Riding MUNI Now More Expensive than New York Subway
Starting July 1st, MUNI is raising its single fare price to $3, and the monthly Adult A pass rises to $98. To put that into perspective, a subway ticket in New York City costs $2.75. In NYC, the trains run all night, get you practically anywhere you need to go via a connected underground system, and then there’s SF MUNI. Where it still takes longer to get to the Marina from the Mission (49 minutes to go less than 4 miles), than it does to get from Brooklyn to Manhattan (46 minutes). We’ll let you decide which is the better deal.
The upcoming fare increase is a part of the Automatic Fare Indexing Policy that started in 2009, which means that prices are determined by a formula based on monetary inflation and operations costs. According to the SFMTA, pre-paid fares (Clipper or Muni Mobile) is still $2.50, which is part of why Transit Justice Coalition members like SOMCAN, are concerned. This kind of price hike equates to a poverty tax. SF citizens who are paying in cash are commonly the people who don’t have Internet service or phones or credit cards. It’s also a bit of a tourist tax, because visitors to the city are also more likely not to own clipper cards, (although very few citizens are shedding too many tears for tourists).
The monthly M and A passes are also going up. Here are the main changes according to SFMTA:
| Single Ride Fares | Current- | 7/1/19 |
| Regular Adult: Cash (Clipper fare remains the same) | $2.75 | $3 |
| Discount single ride*: Cash and Limited-Use Tickets | $1.35 | $1.50 |
| Monthly Passes | Current- | 7/1/19 |
| Monthly M pass (Muni only) | $78 | $81 |
| Monthly A pass (Muni + BART within SF) | $94 | $98 |
| Discount monthly* and Lifeline Pass | $39 | $40 |
Poppa’s got to pay for those new MUNI cars, and that incredibly over budget, deadline blowing Central Subway Line debacle.
3 Comments
So, along with everything else, it has basically doubled in ten years? I moved to the city in ’08 and I’m pretty sure my pass was under $50. Fuck.
Honest question: Can’t you use a Muni fare machine to put cash on a clipper card, thereby avoiding the cash fare price? No credit card or internet service or phone needed? I really thought you could. I’m hoping you can clarify this.
It’s time to repeal 1999 Proposition J – admit the MTA is a disastrous failure and move on.
The first new subway in 40+ years, the tunnel exits in North Beach but no station there, $400 million over budget and 5 years behind schedule (if we’re lucky).
A $4.6 billion non-functional “transbay” bus terminal 2 blocks away from BART/Muni underground, a slap in the face for every rider every trip.
Solid gridlock South of Market (hint: this isn’t all because of Uber and Lyft).
Muni meltdowns make it useless for regular commuting.
No answers from an arrogant and opaque city agency that doesn’t care.
Time to start over.