SFMTA Director Jeffrey Tumlin to leave

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. 

"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. 

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.

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.