Julie Kirschbaum named Director of Transportation as first woman to lead SFMTA which faces budget shortfall and reduced services

SAN FRANCISCO — As a woman trailblazer in public transit, Julie Kirschbaum was named the Director of Transportation in San Francisco to lead an agency, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA), which faces challenges of a projected deficit of $320 million and reduced services including the controversial "Short” route of 30 Stockton which serves the riders traveling to and from Chinatown. 

The SFMTA is one of the largest city agencies in San Francisco hiring 6,000 employees and serving 433,000 riders on a weekday. In addition to the Municipal Railway (Muni) public transit, the SFMTA has oversight over bicycling, paratransit, parking, traffic, walking, and taxis.

Mayor Daniel Lurie made an announcement on February 18 that he and the SFMTA Board of Directors appointed Kirschbaum as the permanent Director of Transportation to succeed Jeff Tumlin who decided not to seek reappointment after his 5-year contract expired at the end of 2024.

Kirschbaum has served as Acting Director of Transportation since January 1, 2025. The latest appointment has made her the first woman Director of Transportation in the history of San Francisco.

Back in 2018, Kirschbaum had made history as the first woman to serve as the agency's Director of Transit who was in charge of the systemwide redesign of Muni service prior to serving as Acting Director. She led the division through the COVID-19 pandemic and began instituting the changes that are making Muni service better today than it has been in decades, according to SFMTA.

Before joining the SFMTA in 2007, Kirschbaum was a senior transportation planner with the San Francisco County Transportation Authority and previously had worked as a consultant in the private sector. She received her undergraduate degree from Brown University and a master’s degree in Transportation and Urban Planning from the Massachusetts Institute of Technology.

“Julie Kirschbaum has delivered transformative change and real results for hundreds of thousands of Muni riders, and that’s exactly the kind of leader the SFMTA needs right now,” said Mayor Lurie. “Under her leadership, Muni has reached new heights for speed, reliability, cleanliness, and safety.”

“Having a world-class transportation system is key to San Francisco’s economic recovery, and I’m going to make sure we maintain the incredible improvements we’ve made to the Muni system, despite the SFMTA’s daunting financial challenges," Kirschbaum said in a statement when the appointment was announced.

"Fighting for transportation funding is going to be one of my top priorities. But an equally important priority is going to be rebuilding trust where trust has been lost between our agency and some of the communities and businesses we serve," Kirschbaum added. "I’m committed to listening, collaborating, and bringing people together to come up with solutions that will benefit all of us.”

Due to the significant budget shortfall, the SFMTA proposed plans of reduced services including a reduction on 30 Stockton bus line late in 2024 with a proposal to cut the "Short" route which serves especially the riders coming to and leaving from Chinatown starting February 1, 2025.

The 30 Stockton has two route patterns that overlap, “Long”(30 Stockton) and “Short” (30S Stockton). The Long 30 Stockton runs the entire bus route between the Presidio and Caltrain. The 30S Stockton “Short” route has provided additional service only on the most crowded portions of the route which includes Chinatown and Union Square, the SFMTA says.

The "Short" 30S Stockton usually runs between Van Ness Avenue and North Point Street and Caltrain. The SFMTA proposed in 2024 to reduce 30S Stockton service in response to the upcoming huge deficit by running the "Short" route between Van Ness Avenue and North Point Street and Union Square without reaching Caltrain Station. No changes have been proposed yet on the "Long" route.

Members of the Chinatown community opposed the reduced service on 30S Stockton which would affect the most vulnerable monolingual Chinese-speaking elders who go to Chinatown for shopping and groceries from other neighborhoods.

Merchants complained that the shorter version of the "Short" route would hurt the businesses by bringing fewer tourists and customers to Chinatown.

SFMTA argued that changes of 30S Stockton would happen because of the SFMTA’s budget shortfall. Other Muni lines in the area would provide the same service including the 30 Stockton which runs every 12 minutes, 45 Union-Stockton and T Third which both run every 10 minutes, connecting riders to SoMa and Caltrain, SFMTA said.

SFMTA delayed the date to reduce 30S Stockton service from February 1 to March 15 in order to provide additional Muni service during February and March events, the Lunar New Year celebration, NBA All-Star Weekend and upcoming Central Subway temporary closure for maintenance work between February 26 to March 14.

Kirschbaum announced on March 3 in Central Subway Chinatown station that the SFMTA would modify the timing and routing of the 30S Stockton after receiving community feedback.

Under the latest plan, the 30S Stockton Short southbound will turn left at Folsom, left on Third, and then rejoin its original northbound route starting March 15.

"Riders traveling to Caltrain can continue using the 30 Stockton, 45 Union/Stockton, and T Third," Kirschbaum said. "This change allows us to use the same resources to provide more transit coverage. It does, however, result in slightly less frequent service on the revised 30S Stockton Short route."

Kirschbaum said the SFMTA would be monitoring the new routing to evaluate traffic impacts and travel times and would make adjustments as needed in future service changes.

Editor's note: The article has been updated with the latest development on the modification of the 30S Stockton route.