If you are ever in the southeast corner of San Francisco, you may have noticed a fleet of purple-and-orange vans picking up and dropping people off.
These shuttles are a special service run by the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, in an effort to bridge mobility gaps in the Bayview-Hunters Point neighborhood.
And the shuttles will continue running through November 2027, thanks to funding recently extended by the California Air Resources Board.
“That actually makes me happy,” said shuttle passenger Ashley Milburn, catching a ride on Wednesday morning. “Just [for] the community as a whole and individuals needing rides to doctor’s appointments, or even just the grocery store.”
A previous $10.5 million grant allowed city officials to launch the Bayview Community Shuttle in 2024. Residents can order a shuttle anywhere in the area, as well as to several destinations outside the neighborhood, including the 24th Street BART station — all for the cost of a Muni fare.
Michael Roccaforte, a spokesperson for the SFMTA, said the neighborhood “has historically lacked adequate transit connections” and “overall received a historic disinvestment in government services,” creating service gaps.
Milburn said she started using the shuttle more in the last month due to car troubles and has found it a useful resource. Especially since Bayview, she said, does not have as many bus routes as other neighborhoods in the city.
Milburn said she has used the shuttle for household tasks like laundry.
“It’s all so convenient, because, like I said, the community needs this type of service,” Milburn said, although she added that she wished it were available more hours of the day.
All of the vehicles in the shuttle program are electric.
Roccaforte said the neighborhood’s history of industry has created an overburden of health problems “in terms of respiratory illnesses for the community here.” “This shuttle service is zero emission and helps to actively reduce carbon emissions in the Bayview neighborhood,” he said.
CARB considered those unique circumstances in the agency’s efforts to launch service.
“The funding from the Air Resources Board is so important because without a grant award like this, we wouldn’t be able to operate this service at the level we provide because of our financial constraints,” Roccaforte said.
According to March data provided by SFMTA, ridership for the shuttle has increased by 53% since last year, with around 200 riders a day.
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