The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s Board of Directors has approved a proposed two-year operating budget that hikes fares, raises parking fines, and still depends heavily on voters to keep buses running.
The numbers are significant. SFMTA is asking for $1.5 billion in fiscal year 2026-27 and $1.6 billion the following year, covering projected shortfalls of $307 million and $344 million respectively. Mayor Daniel Lurie and the SF Board of Supervisors both need to sign off before any of it takes effect.
Fare increases are the most visible piece. Single-ride Muni fares go up slightly, though the agency built in a daily cap: pay for two single rides in one day and you’re done paying for the rest of it. For someone who commutes across town more than once, that’s a better deal than what the current structure offers. Cable car fares are a different story. They jump from $9 to $12 in 2026-27, and the year after that, the agency replaces that fare entirely with an $18 “Cable Car Plus” pass covering unlimited rides, with two youth riding free alongside a paying adult.
Parking enforcement changes, too. Late payment penalties increase, though fines for uncurbed wheels actually drop, one of the few places where the agency’s package cuts someone a break. Together, SFist reported, the combined fare and fee adjustments are projected to generate about $30 million in the first year and $15 million in the second, according to SFMTA’s budget documentation.
That won’t close the gap.
The agency is counting on two larger revenue sources, neither of which is locked in. The Connect Bay Area Transit Initiative is a proposed regional sales tax that could send roughly $155 million annually to Muni. Separately, a local parcel tax marketed as “Stronger Muni for All” is expected to generate about $150 million per year plus around $10 million for service improvements. Both go to voters. Both could fail.
SFMTA officials didn’t soften the warning about what happens if they do. Without that revenue, the agency says it would cut up to 20 routes, slash evening service by as much as 60%, and stretch wait times across Metro and other frequent lines. The F Market and Wharves streetcar line, along with the cable cars, could face service reductions. Saturday night service for major events could shrink too, which matters in a city where a lot of people don’t own cars. “We’re facing cuts that would affect every neighborhood in San Francisco,” an SFMTA spokesperson said of the funding gap.
Free and reduced fares for youth, seniors, and riders with disabilities are preserved in the proposal, and the agency says paratransit isn’t being touched. Those protections aren’t symbolic. For a significant portion of riders, they’re the difference between getting somewhere and not.
The agency cut 89 positions to help manage the shortfall. About 75% of the operating budget already goes directly to Muni service, leaving little room to squeeze operational costs. The underlying pressure isn’t going away: healthcare and retirement obligations keep driving personnel expenses higher, faster than fare revenue can follow.
The SF Board of Supervisors and Mayor Lurie will take up the proposal, and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission plays a role in regional funding decisions tied to the Connect Bay Area Transit Initiative. The regional and local ballot measures need to pass by 2027 for SFMTA’s projections to hold. Right now, the agency has a budget, $434 million in combined shortfalls across two years, and a plan that requires voters in 28 jurisdictions to say yes.
That’s a long way from a solved problem.