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SF Buses are Packed; Is SF Doing Enough to Keep Everyone Safe?

Social distancing with six-feet of space is impossible; union pushes for more buses and for light rail to restart
By - posted 9/19/2020 No Comment

Thank you KPIX5 for reporting about the increased overcrowding on San Francisco Muni buses.

Ridership has gone up on Muni and the overcrowding has caused Muni operators and drivers to question, is the City is doing enough to keep drivers and riders safe?

SFMTA claims that they are closely monitoring their bus lines, but operators and riders told KPIX5 that they’re still overcrowded and social distancing with six-feet of space is impossible. This puts both drivers and passengers’ health at risk. This is especially true in highly susceptible neighborhoods like the Mission, a Covid-19 transmission hotspot, where the buses are packed.

Unfortunately, the risk is high for SFMTA operators; 37 have tested positive for COVID-19 thus far.

While SFMTA is practicing safety protocols like sanitizing the buses once per shift, operators having trouble limiting ridership to 20-30 passengers. Hurried passengers are pushing on if the doors are open.

The union is pushing for more frequent buses on overcrowded lines and they want to restart the surface light rail service to ease congestion.

KPIX5’s reporter Kenny Choi boarded one of the buses to get a first-hand experience on how unsafe and risky it is to ride a Muni Bus.