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The Market Street Railway mural shows a 180-degree bird's eye view of San Francisco's Market Street through time, divided vertically into sections corresponding to different moments in history from the 1920's onwards and into an imaginary future.
Image: Market Street Railway Mural by Mona Caron

Looking Ahead: San Francisco's Transportation Future 

Worsening congestion. Crowded transit lines. More miles driven by cars. Insufficient transportation access for underserved communities. 

The struggles that San Francisco’s transportation network faces today give us a preview of the challenges that lie ahead. These challenges are typical of older cities that are experiencing aging pains and growing pains at the same time.

San Francisco in the Year 2050 

As part of the multi-agency ConnectSF initiative, we recently looked at projections for San Francisco’s transportation network in 2050. With 180,000 new jobs and 365,000 new residents, San Francisco’s transportation system will struggle to meet the needs of our population.  

Our projections for 2050 identified three main challenge areas: 

Equity: Commute times will worsen for San Francisco’s Communities of Concern. Access to high-quality transit will drop, and gains in access to jobs will lag behind non-Communities of Concern. 

Sustainability: San Francisco will not meet our 80 percent sustainable trips mode share goal and vehicle miles driven will increase. These projections are at odds with our city’s climate action goals.

Congestion and transit crowding: Congestion will worsen and transit lines will become more crowded. 

We’re Working to Fill the Gaps

Using the city’s Connect SF goals as a guide, we're creating a game plan to address these challenges and build a better future. We’ll need to think big about the projects, policies, and funding sources that will get us there. 

ConnectSF Goals

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ConnectSF Goal: Equity
Equity
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ConnectSF Goal: Economic Vitality
Economic Vitality
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ConnectSF Goal: Environmental Sustainability
Environmental Sustainability
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ConnectSF Goal: Safety and Livability
Safety and Livability
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ConnectSF Goal: Accountability and Engagement
Accountability and Engagement

San Francisco Transportation Plan 2050: $100 Billion in Investments 

The Transportation Authority is kicking off work on the city’s long-range transportation investment and policy blueprint in coordination with ConnectSF. 

The San Francisco Transportation Plan—to be released in 2021—will establish the city’s priorities for about $100 billion in transportation investments expected through 2050. Much of the $100 billion in funding is needed to maintain San Francisco’s transportation system, but billions will be prioritized for new projects. We’ll identify some of these new projects through ConnectSF. 

We will use the San Francisco Transportation Plan to inform the city's contributions to Plan Bay Area 2050, the transportation and sustainability plan for the region. By ensuring San Francisco’s priorities are in the regional plan, we’ll be better-positioned to secure funding for these projects. We will also need to identify new funding sources to fulfill the entire $100 billion investment plan.

Planning for a Better Transportation Future with ConnectSF

We are also working with SFMTA, SF Planning, and the Office of Economic and Workforce Development on ConnectSF. Together, we are conducting a set of studies to address our 2050 future transportation needs in collaboration with regional and state partners like BART, Caltrain, and California High-Speed Rail. 

The Transit Corridors Study will focus on the next generation of local and regional transit projects for San Francisco.

The Streets and Freeways Study will identify a preferred long-range strategy and project ideas for San Francisco’s freeways and major arterials.

An update to the Transportation Element of the General Plan will formalize transportation policies and the long-range transportation vision for San Francisco.

These studies will take place in the next 12-18 months with public input from workshops, outreach to community and neighborhood groups, and online engagement opportunities.

Get Involved 

We hope you’ll join us as we work to shape San Francisco’s transportation future. Sign up for email updates or request a presentation to your group or organization by emailing connectsf@sfgov.org.

Want to learn more about the transportation gaps we identified as part of our 2050 Statement of Needs? Take a tour of the interactive maps below and let us know what you think in each map's feedback box.

Resources 

ConnectSF Statement of Needs overview, presented to Transportation Authority board, May 21, 2019:

Presentation (PDF)

Watch on SFGovTV (starts at 33:41)

Related Content

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ConnectSF is a multi-agency collaborative process to build an effective, equitable, and sustainable transportation system for San Francisco’s future.
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Updated every four years, the San Francisco Transportation Plan is the blueprint for the city's transportation system development and investment over the next 30 years.