Supervisors hear SFMTA, BART and MTC on making transit more welcoming for families; committee continues hearing

The Land Use and Transportation Committee spent several hours July 13 on a hearing exploring programs and capital work intended to make the Bay Area’s public transit easier, safer and more welcoming for families.

Supervisor Sauter opened the hearing framing it as part of an agenda to remove barriers for parents traveling with strollers. SFMTA Director Kirschbaum told the committee the agency is viewing most work through a "family lens," highlighting affordability programs (free Muni for youth and discounted regional programs), school-trip coordination, stroller rules and efforts to improve elevator and escalator reliability. Kirschbaum said the free-fare and discount programs play a role in accessibility but that those investments carry costs; she estimated one program’s cost at nearly $30,000,000 per year and said the SFMTA board’s recently adopted two-year budget committed to sustaining several free and discounted programs.

BART General Manager Bob Powers told supervisors regional operators are unusually well coordinated, pointed to a June ridership surge and described station investments including escalator replacements, canopies, elevator attendants and fare-gate installations. Powers said the new fare gates have cut fare evasion and are saving roughly $10,000,000 a year while improving the rider experience.

Rebecca Long of the Metropolitan Transportation Commission and Gordon Hanson, MTC’s mapping-and-wayfinding project manager, described NextGen Clipper advances (16% of regionwide trips on NextGen tap-to-pay since the rollout began) and a discounted-transfer pilot that MTC estimates has returned about $7,000,000 to riders since December. Hanson outlined a regional wayfinding effort that will produce standards and phased pilots at major hubs (prototypes were tested at El Cerrito Del Norte, Santa Rosa and Powell) and that aims to standardize signs and symbols across roughly 200 hub stations and about 21,000 bus stops.

Supervisors pressed agencies on several operational and capital questions: how weekend and evening schedules compare to weekday service and how agencies adjust for school bell times; SFMTA described surgical schedule changes, targeted extra trips and transit ambassadors for student de-escalation and said federal funding constraints limit dedicated school-only trips. Directors and GMs answered station-level questions about Holiday Plaza (SFMTA described a $9 million capital ramp project targeting 2027–2028 construction to provide redundancy to failing elevators/escalators) and Balboa Park (BART said a second elevator is not currently in its capital program but pledged to walk the site with SFMTA and consider design and grant options; staff also committed to improving signage if elevators are out).

Public commenters urged expanded bike-first first/last-mile connections, more bike lockers for cargo bikes, consistent wayfinding and more ambassadors to assist seniors and non‑English speakers. Speakers included Carissa Kavores (San Francisco Bicycle Coalition), a Chinatown representative emphasizing dependable elevator service and language-capable ambassadors, a Tenderloin resident urging more attention to in-vehicle safety for parents (including concerns about dogs on buses), and neighborhood parents who described practical boarding challenges for strollers and cargo bikes.

After discussion, Supervisor Sauter asked the committee to continue the hearing to the call of the chair to allow follow-up work; the committee voted to continue the hearing (3 ayes). Agencies committed to follow-up site visits and to provide additional data or proposals as requested.