Muni’s Next 112 Buses Have USB Charging Ports, With the First in Service in October

Muni’s next 112 buses will have free USB charging ports, and the first of them enter service in October. SFMTA staff laid out the details of the order at the agency’s Board of Directors meeting on Tuesday, September 1, 2026.

What’s on the buses

The order covers 112 new buses: 94 hybrids and 18 that run on battery power alone. They are a mix of 40-foot and 60-foot coaches. Alongside the USB ports, the new buses have digital-video side mirrors that work as a visual aid for operators in addition to the standard analog mirrors, more floor space for parking strollers, and full enclosures around the operator’s seat.

The rear doors are a different design from the current fleet. They are plug-style doors that push out and slide open, the way doors work on Muni’s light-rail cars, rather than swinging inward into the aisle.

When and where they arrive

Three manufacturers are building the buses: Gillig, New Flyer and Solaris. Deliveries arrive in batches between this month and January 2028. The first buses go into service in October out of the Woods and Islais Creek yards, which are the two facilities the SFMTA has been fitting with overhead charging equipment. The agency has not said which routes will get them first.

Director of Transit Brent Jones also told the board that more than 100 of the 550 hybrid buses already in the fleet have finished their overhaul.

How this fits the electric plan

The SFMTA’s All Electric Fleet Transition page explains why this order is mostly hybrids. Agency policy sets a target of a fully battery-electric bus fleet by 2035, ahead of the state’s 2040 requirement, but the yards have to be rebuilt and rewired first, which depends on SFPUC and PG&E. Staff proposed keeping the 2025 procurement hybrid to match the pace of the facility work. A federal Low or No Emission grant of $33 million is paying for 18 charging stations at Woods and Islais Creek.

What riders will notice sooner

Separately, Muni’s schedule changes took effect Sunday, August 29. At peak hours the N Judah and the 1 California now run every nine minutes, the 5R Fulton Rapid uses 60-foot buses on every trip, and the 22 Fillmore, 29 Sunset, 38R Geary Rapid and 49 Van Ness-Mission got added capacity. SFGuide covered those changes here.

Sources: the SFMTA’s September 1, 2026 Transit Update presentation to its Board of Directors, and reporting by SFist and the San Francisco Chronicle.

Photo: a Muni bus on Market Street at Kearny. Credit: Alfred Twu, CC0, via Wikimedia Commons.