The SF Municipal Transit Agency faces a projected $322 million deficit entering the next fiscal year. The agency previously reduced mid-day frequency on popular bus lines and trimmed five routes in June, producing limited savings. To avoid deeper service cuts or layoffs, the agency is ordering 5–7% reductions across all departments. Proposed measures include reduced maintenance cadence, hiring freezes, and potential layoffs among janitors, mechanics, and maintenance staff. Reduced maintenance could cause more wear on vehicles, higher long-term replacement costs, longer delays for bus shelter and vehicle repairs, and fewer vehicles reliably in service.
The SF Municipal Transit Agency (SFMTA) that runs Muni has already cut the mid-day frequency on some of the city's most popular bus lines, and five bus lines had their routes trimmed in June. The SFMTA has already cut bus service, and they say they're determined to not do so again. But even those service cuts are a couple million here, a couple million there, a drop in the bucket of that projected $322 million deficit.
We're not touching routes or headways, SFMTA CFO Bree Mawhorter told the Chronicle. But we might have to target other aspects of the service. Tires might get rotated every six months instead of every three. Which means more wear and tear on the tires. Which might lead to tire replacement costs over the long term. That's one example of the maintenance cuts that may well be looming, and the Chron indicates there could be hiring freezes or possible even layoffs among janitors, mechanics,
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