The Road to City Hall

We are commuting to work with a half a dozen San Francisco city supervisors. In this episode, we tag along with Matt Dorsey, Myrna Melgar, Danny Sauter, Stephen Sherrill, Chyanne Chen and Bilal Mahmood as they head to their City Hall offices. They discuss their daily trips and San Francisco transportation, overall.

Transcript

MELISSA CULROSS, HOST: It’s Take Your City Supervisor to Work Day! Well, so to speak, anyway, as we commute to City Hall with some San Francisco lawmakers. 

SAN FRANCISCO SUPERVISOR MYRNA MELGAR: One of the reasons I love public transit is because you get to see all the little stories that play out in our city on public transportation. :08

MELISSA: Welcome to Taken with Transportation, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency’s official podcast. I’m your host, Melissa Culross. Late last summer, we asked the members of the Board of Supervisors if we could tag along with them on their way to work, particularly if they happen to take Muni. Half a dozen agreed, and so, in this episode, we’re on the road to City Hall.

SAN FRANCISCO SUPERVISOR DANNY SAUTER: My name’s Danny Sauter, and I serve as the District 3 supervisor. We are on the corner of Union and Mason. And we’re getting ready to get on the 45 to start the journey into City Hall. This is my, my morning route from North Beach into City Hall. 
                                                                                                                                                     MELISSA: District 3 includes Chinatown, Nob Hill and Union Square, among other neighborhoods, in addition to North Beach. We ask Supervisor Sauter if he always takes the same route to work…and in fact, he does not.

DANNY: I have a few different options. If I take Muni, I can go the 45 to the 49. Or I can go down Stockton on the 8, 30 or 45 and then transfer to Muni underground. Each of those ends up taking about the same amount of time. So, sometimes it just depends on my mood, or if I’m stopping somewhere along the way. And then, um, if it’s a nice day, if there’s a bike available, I’ll do one of the e-bikes, uh, the shared bikes. And that’s the fastest way to get into City Hall, but there’s not always bikes available. 

MELISSA: Also, you’ve got some…not to make any presumptions about what kind of shape you’re in…but you’ve got some hills to deal with on the e-bike.

DANNY: We have a lot of hills. Yes. The e-bikes make it achievable, not necessarily easy, but achievable. And here’s the 45.

BUS ANNOUNCEMENTS: 45 Union-Stockton to Lyon and Greenwich. Please hold on. 1:04

MELISSA: Biking is great, but Sauter does have a soft spot for our public transit system.

DANNY: I love Muni. I try to take it as much as possible. I wanna take it…

BUS ANNOUNCEMENT: Taylor

DANNY: …uh, even more. And I’m always thinking about how we can make it better. So, it’s been especially fun the last few months. We just had a daughter, and we’re kind of getting her out around the city, especially on the weekends. Taking her on longer bus journeys to go to different libraries and to start to go to parks and museums. That’s been fun to get out with her. She’s already been on a lot of different lines. She’s been on, you know, she’s been on the underground. We had a trip to New York this summer, and she was on the subway there. So, she’s racking up her, her different transit lines around, around the country. There are a lot of times where I will, I will see people on the bus, or they’ll come up to me, and they’ll say something like, “Are you Danny? Are you the supervisor?” And they’re, like, really shocked to see me on the bus, which, you know, it should be fairly common for that to be the case. So, I’m happy to talk to people on the bus. I get a lot of different ideas brought to me or, or concerns brought to me. So, it’s productive (laughs). 

MELISSA: What are your hopes for transportation? Muni, but also the whole transportation system: the bike network, the roads for people who drive. 

BUS ANNOUNCEMENT: Van Ness

MELISSA: What are your hopes for the future?

DANNY: I, I want it to be the preferred choice of the vast majority of San Francisco. And to be that preferred choice because people find it to be fast, reliable, convenient, enjoyable, even. And I think it is that way a lot of the times. And I think we made strides. You know, this next year is going to be critically important to make sure we have the funding to keep Muni going. So, it’s a big year.

BUS ANNOUNCEMENT: Doors are opening

MELISSA: We get off the 45 and wait for the 49 Van Ness-Mission to take us to Civic Center.

MELISSA: Since, uh, we are doing a transfer, I think a lot of prospective Muni riders are afraid of transferring. What is your transfer like on your commute going in? Because you told me either way that you go, you transfer.

DANNY: Um, hmm. I would say most mornings it’s a few minutes waiting for the next line, for the next bus. So, vast majority of the time, you know, especially if it’s in that rush hour in the morning, it’s fine. I think, though, the challenge for me is sometimes the transfers later in the day, you know, especially after, like, 6, 7 p.m., those can get pretty lengthy. But in the mornings it’s usually pretty minimal.

MELISSA: Once we’re on the 49, the conversation with Supervisor Sauter turns to fare compliance.

BUA ANNOUNCE: 49 Van Ness-Mission to City College

DANNY: I’m seeing fare checkers more and more. I mean, it’s really ramped up. And I think most people appreciate it. Most people that pay their fair share, you know, expect and want everyone else to pitch in and do it, too. And, and this is part of that. So, I appreciate the recent “Don’t Be a Dodger” campaign. You know, our Bay Area Giants pride and transit coming together, two great things. And I think it’s the right message.

MELISSA: And almost on cue, some fare inspectors board our bus just a stop or two before City Hall.

BUS ANNOUNCEMENT: Warning, doors closing.

TRANSIT FARE INSPECTORS: Checking proof of payment. Cash payment in the front. Tag your Clipper cards.

SAN FRANCISCO SUPERVISOR MYRNA MELGAR: I’m Myrna Melgar. I’m the supervisor for District 7. I’m also the chair of the country Transportation Authority.

MELISSA: Our trip with Supervisor Melgar begins at the south end of the 49 bus route next to City College. Her district includes the Inner Sunset, Forest Hill, Lake Merced and other westside neighborhoods. And while we’re going to take the 49 to Civic Center, Melgar usually commutes to work another way.

MYRNA: Typically, I ride my bike. And I go on this bike lane right behind you: Frida Kahlo. That takes you down to Hearst, Slow Hearst, which is a Slow Street, which will take you down to Circular and then San Jose Avenue. That has a protected bike lane through Valencia all the way to City Hall.

MELISSA: Today is all about the bus, however, and we climb on board.

MYRNA: Hello, good morning.

MELISSA: Morning!

MELISSA: As we get going, we ask Supervisor Melgar what a typical morning is like for her.

MYRNA: So, I’m a mom. I have, uh, three girls, and two of them still live at home with me. And the youngest is still in school. So, usually my day when I get up involves cajoling, in some way, of the teenager to, uh, get up and organize her day because she still needs a mom to do that. She’s at Lowell High School. So, she’s a good student, but nevertheless, she still needs her mom. And I walk Frankie, my dog, before I get on my bike to get to work. If it’s raining, or if I need to do something that, uh, does not permit me to ride my bike, which sometimes happens, uh, I will take Muni. And usually, that means taking the K towards West Portal, and that’s how I get to work.

MELISSA: And even though she usually bikes, Melgar tells us those occasions when she takes Muni are very enjoyable.

MYRNA: One of the reasons I love public transit is because you get to see all the little stories that play out in our city on public transportation. I love watching the kids as they’re on their way to school. The seniors going about their shopping. People bustling on their way to work. It is, like, personal interactions that you have with people that you don’t get if you’re on your bike or in a car. You know, you don’t get to interact with fellow citizens of the city the way you do on public transportation. And I’ve gotta say, I love it. I’ve had some really great conversations, you know, on Muni. Uh, it is one of the best parts of living in the city.

MELISSA: Melgar’s family immigrated to this country from El Salvador when she was 12 and landed in San Francisco. And she has been a longtime transit user and fan. 

MYRNA: I went to San Francisco State University. I was a young student. I was, uh, 16 when I was a senior in high school. So, I was young. But I didn’t get a driver’s license until I was out of college because I didn’t need one. Muni took me everywhere I needed to go. And I worked my way through school. I worked at I. Magnin, which was a store down in, uh, Union Square. And I lived in the dorms at San Francisco State. So, actually, I took the M to go to Union Square. And Muni opened up economic and social mobility for me being able to go to school, get, you know, a college education and being able to work. Because, you know, I needed to do that. I didn’t have wealthy parents who could pay for my education. And so, it is an equalizer, Muni is. It is a way for people to have access to jobs, to education, to opportunities, to thrive in a city that is so open and tolerant of everyone and provides opportunity for people seeking a life from other places where, you know, life is not as easy or, you know, has as much opportunity as we do.

MELISSA: Supervisor Melgar also helped make Muni even more accessible.

MYRNA-6: Three years ago, I introduced the legislation that made Muni free for kids. 

BUS ANNOUNCEMENT: Doors are opening.

MYRNA: And that has been the single most transformative thing, I think, for youth in San Francisco. Because it is training an entire generation of young people to become transit riders. And they love it. 

BUS ANNOUNCEMENT: Warning, doors are closing.

MYRNA: It is the thing that I hear from kids the most: About how much they love Muni; how much they love that it’s free. It provides them freedom and opportunity in a way that kids in the suburbs don’t have. And I think it’s really, really great.

MELISSA: And what are Melgar’s hopes for transit in San Francisco in the future?

MYRNA-7: My dream is that someday we will have either BART or Muni connectivity from central Richmond through Golden Gate Park and all the way down 19th Avenue to connect to BART, for example. That would be a really awesome thing. 

MELISSA: Next, we’re headed to the corner of Arguello and Geary to catch up with District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill. It’s about quarter of nine in the morning when we meet him and get down to business.

SAN FRANCISCO SUPERVISOR STEPHEN SHERRILL: We are going to work. And more specifically, we are going to work on the 38R. Yeah, it’s a beautiful Monday morning. I’ve got Rules Committee at 10 a.m., and frankly, one of the quickest ways to get there is, uh, is on the, uh, bus rapid transit line here on Geary. 38R is definitely my go-to commuting line, but I do drive a decent amount. I used to bike a lot more, but now that I have to wear a suit every day, it’s a little schvitzy in there. But I love the 38R. That’s a big one. 49 on Van Ness is big. And then, I live right off California, so I use that... the, the 1 quite a bit. The one I’d love to use and don’t, uh, is the 30X. The 30X is great, mostly because all my constituents who ride it love it. Um, I think a lot of people who live in the Marina work downtown. It’s kinda hard to get there, otherwise. So. it’s just…I’ve be hearing incredible feedback since it got revamped and put back online. So, yeah, anytime someone’s really excited about something, that makes me excited about it.

MELISSA: The neighborhoods Supervisor Sherrill represents include the Marina, Pacific Heights and Cathedral Hill, among others. We ask him about the area’s transportation needs. 

STEPHEN: District 2 has a mix of high-density and low-density neighborhoods. And so, pretty much everybody wants more Muni availability and definitely clean and safe Muni. That’s a huge, huge part of it. But then at the same time, we have a lot of drivers in the district who are worried about the increase of congestion. Over the last ten years, it’s pretty crazy. Muni ridership is down. Population and commuting are down. But congestion is up. A lot of that has to do with the availability of rideshare. But a lot of commuters haven’t switched kinda from their, their COVID-era car commutes back into BART or CalTrain or Muni. So, it’s a really interesting conundrum that we have. But I think everybody wants Muni to be reliable, fast, available and safe.

MELISSA: So, what is your vision for transportation in San Francisco? What do you hope the future holds for transportation, especially given what you just said about traffic congestion being up. And people need and want to be able to get around easily.

STEPHEN: Yeah, I mean, I think we’re coming off a ten-year Vision Zero cycle and looking at the next one. And as we look at it, I think we need to be really thoughtful about our streetscapes. They are changing. The growth in autonomous vehicles is changing things. We have more people biking, whether it’s e-bikes or regular bikes. And public transit, as we know, has a massive funding crunch. And I just don’t think we can be a viable city if we don’t really look hard at how we get public transit not at 90 or 95% of where it is right now, but really at 120. And I think that starts by ensuring that our roadways have clear paths of transportation for each mode of travel. We have to make it easier for everyone to get around. 

MELISSA: The 38R, which is the rapid 38 Geary route, arrives…

BUA ANNOUNCEMENT: 38R Geary Rapid to Transit Center

MELISSA: …we climb on board, and our conversation continues.

MELISSA: What do you want your constituents and people in San Francisco to know about what city officials like yourself are doing to support transportation and to support them and help them get around?

STEPHEN: Yeah, I mean, I think in the near term we have to be really laser-focused on the looming budget deficit for, um, Muni and the MTA. To get our downtown really cranking again, we’re gonna need Muni. You know, there is a big perception gap between people who ride Muni regularly…it has the highest rider satisfaction ratings in its history…and the people who still have yet to quite come back. And I think at the end of the day, ensuring that Muni is safe and clean, and I think the situation with the substance use crisis, the fentanyl crisis, the mental health crisis on the streets, it leaks into everything. And I think Muni is one of those. So, the thing I would say from a perception issue…

BUS ANNOUNCEMENT: Doors are opening

STEPHEN: I mean, right now, I mean this bus is clean. It’s safe. It’s nice. It’s smooth. And I think active Muni riders today see that. But I think we need to do more to ensure that people not yet comfortable riding Muni do feel safe. And perception is reality. 

MELISSA: We get off the bus at Van Ness and O’Farrell and walk the rest of the way. Sherrill tells us he walks about seven minutes from his house to the bus stop at the beginning of his commute, and then this walk at the end takes about ten minutes. He says the entire trip takes about half an hour and walking is just as important to him as riding Muni.

STEPHEN: It’s nice to get up in the morning, to be outside. I mean, there’s a lot of studies about how much sunlight you should get first thing in the morning. But to me, being able to walk down this section of Van Ness, specifically, from, um, you know, Geary and O’Farrell down to, uh, City Hall, it’s a nice way to just kinda gut check on an area of the city that, frankly, I think is underserved. The Van Ness corridor in my district…Van Ness to Gough all the way down to Golden Gate…doesn’t quite the attention it deserves. So, I think it’s really important to walk and check in and just see how things are doing.

MELISSA: And speaking of walking, we’re about to do more of that.

SAN FRANCISCO SUPERVISOR MATT DORSEY: I’m Matt Dorsey, and I am the supervisor for District 6 in San Francisco. So, right now we are on my morning commute to work, which, for me, as a member of the Board of Supervisors, is City Hall. And I happen to be the Supervisor who lives the closest to City Hall. I’m just a few blocks away because I live at Trinity Place. This morning’s a little different because I’m bringing my dog. But this is my usual route. Unless I have, um, a meeting downtown or somewhere else in the district, I walk every day and then use bikeshare a lot. And obviously, I’m a Muni rider, as well. 

MELISSA: Given that you are, for the most part, a person who walks to work, how important is a safe infrastructure for people who walk to you?

MATT: Well, for me, walking to work is really an opportunity to, to start my day by doing my job and checking out street conditions, who needs help, what I’m likely to get an email about or a phone call about. Um, the other thing I like about walking to work is it gives me an opportunity to check in with the regulars in the neighborhood. And I feel like it’s connecting me to my district. Um, I do cross my district line. This side of Grove Street is mine, and across the street, where the library is, is Bilal Mahmood’s. But this is my commute to work.

MELISSA: So, what is your vision, what is your hope for our transportation system as we move forward. And I’m talking about the whole thing. I’m talking about Muni. I’m talking about roads for drivers. I’m talking about bikeways. All of it.

MATT: I represent a downtown district where transit and transportation has to work together well and efficiently. You know, Muni and I think transit, especially, has to be fast, frequent, reliable, safe and clean. If we do that, a lot of other problems will solve themselves, including people coming to, to work. Including our tax base expanding. Including our revenues going up. All of it requires transit and, more broadly, a transportation system that works, as well.

MELISSA: What do you hear from people in your district about transportation?

MATT: I, I feel blessed, honestly, to live in a district that is a self-selecting population of urbanists. I think people get that there is going to be traffic. I represent, for example, Mission Bay. Once in a blue moon, I will hear someone complain about street traffic, but I think they’ll be the first to acknowledge, “Well, maybe I shouldn’t have moved into a neighborhood between two major sports stadiums.” (laughs) I think people know what they’re signing up for when they come to South of Market or East Cut or Mission Bay. But I think people also make use of transit. I think this is also a lot of bikeshare, which I, you know, am a big proponent of bikeshare. But we’ve got a lot of transit fans here in District 6.

MELISSA: The walk really is short, and as we arrive at City Hall, Supervisor Dorsey talks more about bicycling.

MATT: One reason I’m a big fan of bikeshare, in particular, I was around in the early days when bicycling was starting to take off. And I think what bikeshare did was, it invested thousands of new people in safe infrastructure for bicycling. You don’t need to buy a bike, but you may occasionally rent a bike to get to the neighborhood store or something like that. And I think having a lot of infrastructure to make sure that that is safe and reliable is great in District 6. It helps us thrive as a neighborhood and as a city. And I know for Madison Tam, my legislative aide and I, who is also a bikeshare member, we have been, like, on a, on a game day, on a Friday evening when we have to get across the district down by, like, South Beach. And I remember we took a bike there. We, we got there in ten minutes from City Hall. And we looked at each other, and it was like, “Where would we be if we were in a car right now?” (laughs) We would be on 7th Street, stuck in traffic.

MELISSA: And finally, since the supervisor mentioned that he does take Muni, we ask if he has any stories about riding.

MATT: When I moved to San Francisco, I was living in a carriage house on the top Pacific Heights. It was an office where Jerry Brown used it for his campaign headquarters for state party chair. And it was kind of a Democratic Party frat house (laughs), and I was the only gay one. So, I would take either the 22 Fillmore or 24 Divisadero to the Castro. It was just a lot of fun because it was one of the cruisiest bus lines, and it just… Uh, yeah, the younger me when I first got to San Francisco, I was like a kid in a candy store. So, that was my earliest Muni memory: how cruisy the lines were on the 24 Divisadero (laughs).

MELISSA: Supervisor Dorsey may be able to walk to work from District 6, but City Hall is in District 5, which is represented by Supervisor Bilal Mahmood. And we now are going to walk with him.

SAN FRANCISCO SUPERVISOR BILAL MAHMOOD: We’re in the Tenderloin. Uh, we’re walking from my apartment. And walking through the Tenderloin, especially, the Tenderloin is a community. It does make getting to work a little bit longer than you would think, even though I’m about seven minutes away. Every day you walk along, you meet people in the Tenderloin Community Benefit District. You meet people from there. UC Law, meet some students, meet some of the faculty. So, it’s actually really amazing because every day takes longer than I hope, but I hope it takes longer than I think. Because then you get to hear the stories, how their morning going . You often get to say hello to the Urban Alchemy ambassadors who are out every day greeting us, as well. And it just reminds you how much of a community this neighborhood is and the diversity of that community, as well.

MELISSA: And as soon as those words leave Supervisor Mahmood's lips…

BILAL: This is Dan from Hayes Valley

DAN: Hey!

LEGISLATIVE AIDE JESSICA GUTIERREZ GARCIA: How’s it going? (laughs)

BILAL: Um good to see you, Dan.

DAN: Good to see you, Bilal.

BILAL: We were just saying how when you walk over to City Hall, you can’t stop but meeting people from the neighborhood. 

DAN: Right.

BILAL: Um, and here, here is Dan. So, uh, headed to work?

DAN: I am headed for my workout. I go to LuxFit, but I’m going to the one over by the ballpark. Get my morning exercise and then work out.

BILAL: Sounds good.

DAN: Yeah.

BILAL: What, are you taking Muni or BART?

DAN: I walk!

BILAL: Walk all the way to the ballpark? Wow!

DAN: You can do it. The mayor does it.

BILAL: (laughs)

DAN: Good enough for you guys. good enough for me.

BILAL: That sounds good, Dan. 

DAN: However, I will be taking the N Judah back home.

BILAL: That makes sense.

DAN: Supporting the MTA.

MELISSA: Hayes Valley is in District 5, along with the Haight, much of the Western Addition and this portion of downtown…among other neighborhoods. Dan continues on to the gym, and we continue with our conversation

MELISSA: We are walking to work, but do you ride Muni, as well? And if so, tell us a little bit about your experience.

BILAL: Yeah. So, I love taking the 5. That’s the one line I’ve most often taken. You can take it along Market Street. It takes you all the way to Golden Gate Park. I’d often use it to run in the park on car-free JFK. And it’s just, the beauty of that every day that I take it is one, meeting residents on the line. There’s just such a diversity of individuals you meet. You meet other people going to the park to go on a run or to take their dogs on a run or a walk, as well. But also, I think some of my fondest memories are meeting older residents and seniors, as well. Something that people don’t often recognize about District 5, especially in Japantown, it’s the highest concentration of seniors in the entire city. Over 20% of Japantown is over the age of 80. So, actually Muni is a lifeline for them to get their groceries, to get to where they need to go. And meeting some of the seniors, they have such amazing stories to tell over their long-lived lives. And they love to chat on, on Muni. So, that’s been often one of the best experiences traveling.

MELISSA: Now, obviously there are physical limitations that some people have…

BILAL: Yeah.

MELISSA: Given that, what would you say about the, sort of, benefits of walking?

BILAL: The beauty of the city. Uh, we have a really beautiful city with buildings with amazing architecture, very historic. And that diversity of, of buildings and community. You’ll walk down affordable housing complexes and past museums. We’re walking through parks. And you see the diversity of the individuals. Um, there’s people walking their dogs. You’ll see seniors walking down the street to get to a food pantry. And, uh, in the mad rush of going to and from work, it allows you to experience the city in all its beauty.

MELISSA: Businesses also are part of the beauty and diversity of San Francisco, and the supervisor decides to pop into one.

BILAL: This is my usual stop on the way to work. 

MELISSA: So, what’s your favorite thing to get usually?

BILAL: The croissants. They make them, they make them here, uh, every day, uh, make them fresh. Um, they’re a middle eastern bakery called Paris Café. They, uh, have been amazing members of the Tenderloin community. And they have a really open space, really beautiful. And you often see people just hanging out. Um, and that’s another benefit of, of walking to work. You get to stop by and meet some of the small businesses, as well.

MELISSA: Much like with Supervisor Dorsey, it only takes us a matter of minutes to get to City Hall, even with a couple of stops. Now that we’re here, we ask Supervisor Mahmood if he has any final thoughts about Muni.

BILAL: Meeting tourists on, on Muni is often really fun. Um, I remember I met a Vietnamese couple, also seniors, visiting. And they were taking Muni, and I was just there. And they were asking for directions. So, you see that Muni is not just for the people who live here. It is an accessibility mechanism for tourists and people visiting our, our city to be able to get around to all the parts of our city, as well. And so, being the tour guide for people in the, in the city is often a fun experience to able to provide individuals who are visiting our great city, as well.

MELISSA: Our last commute of the episode begins in the Mission Terrace neighborhood with District 11 Supervisor Chyanne Chen.

MELISSA: And so, we’re standing here at the corner of Ocean and Cayuga. Do you generally take the 49 to City Hall?

SAN FRANCISCO SUPERVISOR CHYANNE: Yes, I actually get on the bus. I, I’m with many students and neighbors who are commuting to go to work. And also a lot of elderlies, uh, whether they’re going to get their food, or they go to exercise, or they go to different places. So, it, it’s usually pretty crowded, uh, but 7:30, sometimes I still get a seat.

MELISSA: Well, look at this, we’ve got a 49 coming right now. So, we can hop on.

BUS ANNOUNCEMENT: Doors are opening.

MELISSA: All right, we are still rolling. So, here we are on the 49. Are you able to or inclined to talk to people while you’re on the bus.

CHYANNE: So, the answer is often I talk to people. I’m, I’m [a] pretty chatty person, too, especially when I see seniors. And I’ll be, like, “How are you? Good morning!” I always have my big smile on. Uh, if I get a seat, it depends, right, it depends…then I’m actually able to talk to a lot of young people. 

BUS ANNOUNCEMENT: Doors are opening

CHYANNE: You know, um, just really, last week I was able chat with a young girl. I’m like, “You’re so early. Where [do] you go to school?” “I go to Marina Middle School.” I’m like, “Wow, Marina Middle School is early. What time does school start?” “Well, school doesn’t start until late, 9 o’clock.” But I said, “Why are you, you know, travelling to school so early?” She’s like, “Well, so I can get some breakfast at school.” You know, school meals, in general, is also very important to my neighborhood.

MELISSA: In addition to Mission Terrace, neighborhoods in District 11 include Oceanview, the Excelsior and Crocker Amazon, among others. We ask Supervisor Chen about the area as we ride.

CHYANNE: My neighborhood’s very, um, multi-generation, very diverse. Highest number of, uh, youth under age 14 and highest number of students enrolled in public school. Highest number, if not the highest, it’s one of the highest number of seniors. And also, heavily working families. Um, I usually say, you know, I’m one of the typical family in District 11 where we caring for elders, and we also are trying hard to raise our kids.

MELISSA: Have you lived in San Francisco your whole life?

CHYANNE: Uh, ever since I came to America starting at age 15.

MELISSA: 15, alright, so have you been a Muni rider since you got here?

CHYANNE: Oh yes. Uh (laughs). Ah, again, my story is also very typical. I live in, uh, at the time Ingleside. But I actually attended Galileo High School. So, it was a long one-hour-plus Muni ride every day to go to school for my entire high school years. 

MELISSA: What is it that you think, and this doesn’t just have to be Muni, but for transportation in general, what do you think the most important concerns are in your district?

CHYANNE: So, um…

BUS ANNOUNCEMENT: Doors are opening

CHYANNE: It’s especially in the last couple years, given COVID, given Asian hate, um, given, um, a lot of community concern, I think as a mom and also as a daughter where my mom’s also use Muni services, I think to me, the most important is safety riding the bus. And then, secondly, it’s reliability. I think this is how we can continue to rebuild our trust to Muni services. ‘Cause I want to get to school on time. I want to get to work on time. I want to make sure that I can plan and plan accordingly with Muni, uh, services.

MELISSA: Chen has two daughters, and we ask about their experiences with transit.

CHYANNE: The little one just loves riding Muni. With her, it’s really like [the] K and J. And so, they get on [the] bus and then, you know, if not reading then we’re playing games on…usually J. But, like, the time that we, we’ve taken J, it’s usually not peak hours.

MELISSA: Okay, how does the older daughter feel about Muni?

CHYANNE: Older daughter feels about Muni… One thing, she’s like, “Mom, I’m under 18. I can just hop on any buses, any car.” And she’s like, “I don’t need to pay (laughs).” So, I say, “I hope you know, like, who actually paid for it. And to enjoy riding Muni free as a young person, that I hope you can also think positively about what actually gives you this privilege.”

MELISSA: And as we approach City Hall, the supervisor has some last thoughts on the Muni experience.

CHYANNE: Just to be honest, um, you know, I own a car. But you’ve got to see your neighborhood. Like, if you’re riding on the 49, uh, you get to see, you know, people who actually rely on the services and, uh, for, for Muni. But it’s also, you get to hear different languages on the bus.

BUS ANNOUNCEMENT: Doors are opening

CHYANNE: Like, uh, when I go home in the evening or late afternoon, then you actually see people on the phone. And you hear them, uh, speaking different languages. 

MELISSA: Thank you for joining us on Taken with Transportation. We’re a production of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, and you can find the latest episodes at SFMTA.com-slash-Podcast, as well as Apple, Spotify, our YouTube channel or wherever you listen. We had production assistance on this episode from Joel Ramos and Chadwick Lee. I’m Melissa Culross. Be well and travel well.