In recent months, you might’ve noticed more and more of the locked seats at the front of Muni buses being unfolded as new curved poles are installed.

What's less noticeable is the key design feature that allows us to re-open the forward-facing seats at the front of Muni buses that were flipped up and locked in 2014 due to safety concerns.

The solution unfolded with the design of these metal poles, which provide customers in these seats a handle to grab in case of a sudden stop while maintaining access for customers with wheelchairs.

Of the roughly 570 buses we plan to retrofit with the poles, we’ve completed about 350, and we expect to finish up this fall.

These aren’t just any metal poles - technically, they’re known as “rotational stanchions” because they rotate to allow space for customers with wheelchairs and strollers. When the seats are flipped up, a yellow knob at the bottom of the pole can be pulled to unlock the pole and rotate it out of the way.

The poles have the added benefit of providing standing passengers another place to hold on. A friendly reminder, by the way: Please give priority for front seats to seniors and people with disabilities.

For cost efficiency, buses that are due to be retired soon may not be retrofitted, so you may continue to see seats folded up on some of our oldest buses. The new Muni buses we started rolling out last year don’t have the safety design issue and don’t need the retrofit.

As we phase in the next generation of vehicles, we’re happy to have found a working solution to keep Muni safe and accessible for everyone.