New Report on San Francisco Transportation Trends: Driving on the Rise

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency recently released its latest assessment of transportation trends in the city, the San Francisco Mobility Trends Report 2018. "Compiled by SFMTA staff, the report assesses which methods of transit SF residents are most likely to use, employing everything from traffic counts to official ridership stats from transit agencies to Census data about bike use," reports Adam Brinklow.

While the report says that transit use and cycling has increased since 2010, particular time frames tell different stories. For example, transit ridership is still down from a peak in 2002, and biking has decreased in recent years, with a more than 24 percent drop since 2015.

In addition, the growth in San Francisco's population has resulted in a 6 percent increase in registered vehicles since 2010 as well as more congestion. The report says that half of the congestion from 2010 to 2016 can be attributed to ride hailing and the other half to population and employment changes.

The increase in transit use in San Francisco distinguishes it from most other U.S. cities where transit ridership is in decline. "However, it’s still clear from the analysis that City Hall has trouble breaking San Franciscans from their reliance on cars. Silicon Valley is only exacerbating the situation," notes Brinklow.