SFMTA announces Ocean Avenue red lane implementation to begin in 2027, Chinese community complains the city fail to listen to them

SAN FRANCISCO — Although Chinese American merchants and residents in the neighborhood have strongly opposed the Ocean Avenue Red Lane Project, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency (SFMTA) announced the project's implementation will begin in 2027. The Chinese community is outraged that two Supervisors, who represent the Ocean Avenue business corridor, and the city have failed to listen to them, the largest ethnic group in the areas.

The Ocean Avenue business corridor is located in the Ingleside District, spanning from San Jose Avenue in the Outer Mission neighborhood to 19th Avenue next to the Sunset District. During the past decade, more Chinese and Asian stores opened, creating a relatively new Asian business corridor in San Francisco, in addition to the traditional Chinatown, Clement Street, and Irving Street Asian business corridors.

Headcount numbers show that among the 130 small businesses on the Ocean Avenue corridor, about 50% are Asian-owned, with the majority being Chinese Americans.

Shoppers along the Ocean Avenue corridor are not limited to the residents in the surrounding neighborhoods. Because City College of San Francisco's main campus is located in the area and the corridor connects to both the Sunset District and the southeast side of the city, shoppers on Ocean Avenue frequently come from all over the city.

Congressional candidate Saikat Chakrabarti, who is running for District 11 to represent San Francisco in the June 2 election, urged the city to listen to all stakeholders to reach a solution that meets the community's needs.

Chakrabarti walked along the Ocean Avenue corridor on May 22. Whenever merchants and residents spoke to Chakrabarti, the topic was almost entirely the latest SFMTA announcement regarding the red lane project implementation.

“Being a leader means bringing people together to work out compromise. It doesn’t mean forcing our own belief on communities and businesses that are already struggling," Chakrabarti said after the merchant walk.

Chinese Americans who spoke to Chakrabarti during his merchant walk compared the similarity of the Ocean Avenue Red Lane project to the closure of Great Highway, noting that the city ignored and overlooked their voices.

"[State Senator] Scott Wiener and [former Mayor] London Breed, for a decade, have forced projects into neighborhoods without listening to small businesses, and they are rightly sick of it," Chakrabarti said.

"I’m pro public transit and support efforts to make Muni service faster. But I also believe that impacted communities and small businesses must have a real voice in decisions that affect them," Chakrabarti added. "On this project, I commit to listening to all stakeholders and pushing to make sure they are able to work together towards a solution that works for the neighborhood.”

Yong Luo was one of those who spoke to Chakrabarti at the A1 Bakery on Ocean Avenue. Luo owns a financial service company that serves restaurants and supermarkets, resides in Ingleside, and is a mother of school-aged children.

Luo said the future Ocean Avenue Red Lane project would impact local small businesses and her daily life.

"I am not against the left-turn restrictions on Ocean Avenue. But an exclusive red lane for Muni buses only will create a lot of chaos for everyone—not only merchants, but also residents, students at City College, shoppers and visitors," said Luo.

"While all vehicles are squeezed into only one lane in each direction on Ocean Avenue, the traffic jam will, of course, hurt all businesses. Students at City College and workers will be delayed getting to school and their offices, although some of them take Muni buses to school or work," said Luo.

She is aware that the SFMTA and the city wanted to encourage more residents to take public transit. “But for me, it is not workable or efficient enough to manage my time," Luo continued. "I always need to go to restaurants and supermarkets to help our clients, while simultaneously taking my children to and from school and running errands. How can I do my work while taking Muni? It is not realistic."

"In the meantime, more vehicles jamming into only one lane will make the streets even more dangerous," Luo said.

"Drivers and pedestrians are eager to compete for spaces to move forward, ultimately, the entire community in the surrounding neighborhoods will suffer." Luo said traffic on Ocean Avenue is currently very light throughout most of the day except for slightly slower movement during the morning and evening rush hours.

Red lane project exclusively designed for K Ingleside trains

The red lane project managed by the SFMTA is exclusively designed for the K Ingleside light rail trains. Several merchants and residents told Wind Newspaper that the K trains are not significantly impacted by private vehicles in the current situation, except for left-turns on Ocean Avenue.

At the request of District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar who also serves as an San Francisco County Transportation Authority (SFCTA) board member, the SFCTA formed a task force of residents, businesses, and community representatives to prioritize existing transportation concepts and identify new concepts to improve transportation along Ocean Avenue, according to the Transportation Authority.

The full name of the Ocean Avenue Red Lane Project is K-Ingleside Rapid Project. It is part of the Ocean Avenue Mobility Action Plan, which the SFCTA developed in 2021. A final report of the plan was released in June 2023.

Under the K-Ingleside Rapid Project, the SFMTA originally scheduled the installation of the new "Public Transit-Only" lanes for January 2026. Merchants organized a "No Red Lane on Ocean Avenue" campaign against the project.

The SFMTA announced that the implementation was temporarily paused on January 13, 2026. "District 7 Supervisor Myrna Melgar’s office and District 11 Supervisor Chyanne Chen’s office will organize a working group to discuss potential transportation improvements on Ocean Avenue and ensure responsiveness to potential impacts to residents and small businesses along this corridor, " the SFMTA noted.

Two town hall meetings on Red Lane Project held on April 11 and May 4

SFMTA, Supervisors Melgar and Chen, and the Ocean Avenue Association had co-hosted two town hall meetings on April 11 and May 4 regarding the proposed Ocean Avenue Red Lane Project.

While supporters of the red lane project spoke at the town hall meeting on May 4, they cited pedestrian safety and more efficient transit services as reasons to favor the project. The Chinese American merchants and residents also actively engaged in the meeting to speak out against it.

"Did the city conduct any study on the vehicle impacts of the Ocean Avenue Red Lane Project?" Edward Siu, President of the Merchants United Association of San Francisco, raised a question at the May 4 town hall meeting in City College. SFMTA gave no direct answers to the question.

The Merchants United Association of San Francisco, founded in Chinatown in 2020 during the pandemic, expanded in April to include membership from merchants along the Ocean Avenue corridor. Currently the association's merchant members are from Chinatown, Sunset and Ocean Avenue.

Recently Siu joined merchants and residents in sending letters to Mayor Daniel Lurie and SFMTA Director Julie Kirschbaum demanding the suspension of the transit-only lane along the Ocean Avenue corridor.

"Reducing available vehicle lanes may significantly worsen congestion and increase traffic diversion into nearby residential streets, impacting neighborhood safety and quality of life," Siu said. "We believe the current 'Red Lane' design is inappropriate for the operational realities of Ocean Avenue."

SFMTA announces transit-only lanes on some sections of Ocean Avenue to begin in 2027

On May 14, 2026, SFMTA issued an update on the K Ingleside Rapid Project and announced that a phased implementation and evaluation plan would be developed for a transit lane on limited sections of Ocean Avenue in early 2027.

Merchants and residents in the Ocean Avenue neighborhoods are disappointed that SFMTA, Supervisors Melgar and Chen overlooked the voices of the Chinese and Asian communities.

SFMTA responded to Wind Newspaper's inquiry and stated, "The K Ingleside Rapid Project has been a community-driven effort from the start, and we continue to work closely with Ocean Avenue merchants and residents. Our goal for this project is to support a thriving Ocean Avenue for everyone who travels the corridor to work, school or a local business."

In the coming months, SFMTA said they would be focused on: developing a phased implementation and evaluation plan for a transit lane on limited sections of Ocean Avenue in early 2027, working with merchants to consider new loading and curb use improvements, and adding more safety improvements on Ocean Avenue.

More information can be found by visiting the project page on SFMTA’s website: Spring 2026 Update on K Ingleside Rapid Project | SFMTA.

Supervisor Melgar responded that she was aware of the differences of opinion between some merchants and community residents. "This is why D11 Supervisor Chyanne Chen and I convened the community meetings and slowed the timeline for the project, which has now been amended," said Melgar. 

"The SFMTA continues to problem solve together with residents, transit riders, and merchants in order to make needed adjustments to the plan before, during, and after implementation of this project," said Supervisor Chen in a statement.

"We want to ensure the process combines a data-driven approach with the lived experience and community expertise of stakeholders on Ocean Avenue," Chen added. "At the end of the day, we must ensure that we can save lives by improving traffic safety, and we should follow a principle of doing no harm, and that means that we ensure that our merchants can continue to thrive, and we can strengthen the corridor for all of us."

Crystal Liang, Mayor Lurie's Asian community and Press Liaison, confirmed that Lurie received complaints from merchants and community leaders regarding the Ocean Avenue red lane project. She has contacted them to explore ways to address the community's concerns.

"The Mayor's office remains committed to working with merchants, residents, and the community stakeholders to gather feedback and collaborate with SFMTA and Supervisors' offices to improve the implementation of the plan," Liang further said.