Andrea Michaels uses the 49 Van Ness almost daily to get around the City.
Through our voter-approved half-cent sales tax for transportation, we fund projects ranging from neighborhood-scale improvements to capital projects which include safer and more accessible streets, more reliable and frequent transit, BART station improvements, upgraded bicycle lanes, transit system modernization like Caltrain electrification, infrastructure upgrades on Treasure Island and Yerba Buena Island, and paratransit services, to name a few.
We talked to San Francisco residents and asked them to share their experiences with projects we’ve helped fund.
Featured:
Mario R.
In front of the Powell BART Station fare gates
Andrea Michaels
Riding Muni's 49 Van Ness bus
Herman Yee
With his bike in the Richmond District
New BART Fare Gates
New BART fare gates started being installed in April this year and will continue being installed into 2025 to improve safety, customer experience, accessibility, reliability, and to deter fare evasion at BART stations. We are providing $12,525,000 in half-cent sales tax funding to support this $90 million project.
“I like them and I think it makes the system safer,” said Mario R, who lives in Glen Park and is a regular transit rider. “I think they’re long overdue. People would just hop over the old gates like it was nothing, and as a paying rider it was very frustrating.”
Mario is looking forward to the new fare gates being installed at the Glen Park station next year.
“I think these new gates are a good idea because it’s harder to piggy back and get pushed through,” said Gi S, who lives in South of Market and frequents the Powell Street station on a regular basis.
Van Ness Improvement Project
The Van Ness Improvement Project opened in April 2022 and marks San Francisco’s first center-lane Bus Rapid Transit corridor featuring transit-only lanes on Van Ness to increase travel times. The Transportation Authority provided nearly $45 million to support every phase of the project – from planning and environmental review, to design and construction work.
“I have found that everything is much faster,” said Andrea Michaels, a San Francisco resident of 40 years, who lives near the 1 California Muni line and takes public transit on a daily basis. “I use the 49 almost daily to go anywhere and I love the boarding islands in the middle of the street. I think it's made a positive difference in that you don’t feel stuck and can get to places in a timely fashion.”
Anza Street Bike Lanes
The Anza Street Bike Lanes which opened in August 2021, are an east-west bike connection in the Richmond District from Arguello Boulevard to 26th Avenue which stretch for 1.5 miles. The Transportation Authority provided $220,000 in Neighborhood Program funds to the SFMTA to support the planning, design, and construction of the project.
“It’s my starting point and helps get me to and from all places in the city,” said Herman Yee who was born and raised in the Richmond District, and has cycled around 2,000 miles per year over the last four years.
“The Anza Bike Lanes provide a much safer route since they’re located on a street with lower vehicle volume and they give a buffer between traffic and bikers,” Herman added. “In addition to the bike lanes on Lake and Cabrillo streets, it gives bikers another option in the Richmond and they can avoid Geary Boulevard with lots of traffic and delivery trucks.”
Herman has biked in the city since he was 17 years old and remembers a time when there was little to no bike infrastructure in San Francisco. “I’ve endured and fallen in train tracks,” Herman added and thinks more bike lanes in general have helped increase cycling opportunities in the city’s street network. “The infrastructure is so much safer than it used to be. I really think these improvements have enabled more people to participate.”
He enjoys seeing children being biked to school, and people of all ages, backgrounds, and abilities using the city’s bike network.
Sales Tax Stories
Check out our Sales Tax Stories to read more stories from everyday San Franciscans who have benefited from projects we’ve helped fund.