Muni Kiosks on the Way

San Francisco Muni has $829,000 to spend and they're putting it into two new ticketing kiosks, according to The Examiner. One might think this is an exorbitant amount of money for a couple of giant droids plopped down on the corner, especially in the midst of Muni's $21 million deficit, but rest assured, the funding comes from regional and federal grants, according to Muni spokesman Paul Rose.

While unable to produce a specific breakdown of the costs, Rose mentioned the mere transportation of the units from the assembly point on The Embarcadero ran up a tab of $12,000 alone.

Rose also noted that these costs do not come from the agency's operating budget.

Jerry Cauthen, member of the Save Muni watchdog group, says the kiosk costs are absurd.

“Those kiosks have to look nice and they need to be durable, but something is going on there,” said Cauthen. “Even at $500 per square foot — which is very expensive — the costs don’t come close to adding up. Locals are obsessed with this so-called ‘free money’ from the federal government, they don’t care what they spend it on.”

The kiosks are built to be "almost indestructible" according to Olle Lundberg, founder of Lundberg Design, the company which designed the modules. They will be constructed of stainless steel panels, bulletproof glass and require little maintenance.

Passengers will be able to purchase all forms of transit fares at the kiosks. The first of the two units will be located at Geary Boulevard and Presidio Avenue, and the second at Powell and Market later this month.

Contact Us