SFMTA to purchase 30 new smaller buses serving hilly neighborhood routes
The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency last Tuesday received an initial approval from the San Francisco County Transportation Authority board of $16.2 million to purchase 30 32-foot buses.
Muni’s smaller fleet of buses serve the hilliest parts of The City that would otherwise might not have transit service because of the steep hills and turns. Julie Kirschbaum, SFMTA’s director of transit, said the buses will replace the transit agency’s oldest fleet of buses that they purchased from manufacturer Orion in 2007.
The transit agency plans to join a consortium with the state of Georgia, who are purchasing buses from Creative Bus Sales, Inc. Funding for the new buses will come from Prop. K sales tax, state bridge toll fees and Prop. B funds. The total cost of the project is $36.2 million.
Kirschbaum said to city supervisors, who serve on the SFCTA board, that it would be cheaper to replace the vehicles now then to invest in repairing them.
“We should make the investment to replace these vehicles,” Kirschbaum said. “It’s also becoming increasingly difficult to maintain these vehicles as we’re running into issues with parts obsolescence.”
Replacing the buses will be cost effective. Instead of spending approximately $6 million in investments into older buses, the money could be spent towards getting new buses, Kirschbaum said.
By joining the consortium, Kirschbaum said the buses would be here between 15 to 18 months rather than two to three years going through a more traditional procurement process.
Supervisor Rafael Mandelman, chair of the SFCTA and Supervisor Myrna Melgar, who represent some of the hilliest neighborhoods in The City, brought up concerns that the SFMTA has yet to bring back the community routes for residents who live on hills. Some of the routes have been suspended during the Covid-19 pandemic.
“I have been hearing nothing but angst from my constituents who now don’t have the Teresita bus who now are stranded up those hills, particularly seniors and people with disabilities who are just completely cut off from service,” Melgar said.
Mandelman also spoke about the purchase of the 30 hybrid diesel buses and whether the transit agency is moving towards electric buses in the near the future. The SFMTA in 2018 adopted a resolution to start purchasing electric buses starting in 2025 and to have an entire fleet by 2035.
Kirschbaum said those dates could be reevaluated as a pilot program to test electric vehicles has slowed due to the pandemic. The transit agency announced the pilot last year in September and includes testing electric vehicles from three manufacturers, a contract approved last year as well.
She added that staff did evaluate purchasing electric buses for the 32-foot bus procurement, but said the buses are rare because of its size and that the industry has yet to manufacture a 32-foot bus electric bus designed to meet the transit agency’s criteria.
She added that the Muni’s fleet of buses contribute to .01 percent of emitting greenhouse gas emissions in the transportation sector. Still, Mandelman said he hopes this last significant purchase by the SFMTA of hybrid diesel buses.
The contract for the new buses still needs approval from the SFMTA board and Board of Supervisors. Transit officials said they expect the buses to start arriving in March 2022.
