Muni welcomes freshly remodeled buses

Riding Muni means riding the oldest fleet of buses in North America. It’s no wonder why your bus is so likely to break down, or at least have mountains of gum stuck to the bottom of the seat.

However, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency has invested $19 million in the rehabilitation of 80 buses. The rehabilitation updates buses with amenities like graffiti-resistant ceilings, new floor boards, different colored seats designated for disabled passengers and a new lighted exit indicator to make it clearer when passengers can alight.

Ed Reiskin, Director of Transportation said in a statement that the rehabilitation was the most economical option for the Muni investment:

“Rehabilitating portions of the current fleet is a cost-effective way to help improve public transit for our customers, providing more reliability and reducing repair time and costs.This is just one part of our plan for reinvigorating and investing in our city’s transit future.”

The rehabilitation is supposed to add four years to each coach’s life. According to a press release by the SFMTA each of the buses will serve 400,000 passengers per day.

The SFMTA said service will not be disrupted from the rehabilitation process, as buses will be rotated in for rehab eight at a time.

Some of the refreshed buses’ new amenities will help the operator. A new lever to open doors has been placed closer to the driver, while he or she enjoys a reupholstered chair.

According to a report in the SF Examiner, each of the 80 buses will cost $240,000 to update.

The SFMTA will also unveil 62 new buses next month that have a price tag of $715,000 each. When the new and rehabilitated buses are all in-house, there will be 142 rehabbed or new buses in operation.

The agency has already unveiled its first remodeled bus and is under inspection to address any issues and to ensure the other 79 are done correctly.