The Facts

Muni wants to keep buying hybrid buses through 2031 rather than switch those purchases to battery-electric models. On September 1, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) Board authorized requests for five annual exemptions from state purchase rules, covering 2027 through 2031. California must still approve the exemptions.

The Context

The agency estimates the delay would avoid $223 million in higher vehicle costs and postpone $229 million in charging infrastructure: $452 million in capital spending, not annual operating savings. No bus yard can be fully electrified before Potrero Yard’s expected completion in 2030.

There’s also a climate argument: Miriam Pinski argues in Works in Progress that frequent, reliable transit can reduce emissions more effectively than expensive bus electrification by replacing car trips.

The GrowSF Take

The SFMTA Board made the right call. Transit’s climate value isn’t just what comes out of a bus’s tailpipe; it’s also the car trips that bus replaces. Buying expensive battery buses at the expense of useful service would undermine that mission. The California Air Resources Board should grant the temporary exemptions so Muni can replace aging buses without committing to charging facilities it cannot yet afford.