Muni, cable cars could be affected as SFMTA faces a looming budget deficit

Public transportation in San Francisco faces an uncertain future due to a massive budget deficit that could jeopardize the city’s recovery.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) will have to make some tough decisions about which routes to eliminate, which could even impact the city’s iconic cable cars.

“Even my cousin says that if you come to San Francisco, you have to go there and you have to specifically sit on the tram to enjoy the ride,” Sachin said as he waited in line for one of the cars. “It’s historic.”

All the way from Dubai, Sachin had to see the cable cars during his visit; San Francisco’s advancing landmark became a potential target for the budget crisis.

“We are looking at even more painful losses, such as shortening the cable car system or the F Line,” SFMTA Director Jeffrey Tumlin said Thursday. “These are services that are very expensive to operate, but are core to our city’s identity, including bringing back a strong visitor economy.”

Tumlin again sounded the alarm bells about the budget crisis that will start in 2025 and extend into 2026, potentially exceeding $300 million.

“It amounts to eliminating more than half of the system,” Tumlin explained to CBS News Bay Area.

For Muni, the downtown downturn left downtown transit stations empty, and while bus routes have recovered, downtown’s recovery is far from underway, and that doesn’t just mean revenue losses.

“In addition to all those downtown office buildings having a lot of empty desks, they also have a lot of empty parking spaces in their basements.” Tumlin said. “That’s all lost revenue for us. As you probably know from last week’s newsit is unlikely that the federal government will come to our aid again.”

Muni is not alone here; its fate is in many ways tied to BART. And that means a major lifeline will likely have to come from voters if we want to avoid the most painful cuts.

“So the work that we’re doing in the region, working with the other counties, is proposing a pretty important ballot measure for the 2026 ballot,” Tumlin said.

A working group is now crunching the numbers and looking at all the different ways they can increase revenue, save money or scale back services.

In January they will complete the work and present a menu of different options for different scenarios. Then there will be the issue of the 2026 ballot measure, so these conversations are just beginning.