Mayor Lurie spoke to a crowd outside of the Castro Street Muni station on Tuesday morning.
"First, we're strengthening enforcement," he said. "We are hiring more fare inspectors who will have a more visible presence across the system.”
17 new fare inspectors, to be exact. That’s about a 30 percent increase to its current staff. An online job listing for the position says the starting pay is $85,000 a year.
Lurie also announced that the city is moving toward a ‘tap to ride’ system. “When riders see others paying, it reinforces the idea that everyone is contributing to that system,” Lurie said.
This doesn’t mean creating new transit infrastructure. Instead, it means shifting the way people pay for Muni. SFMTA’s director, Julie Kirschbaum explained why that's necessary: “We estimate that almost half of all Muni trips do not result in a visible form of payment.”
Until now, people 18 and under and those on certain programs didn’t have to tap to pay. But officials say most fare programs will be moved onto Clipper, and riders will need to tap either a Clipper Card or credit card.
SFMTA currently faces a 370 million dollar budget deficit, which is expected to reach 430 million by 2030.
Muni officials say the agency expects to bring in about 128 million dollars worth of revenue this year. About 5 million of that is expected to come from better fare compliance.
