$400 Million Bond For Muni Upgrades Proposed By Mayor London Breed
SAN FRANCISCO (BCN) – San Francisco Mayor London Breed on Tuesday proposed a $400 million bond for the June 2022 ballot to increase safety and reliability along Muni bus and rail lines.
According to Breed's office, the Muni Reliability and Street Safety Bond is needed to in order to upgrade and maintain San Francisco Transportation Municipal Agency's aging facilities and equipment.
In addition, the bond would also help fund street infrastructure projects and modernize Muni's train control system, which would increase subway capacity and reduce delays.
The bond would further fund street safety and traffic improvement projects with the goal of reducing collisions.
"A reliable transportation system and safe streets are essential to the long-term health of our city and our residents," Breed said in a statement. "The investments from this proposed Bond, along with significant new funding from the federal government, will allow us to modernize our facilities, upgrade our systems, and make Muni work more efficiently for everyone."
SFMTA Director of Transportation Jeff Tumlin said, "With the recently passed Federal Infrastructure Bill, the funds from this bond would allow SFMTA to tap into nearly a billion dollars in matching funds from the federal and state government to meet San Francisco's local, transportation needs, including repairing and updating our aging and outdated bus yards and equipment that are nearly 100 years old, and cannot accommodate our modern, clean fleet."
In order to be secured for the June ballot, at least eight of the eleven Board of Supervisors must approve the bond. Then, if placed on the ballot, two-thirds of San Francisco voters would need to vote in favor of the measure to pass.
Last week, the SFMTA Board of Directors unanimously approved a resolution to urge the Board of Supervisors to place the bond on the ballot.
Both Board of Supervisors President Shamann Walton and Supervisor Rafael Mandelman have pledged their support for the bond.
"The demands on San Francisco's transportation system have grown and revenues from transit fares and parking fees have not kept up. COVID-19 has only exacerbated the problem," SFMTA Chair of the Board Gwyneth Borden said. "We have to keep the city moving. This critical funding source will positively impact each and every person who lives, works, and visits San Francisco."
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