Raising Awareness About Public Transportation This Transit Month

By Rafael Mandelman–

Rafael Mandelman, President of the San Francisco Board of Supervisors, with Mayor Daniel Lurie, other officials, and public transportation advocates, participated in a rally on September 4, 2025, to raise awareness about public transportation given that September is Transit Month.

Supervisor Mandelman also joined local transportation and city leaders—such as Executive Director of San Francisco Transit Riders, Sara Alison Johnson, and District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar—for a ride on Muni. On any given day, both he and State Supervisor Scott Wiener are often seen on public transportation, since they regularly rely upon it.

During the rally, Mayor Lurie said, “Muni faces a fiscal crisis, and we are going to save it. No one wants to see service reductions, and we are doing everything we can do to prevent them. We must do what it takes, both within SFMTA and with partners across the region, to find the revenue that will keep Muni strong.”

The Lurie administration is working on a parcel tax to help fund Muni, while State Senator Wiener is sponsoring a regional measure that would allow for a sales tax to financially bolster Bay Area transit systems. A stark reminder of the money needs and local transportation problems occurred just a day after the City Hall rally, when a computer equipment problem led to a nearly seven-hour systemwide shutdown that halted all trains. BART spokesperson Alicia Trost reminded that BART is now a 50-year-old-plus system that requires constant maintenance and network upgrades. The BART shutdown, in turn, led to heavier traffic and other delays.

Supervisor Mandelman and Mayor Lurie, in addition to calling attention to the financial challenges impacting transit agencies, urged the public to use public transportation, instead of cars, whenever possible.

As another BART spokesperson, Anna Duckworth, said about her respective agency: “BART benefits everyone in the Bay Area, whether they use transit or not. The system alleviates already-choked roadways, contributes billions to the economy, lowers the cost of living, helps the state and region meet housing and sustainability goals, and supports the overall health, safety, and resiliency of the Bay Area.”

Supervisor Mandelman is a longtime strong advocate for the city’s public transportation system. He co-chaired the Muni Reliability Working Group in 2019 and led efforts to stabilize and reinvest San Francisco’s transit and paratransit systems in his role as Chair of the County Transportation Authority. In 2022, he successfully led the passage of a ballot measure to extend San Francisco’s half-cent sales tax that will direct $2.6 billion in transportation funds over 30 years. Supervisor Mandelman is additionally committed to pedestrian and bicycle safety and closed a funding gap to deliver major streetscape improvements through the Upper Market Safety Project in 2020. 

Supervisor Mandelman currently serves on the Board of the San Francisco County Transportation Authority. Read about this municipal agency’s latest projects and studies at https://www.sfcta.org/

View From the Dome
Published on September 11, 2025