FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Sunday, July 15, 2025
CONTACT: Luke Bornheimer, Executive Director, Luke@StreetsForward.org, 617-899-4487 (cell)

Streets Forward statement about the Controller’s Office Report on Addressing the SFMTA Existential Budget Deficit

Following the release of the Controller’s Office “Solving for Muni’s Funding Needs” report, Streets Forward is calling on Mayor Lurie, the Board of Supervisors, and the SFMTA Board of Directors to ensure SFMTA and Muni avoid a catastrophic collapse by supporting reforms, improvements, and optimizations related to car parking that will help people shift trips to walking, biking, and public transit, decrease car traffic, noise, air pollution, and roadway fatalities and injuries, and increase economic vitality, downtown recovery, public safety, public health, quality-of-life, and social connectedness for all San Franciscans.

“With SFMTA and Muni facing a projected $322 million budget deficit by July 2026, now is the time for Mayor Lurie and the SFMTA Board of Directors to take action to increase funding for SFMTA and Muni, particularly through sustainable, effective, and equitable revenue sources,” said Luke Bornheimer, Executive Director of Streets Forward. “Reforms, improvements, and optimizations related to car parking, like extending paid parking hours to evenings and Sundays and expanding residential permit parking citywide, would provide sustainable funding for Muni while helping people shift trips to walking, biking, and transit, increasing economic recovery, and increasing public safety by decreasing roadway crashes.”

Optimizations—including automated enforcement of bus and transit lanes as well as parking violations during street sweeping—would increase Muni speed, frequency, and reliability and enable parking control officers to address currently unmet demand for their services. Automated enforcement programs by AC Transit in Contra-Costa Counties and SacRT in Sacramento have been 

“Automated enforcement for bus- and transit-only lanes has proven to be remarkably effective at increasing accessibility, frequency, and reliability for AC Transit and SacRT,” Bornheimer said. “It’s time for San Francisco to start using this proven technology to improve accessibility and Muni service and help people shift more trips to public transit. This is the type of innovative thinking the people of San Francisco expect from our leaders, and we’re hopeful Mayor Lurie will lead on this effective solution for transit.”

The Controller’s Office report highlights the need for quick and critical action from Mayor Lurie, the Board of Supervisors, and the SFMTA Board of Directors. Now is the time for our elected officials to lead for Muni, sustainable transportation, and a safe, sustainable, and economically vibrant San Francisco.

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Streets Forward is a charity organization making it safer and faster for people to walk, bike, and take public transit in San Francisco. It does this through grassroots organizing, public policy research and education, and advocacy for policies and infrastructure improvements that are proven to help people shift trips to walking, biking, and transit—which increases roadway safety, among other benefits. Streets Forward was founded by its Executive Director, Luke Bornheimer, who successfully organized and advocated to make Car-Free JFK Promenade permanent, convert Upper Great Highway into a full-time, oceanfront park (Sunset Dunes), get curbside protected bike lanes installed on Valencia Street, have the e-bike incentive fund approved, and get the Board of Supervisors to unanimously support a citywide No Turn on Red policy, among other successes. Learn more about Streets Forward at StreetsForward.org.