SFMTA moves to ease packed Muni 29-Sunset for San Francisco students

At Lowell High School, the last bell can mean a long wait on the curb while full 29-Sunset buses roll past packed with riders already inside. For students who depend on the line, the commute has become a daily lesson in how transit reliability shapes whether class starts on time.

Kaito Glaub, a Lowell student, described waiting through multiple full buses and sometimes standing there for half an hour before getting on. That frustration has helped drive a student-led push for fixes on a route that runs about 14 miles from the Presidio to Bayview, passes through Parkmerced, and has become one of the city’s most important crosstown lines.

The San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is now moving ahead with Phase Two of the 29-Sunset Improvement Project, a Muni Forward effort aimed at improving travel time and reliability, rider amenities, accessibility and crosstown transit options. The SFMTA board approved the phase on May 19. The work includes bus stop consolidations, better shelters and lighting, wider sidewalks, traffic-calming changes and other infrastructure meant to reduce delays and overcrowding.

The agency has said the line carries heavy all-day ridership beyond the school commute. In one May 2026 board presentation, the 29-Sunset was described as carrying 18,000 riders per day. In a February 2026 presentation, it was listed at 17,000 riders per day. SFMTA materials also say the route serves many students, low-income residents and people of color, including 4 of the city’s 9 equity neighborhoods.

The new phase focuses on the southern half of the route, including Ingleside, the Excelsior and Bayview, where long waits and packed buses hit families far from downtown especially hard. SFMTA has said the broader project is meant to pave the way for future 29R Sunset Rapid service if funding is secured for operations.

Lowell students have been pressing for changes for years. Transit-advocacy coverage from 2021 said Lowell students had already been leading the effort for more than five years, and a 2019 report quoted then-transit club president Griffin Santa on the need for more frequent buses during school commute times. SFUSD Transit Clubs materials list Lowell as served by the 29 and other Muni lines, underscoring how central the route is to the school day.

The May 19 hearing also showed how many interests now collide on the same corridor. The San Francisco Bicycle Coalition backed bike improvements on San Bruno Avenue, while Director Felder asked staff to return in roughly 90 days with alternative designs before those changes move ahead. On the west side and in the southeast, the city is trying to solve the same problem from multiple angles: make one of Muni’s most crowded routes work for students, families and the riders who use it all day.