[8organicbits]

How much of those stats are pandemic related? (i.e. were true in 2019).

I'm ex-bay area since 2016, but I recall standing room only BART and shoulder-to-shoulder CALTRAIN can't add another body when heading to south bay. Although I didn't take SF bus, or send kids to Kindergarten.

[rahimnathwani]

The stats I quoted (drop from 70k to 50k) are not pandemic related. The drop has been gradual, as SF has become less hospitable to people with kids (costs, safety, school quality).

The enrollment dropped from 2019 to now, but by something like 5k (on my phone and don't have the exact stats handy).

My anecdotes about the last few journeys I took are recent, not from 2019. But, even in 2019, my experience of public transport in San Francisco was that it was far less crowded than that in London, New York or Beijing.

SF's roads are not congested. If buses were to become crowded due to increased population, we could just buy more buses and increase the frequency. This would keep crowding at current levels, whilst reducing wait times, thus making buses far more convenient than they are today.

Regarding Caltrain: if SF had more housing, fewer people who work in SF would need to live outside and take Caltrain in.