New MuniMobile® App Available Today! By Kharima Mohamed The SFMTA has released a new version of the MuniMobile® app, providing enhanced trip planning, service alerts and real-time transit predictions. The mobile app will continue to offer mobile ticketing people can access on their smartphones. Meanwhile, the original version of the MuniMobile® app will be phased out and shut down on Monday, Jan. 15, 2024. What does that mean for MuniMobile customers? MuniMobile® customers now can now download the new app to their smartphone. Customers will need to create a new user account with the new MuniMobile® app as accounts are not transferrable. Anyone with active tickets on the previous MuniMobile® app can use those tickets until they expire or until Jan. 15, whichever comes first. However, as of today (Dec. 4, 2023), customers using the previous MuniMobile® app will not be able to buy new tickets. In order to ensure an easy transition before your next Muni trip, please take a mo
It’s Electric! Battery Buses Then and Now By Jeremy Menzies Battery-electric buses and cars have been hitting the streets around the nation in recent years, and here in San Francisco, the SFMTA is currently running a pilot program to test battery powered buses across the system. The pilot analyzes not only the buses themselves, but also how the technology works in the real world of stop-and-go traffic and hill-climbing. Surprising as it may seem, this pilot program is not the first time battery electric buses appeared on the streets of SF. Here’s a look back at one test that took place over 50 years ago. While battery electric vehicles date back nearly 200 years to the 1830s, it took over a century for them to see widespread commercial success due to the limitations of the battery technology. One of the first times Muni tested a battery-powered bus was in November 1972. Dubbed the “Electrobus”, this small vehicle was tested on the 39 Coit route up Telegraph Hill. This rout