The five-year reign of SFMTA director Jeffrey Tumlin will come to an end on December 31, and while he steered Muni through the pandemic and saw some big projects completed, he was a lightning rod for criticism over bike lanes and car-free streets.

Yes, that man standing to the left of Willie Brown in the photo above is wearing a custom suit depicting the Muni light-rail map. That man is SF Municipal Transit Agency (SFMTA) director Jeffrey Tumlin, who was appointed right before the pandemic hit, after the rocky tenure of his predecessor Ed Reiskin, and amidst reports that several other candidates had turned down the job.

And now Tumlin is turning down the job going forward. The Chronicle reports that Tumlin announced he is resigning as SFMTA director after five tumultuous years on the job.

According to KQED, Tumlin will resign effective December 31, which is the date his contract ends, and will make his formal announcement of this at Tuesday’s SFMTA board meeting. He will appoint current SFMTA director of transit Julie Kirschbaum as his interim successor, and Mayor-Elect Daniel Lurie will have his pick for a permanent new SFMTA chief.

“One of the responsibilities of any leader is knowing when it is time to wrap up and hand the keys over to the next generation. And we’re leaving at a high point. Muni is faster and more frequent and more reliable than it has been in decades,” Tumlin said in a statement to KQED. “I have such an incredible crew at the MTA who’s ready to step it up.”

Tumlin took over right as the controversial car-free Market Street plan was about to take effect. But even larger problems loomed on the horizon.  

Just months into the job, Tumlin's transit agency ran into the buzzsaw that was COVID-19. Muni was forced to seriously curtail service early in his watch, and it was a lengthy process bringing bus and train lines back. He also established many Slow Streets during the pandemic, which has been a pretty popular program.

Tumlin saw some notable projects completed under his watch, like the Central Subway, the Van Ness BRT red bus lanes, and the resurrection of the L Taraval light rail line. Those projects generally started well before Tumlin’s tenure, but they were completed under his watch, so some credit is due. And Muni ridership satisfaction has increased under the Jeffrey Tumlin administration.

But people have been calling for Tumlin to be fired in recent months, in large part because of the failed Valencia bike lane experiment. And Tumlin’s critiques of the self-driving robotaxi industry, however justified, made Tumlin a hated man among the venture capital and tech crowds.  

Yet Tumln had his supporters.

“I’ve been a daily Muni rider for 27 years, and under Jeff’s leadership, Muni is better than it’s ever been during that time period,” state Senator Scott Wiener told KQED. “Service is faster and more reliable due to Jeff’s focus on making Muni work, and as a result Muni rider satisfaction surveys are at historic highs.”

Whomever is the next SFMTA director faces a $214 million SFMTA deficit, and ridership at just 74% of pre-pandemic levels. And that person will also inherit the controversial hot potato of enforcing the new “daylighting” parking law, the enforcement of which is already off to a shaky start.

Related: Multiple Transit Directors Nationwide Reportedly Turned Down SFMTA Job [SFist]

Image: @jeffreytumlin via Twitter