Skip to main content

Animated Map Shows Record Expansion of Transit Lanes

Animated Map Shows Record Expansion of Transit Lanes
By Michael Rhodes

A map showing the expansion of transit lanes in San Francisco from 2006 to 2021, as well as lanes that are coming soon. A summary of key highlights from the map is included in the accompanying blog post.

An animated map showing the expansion of transit lanes in San Francisco. View as a PDF.

It’s been a record year for transit lanes in San Francisco: we’ve installed nearly 14 miles of new or upgraded lanes since summer 2020. That’s the fastest expansion of transit lanes in the city’s history. These transit lanes benefit Muni routes that serve nearly two-thirds of current customers. It’s all part of our efforts to give transit riders priority on congested streets and improve Muni speed and reliability. Better Muni service means more people will opt to take transit instead of driving, that reduces congestion and supports our environmental goals.

To commemorate this milestone, we’ve put together an animated map showing the evolution of San Francisco’s transit lane network over the last 15 years. We hope you find it as mesmerizing as we do to watch transit lanes expand across the city during this time.

Transit lanes are dedicated to Muni vehicles as well as other buses and taxis in most cases. They help improve Muni’s travel time and reliability and protect transit riders from traffic congestion. Red transit lanes were first introduced in San Francisco in 2013 and have proven to be even more effective than non-red transit lanes, leading to about a 50% reduction in violations.

We’ve been steadily adding to the transit lane network since the 1970s, when the original Transit First Policy was adopted, but the past five years have been especially busy. And as the final map shows, many more transit lanes are fully approved and coming soon, including the much anticipated Van Ness Avenue transit lanes.

SFMTA paint shop crews install new red transit lanes on Geary Boulevard

An SFMTA paint shop crew installs new red transit lane on Geary Boulevard

A few highlights to look out for in the map:

  • Transit lanes on the T Third, installed as part of the line’s launch in 2007
  • The city’s first red transit lanes, installed on Church Street in 2013
  • The major expansion of red transit lanes in 2014, including Geary, O’Farrell, Market, Haight and 3rd streets
  • The evolution of Market Street in downtown from a short segment of transit lanes in 2006 to full transit lane coverage by 2021
  • The extension of transit lanes on Geary Boulevard, our busiest bus corridor, in 2018 and 2020 to cover nearly the entire 38 Geary /38R Geary Rapid  lines (with more red paint on its way!)
  • The upgrading of existing transit lanes on Mission Street in SoMa from part-time to 24/7 in SoMa in 2021 (soon to be upgraded with red paint)
  • A short but important new transit lane on the 4th Street bridge added in 2021, filling a key gap in the T Third’s transit lanes
  • The record-setting expansion of transit lanes in 2020 and 2021 as part of our Temporary Emergency Transit Lanes program, which benefits nearly half of all current Muni riders
  • The state’s first urban arterial HOV lanes, installed on Lombard Street in September 2021

photo of train on a new transit lane on the historic 4th Street BridgeA train crosses a new transit lane on the historic 4th Street Bridge

What’s Next

Transit lanes have proven their worth in getting Muni riders where they’re going faster yet again this year, and more are on the way. In addition to installing transit lanes that are already approved, we’ll be starting outreach on a new round of Muni Forward projects in the coming year to deliver faster, more reliable and less crowded service to Muni customers. These projects will include transit lanes and other transit priority measures that keep Muni moving. Sign up for our Muni Forward mailing list to receive updates about new transit lanes coming your way.

Map Notes

For those who can’t get enough detail about transit lanes, here are a few more notes about how we created the map:

  • We didn’t differentiate between one-way and two-way transit lanes on the map, except on Market Street
  • We included any dedicated lane within a city street as a transit lane, including rail tracks that can’t be used by buses. Subways, tunnels and rail rights-of-way that are entirely separate from any roadway (such as the J Church right-of-way through Dolores Park) were not included.
  • We included HOV lanes on Lombard that serve the 28 19th Avenue bus line, but didn’t include a short stretch of HOV lane on Bryant Street because it’s not used by transit
  • In a few cases, transit lanes go away temporarily during roadway construction, such as on 4th Street for the Central Subway. In rare cases, transit lanes are removed because transit is rerouted to a new street, such as the transit lane on Harrison Street that served the old 12 Folsom route before it was eventually rerouted a block north to Folsom Street.
  • Not all approved Temporary Emergency Transit Lanes on the 43 and 44 lines are shown as we’re monitoring transit performance to help us determine when to move forward with these lanes. Learn more on the 43/44 TETL project webpage.


Published October 26, 2021 at 11:32PM
https://ift.tt/2ZuiUYw

Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Vaccine nationalism will not shorten COVID pandemic, warns WHO chief https://ift.tt/3oqykEN

The World Health Organization (WHO) chief Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus has called for solidarity in the rollout of future coronavirus vaccines. In a video address at the opening of the three-day World Health Summit in Berlin, Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus noted that it was natural for the countries to want to protect their own citizens first but, he urged, "we must also use it effectively". 

Bihar: Special family pension for dependents of govt staff who die of coronavirus https://ift.tt/32WpXZC

Family members, dependents of state government staff who die of coronavirus while on duty will receive a special family pension, the Bihar Cabinet took the decision on Saturday. According to an official release, the dependent of a government employee, who die of COVID-19 while on duty, will be given the benefit of compassionate ground, for getting a job, besides other existing benefits, informed Cabinet Secretariat Department's Special Secretary Mithilesh Kumar Singh.   If the dependent doesn't want to avail the benefit of compassionate ground, then the family will be given full salary of the staff, who died due to COVID-19, as "special family pension" till the date retirement, he said. This decision will be effective from April 1, 2020 to March 31, 2021.   Quick recap Bihar government agrees for a special family pension for state government employees dependents, family members who die of coronavirus on duty. Dependents will also have a benefit of compassionate grou...

FOX NEWS: Couple gets married at 'most beautiful' Taco Bell: 'It was the best of both worlds' Analicia Garcia, 24, and Kyle Howser, 25, from Sacramento, California, got married on Tuesday, Oct. 26 and had their reception at the famous Pacifica, California, Taco Bell.

Couple gets married at 'most beautiful' Taco Bell: 'It was the best of both worlds' Analicia Garcia, 24, and Kyle Howser, 25, from Sacramento, California, got married on Tuesday, Oct. 26 and had their reception at the famous Pacifica, California, Taco Bell. via FOX NEWS https://ift.tt/1G43ec8

New top story from Time: ‘Most Heinous Attack.’ Merrick Garland Pledges to Take on Domestic Terrorism as Attorney General

https://ift.tt/3dGuLHC As the federal government continues to grapple with the fallout of the deadly attack on the U.S. Capitol Building by pro-Trump rioters on Jan. 6, the Biden Administration has remained close-lipped about how it plans to confront the rising threat of domestic terrorism. This week, Americans got a first look into how that effort may unfold with the testimony of Merrick Garland, the nominee to be the next attorney general. In his testimony before the Senate Judiciary Committee on Monday and Tuesday, Garland declared that investigating the Capitol insurrection was his “first priority” and promised to “do everything in the power of the Justice Department” to stop domestic terrorism. He also warned that the events of Jan. 6 were not a “one-off,” and that the U.S. is facing “a more dangerous period” than any in recent memory. Garland would know. More than 25 years ago, he led the Justice Department’s prosecution of the perpetrators of the 1995 Oklahoma Cit...

West Bengal to impose strict 7-day lockdown at 5 PM today: What's open and what's not https://ift.tt/3iJyjt1

In light of the deteriorating COVID-19 situation in the state, Mamata Banerjee-led West Bengal government has decided to impose a strict 7-day lockdown across the state. The lockdown comes into place today, at 5 pm, and will be applicable for a period of 7 days, till July 16. from IndiaTV: Google News Feed https://ift.tt/3gEhXQh

New top story from Time: Pfizer-BioNTech Have Started Testing Their COVID-19 Vaccine in Children Under 12

https://ift.tt/3vWOQjL Alejandra and Marisol Gerardo are nine years old but already making a little bit of history. The twin sisters are among the first young children to get vaccinated with a COVID-19 shot in Pfizer-BioNTech’s study of its vaccine in kids under age 12. Alejandra and Marisol had their blood drawn in the morning on March 24, then got their first dose of the two-dose vaccine later that afternoon. “Their primary concern was, ‘is it going to hurt,’” says their father, Dr. Charles Gerardo, chief of emergency medicine at Duke University School of Medicine. “They’re not too worried about the long term side effects; they’re looking at the moment, not the future.” Testing the vaccine in younger children will answer critical questions about how much immunity the shots can provide, and potentially give parents and education officials more confidence in re-opening schools. While it appears that younger children don’t get as sick with COVID-19 as older teens and adult...

New top story from Time: March Madness Exploits Black Athletes. The Supreme Court Should End This Injustice Now

https://ift.tt/3rC4ttJ The NCAA basketball tournament—commonly referred to as March Madness —is a beloved ritual in college athletics and the capstone of the athletic year. “Bracketology” fuels water cooler conversations and on-line chat rooms, and when Barack Obama was President, White House predictions about who would win it all. After the final buzzer sounds, we impatiently wait for college football season to start. As fans consume action on the field or hardwood, a different reality exists for the so-called “student-athletes” who generate billions for the NCAA and are paid in “scholarships.” The NCAA’s Athletic Industrial Complex that exists for Division 1 football and basketball is built on commercial exploitation that we, as Americans, would find unacceptable elsewhere. That edifice is before the Supreme Court in an academic antitrust case which will be argued on March 31. But the Court should not overlook that real players’ lives are impacted; and real harms occur ea...

New top story from Time: The Heartbreak and Horror of Being an EMT During the Pandemic—and Why I’m Still Working

https://ift.tt/3cC9fTO When COVID-19 erupted in New York City last spring , it forced me to make a decision as to whether or not I would work the disaster as an emergency medical technician. Unlike the thousands of New York City EMTs and paramedics who ride on ambulances for the city, private transport companies and hospitals, as a volunteer EMT I rode for free, so I had a choice about what part I would play in the pandemic. When calls for “sick-fever-cough” patients started to infiltrate the city’s 911 system last March, every first responder I know was terrified. I was, too. One night my EMT partner and I sat in my car after a tour and had a long existential conversation. Was volunteering to work as EMTs during a lethal contagion the stupidest thing we could do? Or was it the most self-sacrificing? In the end I decided to ride. I was far from the only rescuer who wanted to be of service when crisis struck. An army of almost 90,000 health care workers volunteered to ste...

New top story from Time: ‘Garbage Freaking Everywhere’ as Americans Venture Outdoors After a Year of Lockdowns

https://ift.tt/31mr3M8 Across the country, as the weather improved and pandemic lockdowns were lifted, Americans ventured outside and noticed that their neighborhoods looked a little different. A little. . . dirtier. They saw mattresses piled outside cemeteries and disposable masks clogging the gutters. Vacuum cleaners left in the woods, fast food wrappers blowing on the highway, piles of tires. Neighborhoods that had been relatively clean before the pandemic were now full of litter. “There is garbage freaking everywhere,” says David Biderman, the executive director and CEO of the Solid Waste Association of North America (SWANA). In Portland, Ore., the city picked up more garbage in 2020 than any other year on record: 3,000 tons, 50% more than the previous year. Additionally, requests to clean up trash and remove graffiti were up 300% over 2019. Norfolk, Va., is seeing “historic highs” in litter and illegal dumping, according to Sarah Sterzing, the program manager of Ke...

PM Modi to speak on farm laws' benefits in address to Madhya Pradesh farmers https://ift.tt/2IYghpE

Prime Minister Narendra Modi will address the farmers of Madhya Pradesh via video conferencing on Friday during a Kisan Kalyan Sammelan (farmers welfare programme) as part of a state-level programme. The Prime Minister is likely to speak about the beneficial provisions of the new farm laws during his virtual address.