Transportation officials embarking on multiyear effort aimed at boosting pedestrian and transit safety along the 1 California route
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is embarking on a multi-year project that aims to improve public transit and pedestrian safety along a portion of California Street . For the next year, the agency will conduct outreach with residents, merchants, public-transportation riders and other community stakeholders to determine how to make Muni service more reliable and address road conditions on California Street between 33rd Avenue and Steiner Street.
The project will also look at ways to upgrade bus-stop amenities and create a smoother boarding process for bus passengers. Transportation officials said they plan to present their proposal to the agency’s board of directors in spring 2027, with the goal of implementing the new safety features and designs by fall 2027. The project is expected to be completed by spring 2028. SFMTA spokesperson Michael Roccaforte said the project is part of the agency’s ongoing effort to make Muni service “fast, frequent, reliable, clean and safe.” Last month, the SFMTA released results from its 2025 customer-satisfaction survey. The agency reported that riders’ satisfaction with Muni service was the highest it has ever been in the 25 years since the SFMTA first launched the survey. Participating riders lauded Muni service for cleanliness, safety, trip time and reliability. Roughly 78% of respondents rated service as “good” or “excellent” — a six-point jump from the previous year’s results. “These results confirm that focusing on core service fundamentals works,” SFMTA Director of Transportation Julie Kirschbaum said at the time. She said the agency is “trending in the right direction across nearly every metric that matters most to our customers.” In March, the 1 California line averaged a daily ridership of 19,200 passengers — a 4.3% increase from February, according to the SFMTA. The agency said the line is among the most crowded Muni routes, as its buses move thousands of people each day between the Outer Richmond and downtown. But in addition to being one of the busiest lines in the Muni network, transportation officials said the 1 California is also one of the slowest. During peak commute times in the morning and evening, buses on the line’s western portion of the route travel at an average of about eight miles per hour. Transportation officials said that about 12% of the streets being looked at by the project make up roughly 68% of the sites of The City’s most severe and fatal traffic injuries. The agency’s efforts are part of the SFMTA’s Muni Forward program, which aims to move residents around in a safe and efficient manner through improvements such as giving bus operators signal priority and expanding Muni Rapid service. The SFMTA said that since launching the initiative in 2024, crews have made transit reliability and safety improvements to more than 100 miles of San Francisco streets. 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Other improvements include adding amenities such as LED signs and awnings to bus stops, as well as extending curbs further into the road to reduce double parking by private vehicles and other motorized traffic. The SFMTA said that previous improvements to the 1 California line sped up travel times along sections of the route by 11%, while an improvement project over the summer nearly six years ago decreased injury collisions between Park Presidio and Arguello Boulevard by 64%. Upgrades included converting four travel lanes to three, adding a center lane for left turns, painting highly visible crosswalks and giving pedestrians more time to cross intersections. In January 2022, the agency’s board of directors approved permanently installing transit lanes along the 1 California route that sped up travel times for buses moving between the Richmond District and downtown. With the project in its early stages, public-transportation passengers said they’re excited to see what materializes through SFMTA gathering feedback. “The more people that ride transit, the better — and the better transit is, the more people ride,” said Jaime Viloria, the outreach and organizing manager for San Francisco Riders. Viloria said his group wants to see a transit network that supports mobility across The City regardless of a rider's income, geography or abilities. “Public transportation has proven time and time again that it is the most efficient and environmentally friendly way to move people around,” he said. Transportation officials said that once a project cost is determined, the SFMTA will use its funding for capital-improvement projects to make changes that will reduce travel times and operating costs. The agency might also use outside grant money and other funding sources for significant changes such as widening sidewalks near bus stops. Findings from SFMTA’s outreach will be presented to stakeholders in the affected area before any decision is made by the board. Roccaforte said the agency is “looking forward” to hearing residents’ feedback on their work to “bring safer and more reliable travel to the California Street corridor.”
California Street 1 California Muni San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Sfmta
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