After a series of service cuts this year, the SF Municipal Transit Agency is taking the axe to every other one of its departments across the board, which could mean more bus shelters in disrepair, and repair backlogs on vehicles.

Muni riders have already felt the pain of service cuts because of the agency’s projected $322 million deficit that it will be looking at come the beginning of the city’s next fiscal year. The SF Municipal Transit Agency (SFMTA) that runs Muni has already cut the mid-day frequency on some of the city’s most popular bus lines, and five bus lines had their routes trimmed in June. The SFMTA has already cut bus service, and they say they’re determined to not do so again.

But even those service cuts are “a couple million here, a couple million there,” a drop in the bucket of that projected $322 million deficit. So today’s Chronicle reports that the SFMTA is now ordering 5%-7% cuts across the board in all departments, in hopes of avoiding the so-called "fiscal cliff” that would lead to far more drastic service cuts and layoffs.

“We’re not touching routes or headways,” SFMTA CFO Bree Mawhorter told the Chronicle. “But we might have to target other aspects of the service. Tires might get rotated every six months instead of every three. Which means more wear and tear on the tires. Which might lead to tire replacement costs over the long term.”

That’s one example of the maintenance cuts that may well be looming, and the Chron indicates there could be hiring freezes or possible even layoffs among janitors, mechanics, and maintenance workers. For you the rider, that could mean long delays on bus shelter repairs, repairs to vehicles, or those fancy new digital arrival-time signs more frequently being busted up and worthless.

And in a sense, many of these problems would effectively manifest as service cuts. If there’s a backlog on vehicle repairs, that would likely mean fewer vehicles in service.

State Senator Scott Wiener is plotting some sort of regional transit ballot tax measure for the 2026 ballot that would bolster the coffers of the struggling Muni, BART, and other transit agencies. And the Chronicle adds that “Daniel Lurie is planning a separate local revenue measure to support Muni."

But neither is guaranteed to pass, and frankly, neither is even guaranteed to make the ballot. Wiener’s ballot measure is particularly likely to be a longshot, because it would be a regional, multi-county ballot measure. And it seems unlikely that people in the wealthy Silicon Valley enclaves of San Mateo County are keen to be taxed more to save government public transportation agencies.

Even if both measures should pass, that revenue does not start rolling in until 2027. And even with that extra revenue, the SFMTA still projects a $100 million deficit.

So any bus lines slashed or Muni jobs cut are probably not coming back, even if SFMTA does get some more money from those proposed bailout ballot measures.

Related: Muni Service Cuts Kick In Saturday, Five Bus Lines Getting Their Routes Trimmed [SFist]

Image: SFMTA