A new transportation campaign is aimed at the Bay Area's late-night workers and early morning commuters.
A new transportation campaign targeting the Bay Area’s night owls, late-night workers and early morning commuters launched on Friday.
The multilingual campaign, known as the “AllNighter,” means to inform residents and regional workers on the options available to them during the late-night and early morning hours. Ads are scheduled to appear on cable TV, social media and buses, as well as in Muni and BART stations, through the summer of 2017.
San Francisco Mayor Ed Lee said in a statement that it’s important to have a 24-hour regional transportation network to serve commuters, especially those who work outside conventional hours:
“There is a significant workforce that doesn’t keep the traditional 9 a.m.-5 p.m. hours, and they are vital to the everyday operations and economic well-being of the San Francisco Bay Area region.”
The Metropolitan Transportation Commission will fund the $200,000 campaign, which is supported by regional transportation agencies and the San Francisco Office of Economic and Workforce Development.
The nighttime economy produces $50 million annually in tax revenue with 52,000 workers employed in industries such as nightlife, hotels and hospitals, according to the Office of Economic and Workforce Development.
A 2015 report by the Late Night Transportation Working Group recommended options to improve late-night transportation in the Bay Area, which included establishing a multi-language campaign to inform riders which transit options are available to them.
The group also recommended a website dedicated to late-night transportation options that would be easily accessible on mobile phones.
Supervisor Scott Wiener formed the group after a 2o14 hearing on the lack of transportation options during the late evening and early morning hours.
Merchants from the nightlife industry, representatives from regional transit agencies and other city departments are members of the working group, which have met eight times since forming in 2014. The next meeting is on Aug. 24.
Karen Heisler, owner of Mission Pie bakery and a member of the working group, said in a statement that workers who travel further away for work because of affordability issues in cities need a late-night transit system that works for them:
“The Bay Area lacks a unifying transportation system that is specifically designed to ensure that people of all classes and sectors are able to get to their jobs at all hours without disproportionate financial burden on those least able to shoulder it.”
SFMTA Director of Transportation Ed Reiskin said in a statement that whether commuters use Muni for work or leisure, people rely on regional transit systems to not just get around during the day, but also at night:
“The new late night Muni Owl routes and service increases are examples of the overall improvements we are making to adapt to the needs of Muni riders in a growing economy and city population.”
Transit officials launched two Owl routes on the 44-O’Shaughnessy and 48-Quintara/24th Street in April, which was part of a larger Muni service increase.
The 511 SF Bay website has a dedicated website to find out what transit options are available between midnight and 5 a.m for the San Francisco, the East Bay and the Peninsula regions.
Jerold serves as a reporter and San Francisco Bureau Chief for SFBay covering transportation and occasionally City Hall and the Mayor's Office in San Francisco. His work on transportation has been recognized by the San Francisco Press Club. Born and raised in San Francisco, he graduated from San Francisco State University with a degree in journalism. Jerold previously wrote for the San Francisco Public Press, a nonprofit, noncommercial news organization. When not reporting, you can find Jerold taking Muni to check out new places to eat in the city.
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The 44-Sliver Owl okay route
The 48-24th Street Owl need to be extended to Woodside & Portola – That owl route is insignificant route.
If anything the 48 Owl could turn around at West Portal Station while the 44 Owl could turn around at either Forest Hill Station or go all the way to its daytime terminal in the Richmond.
Also, a 19 Polk Owl bus would be a nice addition. The 19 Owl would travel the entire route that the 19 Polk bus currently uses.
Although that`s good improvement..for the east side of San Francisco.
I think there should most focus on improving transit activity on West/Southern side of San Francisco (Sunset-Quintara-Taraval/Sloat /Lake Merced)
You have a point. Here’s a few ideas on how to improve the Sunset District’s transportation issues. Extend the 6 Parnassus from its 14th ave terminal loop down to West Portal Station. Increase the frequency of the 6, L, 48, 7, 18, 23, N, 28, NX, 66, 29, 28R, 7R & 7X lines. Have the 7R and 28R operate 7 days a week, also starting at 8am with the last bus at 9pm.
Make a 29X and an LX. I remember us talking about a 29X route that used Holloway instead of Grafton/Garfield a few months ago. That would definitely make the 29X very quick between CCSF & SF State. Other than that the 29X would follow the normal 29 route. The 29X would serve major stops such as SF State/Stonestown, Sunset Blvd/Judah, Balboa Park BART Station, 25th/Geary, 3rd/Paul, Mission/Persia, etc
The LX would turn around at Pine/Davis sts with the other AX/BX lines. Its outbound route would be taking Pine st, turning left on Gough, right on Fell, cutting through Golden Gate Park behind the police station and coming out on MLK Drive to Lincoln Way. It would turn left on 7th Ave, taking 7th southbound all the way to Forest Hill Station(7th ave turns into Laguna Honda Blvd at the intersection of Clarendon Ave, 7th Ave and Laguna Honda Blvd), which would be its first stop. From there it would continue turning right (south) on Dewey Blvd to West Portal Station. After stopping at West Portal Station it’ll follow the normal L route. Then after 19th ave, it’ll stop at every stop until the Zoo.
Finally improving the stops along the L line is another obvious idea, as well. Improving a few stops along the N line(such as both inbound/outbound stops at 19th Ave)wouldn’t hurt, either.
Also, electrifying the 7,18, 29 and 48 lines would be really useful. Not only would it lessen the pollution, it’d also free up more diesel buses for other routes that need more service such as the 44, 28 or 38 lines.
“Hey, BTW, we’re advertising about our service a year from now.” ??