Muni runs a surplus, talks fare hikes (update)
Photo by wallyg
Update (8:23 a.m., Friday): Per SFBay report Jerold (below, in comments): The surplus is $22.2 million this year and $15 million the following year. There is also a recommendation to increase Muni service by five percent this year and five percent next year.
Original post: We linked to an SFGate story in our transit news roundup the other day. The story talks about several different proposals being shopped out concerning SFMTA’s budget for the next couple of years, and something gave us pause: a cash fare hike from $2 to $2.25, and a 300-percent increase in the single-ride cost for F-Market streetcars.
But that’s not all! Missing in SFGate’s report is the fact that SFMTA is actually running a surplus, its first in recent years. ABC 7 has the details:
“The Metropolitan Transportation Agency that runs Muni is facing a surplus and there are many different ways the public could benefit. At the hearing [on Tuesday], the agency was asking the public where some of that extra money should go.”
ABC 7 does not mention the amount of the surplus. Proposals for how to spend the money, however much it is, include:
- Expanding free Muni for youth from 16 to 18
- Expanding free Muni for seinors
- Expanding free Muni for low-income residents
