SFMTA seeing more fares paid after increasing presence on Muni system
In recent months, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has worked to change its fare enforcement strategy.
Per agency data, it appears the changes are paying off. Part of the new strategy includes redeploying Transit Fare Inspectors (TFIs) in a way to make them more visible throughout the MUNI system.
Per SFMTA data, they've nearly doubled TFI productivity over the last 12 months, and passenger inspections have increased by 100%. On top of that, observed fare evasion in FY25 has declined by 30%.
The revenue collected per rider is now up 6%.
"We saw an increase in evasion over the years of the pandemic and as we came out of the pandemic," said Kimberly Burrus, SMFTA's Chief Security Officer. "We've hired additional staff, we've tweaked our deployment to better reflect where the evasion is occurring, and we really use data to drive where we should be and what vehicles we should be on."
Fares are not the main driver for MUNI's funding, but they do play a key role in it. In the midst of its ongoing budget crisis, like many public transit agencies are experiencing after the pandemic, Burrus said it's imperative that riders pay to ride the service.
"Fares do make up a portion of our overall revenue. In order to provide service, people do need to pay their fair share," she said. "It's particularly important right now when most large transit agencies are facing looming deficits."
Audrey Liu, a regular MUNI rider, agrees it's important to pay to ride.
"To fund the bus, but I think the big part of it is, I see my fare as helping support the system and hopefully, the broader community," Liu said.
Liu has noticed the increased TFI presence.
"Yeah, I do. I think I've noticed it especially on the 38 line," Liu said. "It would be nice if we could also focus on other systems as well, like making it easier for people to pay, because there is a lot of friction."
The SFMTA also said it has redesigned its proof-of-payment program. Through agency research, it found a common reason for fare evasion stemmed from technical issues and obstacles to paying fares.
A major public transit advocate, pushing the agency and city to not institute service cuts, Liu believes this is a part of the puzzle in helping MUNI's financial viability, doesn't think it should be the primary focus in solving the budget woes.
"I don't know how much money exactly is being recovered. It's a hard thing to measure," Liu said. "As a solution to solve MUNI's budget deficit, going after fare evasion is not going to be the solution – just looking at the raw numbers. The only real way is funding the bus."
However, a longtime SFMTA employee and TFI supervisor said optimizing fare enforcement has a positive ripple effect on the whole system.
"Now, people are paying more, people are riding the system more, there's more enforcement, there's more of a uniformed presence. A lot of people feel safe on MUNI now," the supervisor said. "It's very important for everybody to pay to keep MUNI going, to keep it clean, to keep it safe and accessible for everybody."
Moving forward, the SFMTA plans to hire more TFIs that will be deployed throughout the system.
