Particularly, the Presidio and Marina neighborhoods experienced heavy traffic congestion, and lines after the fireworks that stretched for more than half a mile for people waiting to board buses.
City leaders are demanding accountability.
District 2 Supervisor Stephen Sherrill, whose district includes the Marina, is calling for a hearing to examine what went wrong and what needs to change before Fleet Week arrives in October.
Supervisor Stephen Sherrill says the city needs to review its response before another major event brings huge crowds to San Francisco.
"San Francisco needs to be able to host exciting, world-class events safely and efficiently. By reviewing our response now, we can strengthen coordination and ensure future events are well-managed and successful for all," Sherrill said.
Meanwhile, Supervisor Bilal Mahmood, who represents District 5, which includes neighborhoods such as Hayes Valley, Fillmore, and Haight Ashbury says he's asking city departments to explain the breakdowns and outline how they'll prevent a repeat, especially in regard to Waymo issues, and the insufficient transit options available.
San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie's office said 100,000 people came to San Francisco on Saturday.
"Our transportation system honestly simply could not handle the volume of people that arrived in San Francisco Saturday," said Viktoriya Wise, streets director at the SFMTA.
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Agency officials said the transit system could not accommodate the additional 41,000 riders it saw on the Fourth of July and pledged to improve future operations.
"Taking lessons learned from the experience on Saturday to make sure that this agency and city can deliver special events in the future in a better way," Wise said.
For some visitors, the problems extended beyond transportation.
Eric Coombs, who brought his family to San Francisco from Sacramento, said issues began with a lack of bathrooms at Crissy Field. He said long lines formed for portable toilets and that the units were full of waste by the time some people reached the front.
"I mean, you don't have America's 250th anniversary and hey, we're shutting down the Golden Gate Bridge, which never happens. And then have like four porta potties. That was, like, wildly wrong in the planning and logistics," Coombs said.
Others reported a more positive experience. Rebecca Cuddihy, who traveled by bicycle, said avoiding traffic and transit delays made for an enjoyable evening.
"But because we weren't waiting for hours or like, stuck in traffic for hours getting in or getting out, it was a nice night, a nice way to spend time with friends," Cuddihy said.
Coombs said his family followed the city's recommendations by using public transit and taking shuttle buses from the Marina.
He described a lengthy line for the free shuttle service the city provided.
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"I looked it up. It was 0.7 miles to Van Ness. And that's how long the line was. And it was three rows wide, not one single row, three rows wide from Fillmore all the way to Van Ness." Coombs said.
In response to questions about management of the shuttle service, the SFMTA said streets were packed with traffic and buses had difficulty moving through the area.
A spokesperson for San Francisco Mayor Daniel Lurie said:
"Public safety was our top priority last night, and we're glad people overwhelmingly enjoyed the fireworks safely. We understand that with more than 100,000 people in the area, some people experienced delays getting home, and we will have conversations with our public and private partners to ensure the experience is smoother next time. Thank you to the first responders, transit operators, cleaning crews, city workers, small business owners, and outside partners for working to ensure people enjoyed the night and got home safely."
City and transit officials said they plan to review the event and use lessons from Saturday's crowds to improve transportation and logistics at future large-scale gatherings.
The SFMTA responded to our questions about that line saying the streets were completely packed with traffic and their buses had a difficult time getting out.