CA: Muni ridership in September was the highest since COVID began

Muni saw its highest ridership since before the COVID-19 pandemic began, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency officials said.

The transit agency said Muni saw an average of 521,000 weekday riders last month, an 8% increase compared with September 2023. It was the first time Muni recorded 500,000 average daily boardings since February 2020, officials said.

SFMTA officials said that Muni is seeing its strongest ridership recovery on its bus lines, with ridership on buses like the 49-Van Ness and 22- Fillmore surpassing 2019 levels. The agency also said other transit lines like the T-Third and 15- Bayview Hunters Point saw increased ridership during San Francisco's Portola Music Festival in late September.

The Muni ridership increase is a welcome sight for SFMTA officials after data shared on Sunday showed systemwide ridership at one point dropped to less than 100,000 weekday riders on average in April 2020, during the COVID shutdown.

SFMTA officials said Muni's systemwide ridership overall is 74% of pre-pandemic levels and on weekends is 92% of pre-pandemic levels. The data did not include ridership on cable cars or streetcars, officials said.

While SFMTA continues to regain ridership lost during the pandemic, other transit agencies have struggled. In September, BART shattered its post-pandemic ridership record two weeks in a row, however, data from the agency showed that ridership on individual days was only 37%-75% of 2019 levels, the Chronicle reported.

As of December 2023, Caltrain had gained only 36% of its 2019 ridership back, while Golden Gate Transit, which operates buses and ferries between the North Bay and San Francisco, had only gained 47% of its 2019 ridership back, according to previous Chronicle reporting.

Other transit agencies have fared better in enticing riders to return to public transit post-pandemic. In December, the Chronicle reported that ridership on the Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit was 120% of 2019 levels.

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