San Francisco MTA steps up fare enforcement

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which oversees the surface transportation network in San Francisco including the Municipal Railway (Muni), began to deploy new, enhanced fare enforcement on select Muni Metro system lines as of Monday and on Muni bus routes starting August 12.

SFMTA is resuming the concentrated aspect of its duel approach to fare enforcement, following an in-depth review of the Transit Fare Inspector (TFI) deployment plan, launching a marketing campaign on fare evasion, creating a more robust training program and incorporating further public education into the deployment plan.

Starting Monday, the new enhanced fare enforcement deployment means that in addition to the regular two-person teams that have continued to enforce fare policy on Muni, teams of four to five TFIs and one or two police officers will be deployed for shifts approximately 90 minutes long throughout the Muni system.

The new enhanced fare enforcement will be more frequent and more flexible, and will be deployed at more locations, offering greater coverage systemwide.

The new deployment and other changes to the TFI program are based on the SFMTA's work with the Immigrant Rights Commission (IRC) and the Office of Civic Engagement and Immigrant Affairs as well as discussions with the SFMTA board.