United States
San Francisco
UMR Index Rank
#1
(+3)
Score: 68%
Sustainable Mobility
#18
(+6)
Score: 59.4%
Public Transit
#24
(-5)
Score: 56.1%
Technology Adoption
#1
Score: 71.8%
| Population | 5.1 million |
| Surface area (km2) | 2,872 |
| Population-density (people/km2) | 1,774 |
| GDP per capita ($) | 134,900 |
UMR Index Rank
#1
(+3)
Score: 68%
Sustainable Mobility
#18
(+6)
Score: 59.4%
Public Transit
#24
(-5)
Score: 56.1%
Technology Adoption
#1
Score: 71.8%
What San Francisco Does Well In Urban Mobility
San Francisco ranks first in this year’s edition of the Urban Mobility Readiness Index and scores particularly well in innovation, claiming the first spot in the Technology Adoption sub-index.
San Francisco has significant public and private mobility investment, including for purchasing electric vehicles (EVs) and installing charging stations. The city aims for 25% of all new registered vehicles to be electric by 2030 and to install over 1,500 public chargers by the same year. Some public charging stations are even free.
San Francisco is also encouraging autonomous vehicle technologies and intends to be an early adopter of new urban air mobility solutions like air taxis. In August 2023 the city allowed commercial robo-taxi operations for the first time. Companies are announcing intentions for air mobility networks that could bring electric vertical take-off and landing aircrafts to San Francisco as early as the end of 2025. Proposed networks may connect cities across the Bay Area, including South San Francisco, Napa, Oakland, San Jose, and Livermore, aiming to reduce travel times to 10 to 20 minutes, down from one to two hours by car.
The city is also a hot spot for research and development efforts by universities and private institutions in the mobility sector, including in artificial intelligence and machine learning.
Source: Oliver Wyman Forum and University of California, Berkeley
Challenges And Opportunities For San Francisco’s Transportation System
With low public transit station density, San Francisco’s ridership levels remain relatively limited and many city residents rely on private cars to get around. The city’s transit plan calls for building a new station in the southeastern neighborhood of Bayview that would put 2,500 low-income residents within a half-mile (800 meters) of the Caltrain commuter rail system, but progress has been slow since a study was completed in 2022. Separately, San Francisco was awarded more than $163 million in funding from California authorities in September 2023 to develop more housing, transit improvements, and infrastructure.
Citywide challenges in active mobility infrastructure continue, with difficulties in cycling stemming from a lack of dedicated cycling infrastructure, compounded by hilly terrain. However, San Francisco has a 10-to- 15-year plan to allocate funding for new low- vehicle-traffic streets that better serve cyclists and pedestrians and to make e-bike offerings more accessible. There are also several cycling infrastructure projects under construction or recently completed, such as concrete buffers and designated bike signals along protected bike lanes.
Source: Oliver Wyman Forum and University of California, Berkeley
How San Francisco Can Improve Its Urban Mobility Performance
San Francisco has been proactive in tackling some of its most pressing issues by bolstering public transport and active mobility offerings, yet further efforts can help. San Francisco can introduce more stops and stations along its commuting lines to help increase accessibility and ridership, which can reduce car usage. Focusing on bus and tram services would be a resource-efficient option compared with developing additional metro and rail stations, especially in the short run. Investing in more zero-emission buses as part of such expansion efforts also would help San Francisco meet its sustainability goals.
Nearly half of trips in San Francisco are taken with private cars. The Bay Area city lags behind peers like New York City in terms of reducing car ownership, with residents owning more than twice as many cars as New Yorkers per capita. The authorities can discourage car usage by removing parking availability and, most of all, promoting alternatives such as public transit along with active and shared mobility. San Francisco can boost active mobility by investing further in pedestrian walkways and bike lanes, heightening traffic enforcement to ensure safety, and supporting bike-sharing initiatives.
Source: Oliver Wyman Forum and University of California, Berkeley