CA: S.F. Mayor Daniel Lurie takes first step in crafting Muni ballot measure as transit faces fiscal cliff

San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie is weighing a potential ballot measure in 2026 that would ask voters to help fund Muni as the beleaguered San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency wrangles with a massive budget crisis expected to prompt service cuts this summer.

On Tuesday, Lurie took a preliminary step by launching a ballot fundraising committee.

" San Francisco needs an affordable, reliable and safe public transportation network to thrive," Lurie said in a statement to the Chronicle. Since taking office earlier this year, Lurie has made it his focus to "fix" downtown — which is plagued by historically high commercial vacancies and has struggled with street conditions and safety issues in recent years.

A functional and robust transportation system is critical to improving conditions downtown and bringing foot traffic back to the area, Lurie said. Details of the planned ballot measure are being hashed out, but Lurie indicated that it will be accompanied by "necessary reforms to bring a new era of accountability and reliability to Muni."

"The pandemic and challenges downtown hit Muni particularly hard, but the funding crisis we face today had been anticipated for years and necessary changes were not made," Lurie said. "This ends now."

The SFMTA, which saw a change in leadership this year, faces a $50 million budget shortfall that it plans to address by cutting service by 4% this summer. The cuts are expected to result in savings of about $15 million. Lurie's plan for a potential ballot measure to address the crisis was first reported by Politico.

Other transit agencies that were largely self-supporting prior to the pandemic — including Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), AC Transit and Caltrain — have also struggled to recover from revenue losses and cutbacks, with some facing insolvency by 2028 without cuts. BART's deficit is expected to balloon to $400 million by 2027.

Earlier this month, Bay Area legislators asked the state for $2 billion to help transit agencies across the state stop the bleeding. They argued that functional transit is key with high-stakes events bringing millions of visitors to California, including the Super Bowl and World Cup, which will be held in the Bay Area next year, as well as the Olympics, slated to take place in Los Angeles in 2028.

The proposed budget appropriation would be spread over two years to address operating shortfalls and help advance capital projects.

"Without this critical funding, we face severe service reductions that will hurt workers, seniors and families, and set back our city's recovery. The state must step up and ensure our transit system is funded, not failing," said San Francisco Supervisor Jackie Fielder, who said she will introduce a resolution on Tuesday urging Gov. Gavin Newsom and the state Legislature to allocate the requested funding.

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