8AX, 8BX Bayshore to become first Muni express buses to return in 2022

The 8AX and 8BX Bayshore Express bus routes will be part of the next round of Muni routes to return in early 2022 after advocacy from several organizations in the Visitacion Valley and Chinatown neighborhoods.

Currently, the local 8-Bayshore route is running, but residents say the service is inefficient.

At a press conference Friday, residents and advocates demanded the SFMTA to return the 8AX and 8BX. Both routes have been suspended since the start of the pandemic and served Visitacion Valley residents who were heading to Chinatown.

Rex Tabora, executive director of for the Asian Pacific American Community Center said it was important for residents in the Visitacion Valley to access to Chinatown for groceries:

Visitacion Valley is in the middle of a food desert. Our community, many of whom are low-income and have no other means of transportation, rely on the 8X lines. They travel across the city to Chinatown in order to access lower price groceries.”

Board of Supervisors President Shamann Walton, who represents the Visitacion Valley neighborhood, supported the residents’ demands to bring back the express routes. Walton said the reopening of the express routes should have been on the top of the agency’s list:

“If you look at the research that has been done in terms of places in San Francisco that do not have adequate transportation, if you trace the history of the fight to get the 8AX and 8BX up and running here in our community, than you will understand how imperative that this bus line is.”

Though originally not part of the initial 2022 Muni restoration plan, transit officials said they heard from the community and residents on the importance of the routes and will bring them back. In tweet, Tumlin said:

“We heard from hundreds of Chinese language speakers about the importance of restoring the 8AX/BX, connecting Vis Valley and Chinatown. They will be our first express routes to be restored.”

Jerold Chinn

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.