At its July 14 meeting, the AC Transit Board reviewed its priorities for restoring service that had been cut early in the pandemic. Lines that had the highest ridership and serving disadvantaged communities were understandably given high priority.
Unfortunately, this leaves the M bus, which had been the only public transit line on the San Mateo Bridge (92) between San Mateo/Foster City, without any service, and without any specific plans to restore service.
Before Covid, the M bus had low ridership. And, before Covid, it had a schedule with the last Eastbound bus at 6:30pm and the last Westbound bus at 5:30pm; and no service between 10am and 3pm. It’s not surprising that a service with such infrequent service had low ridership, as part of a death spiral leading to the current comatose state.
On October the 27th/28th, the Metropolitan Transportation Commission will appropriate the remainder of federal relief funds for transit, with a goal of restoring service. Might this be an opportunity to revive the only public bus on an important transportation link in the region?
Also, one of the recommendations of the region’s Blue Ribbon Transit Recovery Task Force was to develop a regional service plan for trains and buses. Would a regionally planned network offer public transit with a useful frequency and hours of service across a major transbay artery?
What do you think about bringing back the “M” bus?