 58.4%, but that’s a large slide from March’s 63.2%. Muni’s voter mandated on time rate is 85%.

Hours of service are also up, 95.7%, compared to 93.9% 6 months ago. Muni’s voter mandated hours of deployed service is 98.5%.

Contributing factors to service improvements include reduced driver unscheduled leave, currently at 9.4%, and a newly graduated batch of bus drivers.

45 new hybrid buses to hit the streets

September 10th, 2012

With some of the oldest buses in the nation, the SFMTA has placed an order for 45 40′  low floor New Flyer Hybrid buses at $752,000 each. The new fleet members will replace 13 year old buses that will be in service the summer of next year. On the horizon is the purchase of 60′ articulated trolly buses, which will replace part of the existing 20 year old 60′ fleet over the next 2 years, as well as a $19m overhaul program for the agency’s 80 Neoplan diesel buses.

Muni switchbacks: Dumped In The Rain After Dark

August 9th, 2012

The Civil Grand Jury slammed Muni over switchbacks in the system. They found that the system relied far to heavily on them, which often leave riders stranded waiting for the next vehicle to go to the end of the line. Muni’s policy is to not switch back unless there is another vehicle 5 minutes behind to do a pick up. Switchbacks occur when there is a disruption in the system, a common occurrence for Muni, so resources can be redeployed to pick up slack. Year over year, the number of switchbacks has declined from 440 per month to 82.