SFMTA Director Jeffrey Tumlin to leave, reflects on tenure

SAN FRANCISCO - San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency Director of Transportation Jeffrey Tumlin announced on Friday he would be stepping down from his position in roughly two weeks.

SFMTA’s Director of Transit, Julie Kirschbaum, will serve as the agency’s acting director of transportation beginning on Jan. 1. 

Tumlin has held the job since 2019 and his contract was going to end at the end of the year, the transit agency said in a statement. 

He is leaving as Mayor London Breed is leaving her post to be replaced by incoming Mayor Daniel Lurie. 

SFMTA oversees how people get around the city, from mass transit to bike lanes. For the last five years, it has evolved under Tumlin's watch. 

"Serving in this position has been the greatest honor of my life, and I’m extremely proud of what the SFMTA has accomplished during my tenure," he said in a statement, adding that there is "still far more to be done." 

He said that Muni is "better than it's ever been" and his office also took credit for reducing crashes involving pedestrians by 32% and crashes involving bikes by 33% on streets where the SFMTA has installed Quick Builds. 

"The thing that I am most proud of is the change of the culture of the staff," he said. "I didn't fix Muni, it was our staff that fixed Muni because we gave them permission to do what they love, which is fixing broken things."

One of his first steps was making Market Street car free. Some businesses and drivers say the move made it harder to move through the city, others say they adapted. 

"I think it's helped the city in terms of safety," said Amy Graham. "I think if you don't expect it, and you don't know the city, you have to find your way around because you can't always go where you need to go the most direct route."

Some Muni riders say the transit service now is better than ever. 

"Excellent, no problem," said George Prodorov. "This is the best public transportation on the West Coast.

During Tumlin’s tenure, the agency completed two big capital projects – the Van Ness Bus Rapid Transit Corridor and the Central Subway. 

His office also noted that Tumlin led the agency during COVID and a "financial crisis." 

SFMTA's revenues in 2023-2024 were $275 million, or 16% less than they were before the pandemic.

The loss of revenue left the agency with a projected $214 million shortfall by 2027 if the agency doesn't change it's funding model. 

Tumlin said he's been pursuing a long-term solution with the Muni funding working group which has brought together policy-makers, business and labor to develop a long-term strategy. 

"We will be finalizing the consensus strategy for Muni Funding Working Group probably in March and that is one of the key things that is going to be handed over to Mayor-Elect Lurie," said Tumlin.

Tumlin has worked with the San Francisco Controller’s Office to set up a working group to gather public input, identify solutions and prioritize options to address the SFMTA’s funding gap, his office said.

Mayor London Breed, who selected Tumlin to head the SFMTA, released a statement reading in part, "Change can be hard, but Jeff was not afraid to make those decisions necessary to allow people to move safely and efficiently across this city. MTA is a challenging department to run, and I want to thank Jeff for leading this department and serving our city."