San Francisco, CA — Mayor London N. Breed joined Police Chief William Scott, San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Director Jeff Tumlin and San Francisco Unified School District (SFUSD) Superintendent Dr. Matt Wayne today to remind the community about the importance of pedestrian and traffic safety ahead of SFUSD’s first day of school, which begins tomorrow.
This year, SFMTA is providing crossing guards stationed at 106 public and private schools across San Francisco. The Crossing Guard Program includes 180 Crossing Guards who cover 154 City intersections.
“As we welcome students back to school and celebrate this new milestone in their lives, we want to make sure that our streets and sidewalks are safe, not only for the students and staff, but for all commuters across San Francisco,” said Mayor London Breed. “While this week we are focused on ensuring safety measures are in place for the beginning of the school year, we will continue to implement initiatives to ensure year-round safety for pedestrians and bicyclists.”
Over the past several years, the City has designed streets to reduce traffic speeds and increase visibility of pedestrians and bicyclists and built more protected bike lanes. In addition to street design improvements to increase safety for bicyclists and pedestrians, the City will continue efforts to increase traffic enforcement. Mayor Breed has instructed the San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) to increase enforcement of dangerous driving most likely to result in collisions and to increase traffic patrol around all schools in San Francisco during start times and end times.
“We urge drivers to slow down, watch for pedestrians and obey the 15 mile-per-hour limit in school zones for the safety of our students and everyone else,” said SFPD Chief William Scott. “As a driver's speed increases, so does the likelihood of a collision causing severe injury. Please, slow down and help make our streets safer for other motorists, bicyclists and pedestrians of all ages.”
Approximately 50,000 students attend SFUSD schools with 10,000 staff, and approximately half of enrolled students will use Muni for their daily commute. Every SFUSD school is served by at least one Muni route, and SFMTA plans to increase Muni service after school as part of the annual “school trippers” service to address crowding and improved travel times. Additionally, SFMTA will continue its Free Muni for Youth Program, which allows youth under the age of 19 to ride Muni without proof of payment.
“We are excited for the first day of the school year and our operators, crossing guards and Muni Transit Ambassador Program (MTAP) staff look forward to helping students, parents, and teachers get to school as quickly and safely as possible,” said SFMTA Director of Transportation Jeff Tumlin. “To address crowding and improve travel times, we’ve brought back the 28R, the last of our rapid lines, updated bus stops for the 29 Sunset, and restored additional Muni service. Also, we’ll be having Muni’s school tripper service just in time for the start of school. Whether it’s riding Muni, biking, walking, rolling, or carpooling, we wish everyone a great and safe school year.”
This school year, SFMTA’s Safe Routes to School program will again partner with SFUSD schools, local community centers, City departments, and pedestrian safety non-profits and programs to help ensure walking and bicycling to school is safe and accessible for children, including those with disabilities. The program provides resources, classes, and events, and leads group walks and bicycle rides for families and students of K-12 public schools.
"This week we are welcoming thousands of staff and tens of thousands of students to San Francisco public schools," said SFUSD Superintendent Dr. Matt Wayne. "Safety is our number one priority, and this includes getting students to school safely. We're grateful to our City partners that work to keep students and staff safe when we travel around the city, whether by bus, train, bike, car, foot or another way."
SFUSD also provides safe and reliable transportation to and from school for eligible students and activities, including the following:
- Curb-to-curb transportation for students with Individualized Education Programs (IEPs)
- Limited General Education busing prioritized for focal students, with capacity based on demand
Visit sfusd.edu/transportation for more information and this page to learn about SFUSD’s work to deliver safe schools, including their Student and Parent Notification and the Say Something Anonymous Reporting System.
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