San Francisco Municipal Railway

Amtrak, in conjunction with the Washington State DOT, Oregon DOT, VIA Rail Canada and other federal agencies, will restart service to Vancouver via Cascades on Sept. 26. (Photograph Courtesy of Amtrak)

Transit Briefs: Amtrak, CTA, Gateway, LACMTA, SFMTA/Muni, SMART, VIA Rail

Amtrak Cascades service to Vancouver, B.C., is resuming this month. Also, the Federal Transit Administration (FTA) has released a combined Final Environmental Impact Statement (EIS)/Record of Decision (ROD) for Chicago Transit Authority’s (CTA) Red Line Extension Project; the Gateway rail tunnel project price tag has risen to $16.1 billion, with a new construction start-date of 2024; Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority (LACMTA) has expanded its student fareless pass program; San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) has launched the MuniSafe campaign; Northern California’s Sonoma-Marin Area Rail Transit (SMART) marked its fifth anniversary last month; and VIA Rail Canada has released its second-quarter 2022 report.

This photo taken in the mid 1970s shows the “green and cream wings” livery once worn by hundreds of Muni vehicles. This car was delivered to Muni in 1948 and still operates today. (Caption and Photograph Courtesy of Muni)

Muni Through the Years: Livery Styles

Over the 110-year history of the San Francisco Municipal Railway (Muni), our transit vehicles have been painted in six main color schemes or liveries. Here’s a short look at those paint jobs, from the oldest streetcars to our newest buses.

This fall, MUNI is starting to deploy its inspectors to provide customer assistance and, ultimately, conduct fare inspections, including citation issuance.

MUNI Steps Up Customer Service, Fare Collection

San Francisco Municipal Railway (MUNI) is phasing in fare inspection. While fare collection has not stopped during COVID-19, inspectors are returning to service this fall and becoming part of a larger ambassador program to provide customer assistance. This includes reminding riders that masks are required and to maintain physical distance. They will ultimately conduct fare inspection later this year, including citation issuance. MUNI is also implementing an upgraded Customer Information System from Cubic Transportation Systems that will use digital signage and an updated mobile app to provide real-time information, including estimates on vehicle occupancy.