San Francisco Launches On-Demand Shuttle Service in Bayview-Hunters Point

San Francisco transportation officials on Wednesday announced the launch of an on-demand shuttle service in Bayview-Hunters Point that costs the same as a Muni fare.

The Bayview Community Shuttle, which can be accessed through an app, includes a fleet of bright purple and yellow electric vans — some designed specifically for wheelchair accessibility. The service is offering free rides through Dec. 11.

The grant-funded initiative, which is set to run until at least 2026, is a response to “years of disinvestment from agencies such as mine,” Jeffrey Tumlin, director of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Authority, said at Wednesday’s launch event in the Bayview neighborhood.

“We are here in repair, and we are here as a result of listening,” added Tumlin, whose agency launched the initiative in partnership with the California Air Resources Board and Via, a transportation software company. “We worked with the community in order to understand what our community needs and how we can co-design a strategy in order to repair decades of disinvestment in this neighborhood.”

Through the app — which has Tagalog, Cantonese and Spanish translation options — users can hail a ride from anywhere in the shuttle service zone, and be dropped off at any location within that area. The shuttle also travels to several outside locations, including the 24th Street Mission BART Station and Zuckerberg San Francisco General Hospital — both of which can be difficult to access through the limited public transit options available in the neighborhood.

“I don’t need to repeat or to tell folks in this community what you already know and what you’ve heard already: That you’ve suffered from years of being burdened by pollution as well as lacking access to clean, safe, affordable transit options,” California Air Resources Board Member Cliff Rechtschaffen said, noting the decades of underinvestment in the historically lower-income community, that’s long been home to many of the city’s Black residents.

Marlene Tran, a resident of nearby Visitacion Valley, who has for decades lobbied for more accessible transit options and language interpreters, attended Wednesday’s event to see the new shuttle buses in action.

Tran, who relies heavily on Muni, said public transit is a “lifeline” for people like her and urged Muni to focus more on outreach to minority ethnic groups.

“Very few call into 311 — and they wonder why,” she said. “It’s because they need more multilingual modes of communication.”

The new initiative also aims to create local workforce pathways by recruiting Bayview residents to be shuttle drivers, with the goal of eventually getting Muni jobs, said Supervisor Shamann Walton, who represents the community.

“We wanted to make sure that the jobs provided were actually union-wage jobs,” he said. “I’m super excited about what this shuttle is going to do for access and transportation in our community.”

Dyanna Volek, a Bayview resident who works at the San Francisco International Airport, said the new program will make her commute far more convenient.

“Being able to access outer points and get to work, and being able to access BART, will be really helpful,” she said. “It’s been really difficult living in the southeast side, and I think this will make it a lot easier.”

Volek also said she was optimistic that the shuttle service could revitalize struggling small businesses in her neighborhood by increasing accessibility to the Third Street commercial corridor.

While acknowledging the city’s efforts in supporting the project, Volek said the Bayview-Hunters Point community deserved the most credit.

“Really, it’s the community who put a lot of input and told the city what they needed and what they wanted — instead of the city telling them what they needed.”

Correction: This story originally stated that the shuttle drops off passengers at only six established locations in the neighborhood. Passengers can actually be dropped off anywhere within the shuttle’s service area.