The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) expanded what was once their Free Muni for Youth program to become the Free Muni for All Youth program on August 15, 2021. During the 2021–2022 school year, Muni will provide free public transportation to all youth, withdrawing the need for an application or papers to participate. The project, introduced over a year ago, could help make the Muni more accessible and advantageous, reduce traffic and encourage the use of public transportation.
photo courtesy of Hayden Miller
Muni is a public transportation system of buses, light rail Metro trains and cable cars that extends throughout the city. The Free Muni for Youth Program was originally created solely for youth in low to moderate income households. It began in 2013, and allowed those who filled out an application to obtain free access to Muni.
Alexander Hirji, a member of the SFMTA Youth Transportation Advisory Board (YTAB), explains that the fight to open the program to all youth started in 2019.
“There had been lots of complaints about difficulty accessing the application for Free Muni for Youth, because many of the people who would be trying to apply did not speak English,” he said. Hirji added, “A lot of the information requested from the application was hard to get for some people or maybe they didn’t have access to it, or their parents couldn’t understand why they needed it.”
A Youth Town Hall was hosted by YTAB on September 18 to discuss recent changes to Muni as well as obtain feedback directly from the youth of San Francisco. One San Francisco student mentioned that she relied on public transportation to get to school because she didn’t have her license.
photo courtesy of SFMTA
“Even students who have licenses may not have a car, or find driving around the city difficult,” she said.
Because of these reasons, in the winter of 2019, SFMTA agreed to budget a one year pilot program to allow anyone 18 years old and under free access to Muni. The program was eventually rejected by the board of supervisors due to budgeting issues.
According to YTAB, around $676 million is needed yearly to maintain the Muni system. Because the costs of maintenance generally exceed Muni’s revenues, SFMTA relies heavily on the San Francisco government’s general fund, a pool of money allocated for public safety, health and human services and public works.
With the budget in 2019, Free Muni for Youth would have reduced revenues and put SFMTA in a greater structural deficit than it already was.
In March 2020, when San Francisco went into lockdown, the use of public transportation declined. Hirji said that as transit became safer to ride again, the mayor’s office was looking for ways to lure riders back towards Muni.
Hirji explained, “Free Muni for All Youth was suddenly brought back from the dead, because it was understood that it could benefit existing riders, and also possibly draw new ridership in terms of youth.”
On June 10, 2021, Mayor London Breed announced that the upcoming budget would include $2 million to expand Free Muni for Youth, ensuring that Muni is accessible to the more than 100,000 youth across San Francisco. This new budget granted SFMTA the ability to simultaneously attempt to bring ridership back to pre-pandemic levels while ensuring public transportation is more equitable and accessible.
“Proof of payment is not required from youth who appear to be 18 years and younger,” the SFMTA website states. “Youth 16 and above are encouraged to carry a student ID or other form of ID for age verification.”
A study done by SFMTA established a connection between riding transit at a young age to consistency in using transit at an older age.
Hayden Miller, an active Muni rider said, “they get used to using transit when they’re young, they build it as a habit. When they grow up, they’re more likely to use transit and they’re less likely to own a car.”
In Mayor London Breed’s announcement of the program’s expansion, she explained the importance of the new program: “For some people in our city, the financial burden of riding Muni is small, but so many young people and families with children rely on public transportation and these fares have a significant impact on their budgets.”
In a survey filled out by 31 LWHS students on their transportation habits since Free Muni for All Youth, 30 students reported they have been positively impacted by the program’s expansion, while the remaining one student held a neutral stance.
Grace Hartley ’25 described her experience with the program as she stated, “I take the bus to and from school everyday so I have been able to save over 10 dollars a week from not having to pay which is really nice”.
Many of the respondents reported that they regularly relied on Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART) as their main form of transportation. Rajan Rao ’25 explained, “I always take the BART which still costs money, but sometimes there is a bus that takes me home faster. Now with Free Muni for All Youth, I always take the bus without even thinking about it.”
The Free Muni for All Youth pilot program officially began August 15, 2021, and will extend through August 14, 2022.
When asked whether the program will continue in the future, YTAB explained that as the program is currently being funded by efforts from powerful people in City Hall, the future is uncertain for Free Muni for All Youth. The SFMTA predicts $607 million in revenue losses until June 2023 due to the effects of the pandemic, even with the help of the CARES Act funds. The SFMTA stated that there could even be additional losses in the budget in the next 2-year budget period, and that they “cannot survive without new funding and will be looking for different ways to secure additional local revenue”. “SFMTA is in support, but only their partnership with those people makes the program possible.”
