Photo by Flickr user riz94107
Ed. note: Several Muni lines are being eliminated this Saturday. To honor these lines, we’ve been asking you to send us obituaries of these Muni routes to eulogize them in your own words. This obituary for the 53-Southern Heights is the first of a weeklong series here on Muni Diaries. We’ve received many great stories, trips down memory lane, for these buses. Be sure to check back tomorrow to read obituaries for the 4-Sutter and the 89-Laguna Honda, accompanied by some neat archival art.
The 53-Southern Heights is perhaps the greatest tragedy to occur during the Muni cuts this year. The reason that no one knows where it goes or what it does is because it serves those who are least likely to use current technology or be connected to those off the Hill - Potrero Hill - the community it serves.
The average daily ridership for the 53 is low, but it serves Grandmas and Grandpas, wheelchairs and walkers, and the people who assist them. The 53 traverses one of the toughest neighborhoods in the city, the Potrero Homes housing project, dropping down massive heights on Missouri and Vermont without the help of an overhead wire, connecting those who live by choice or by requirement at the top of the Hill down to connections to the outside world of the City at 16th and Potrero. Old ladies with their granny carts take the bus on their daily errand to the Safeway at the Potrero shopping center. The drivers of the 53 know their customers by first name and are happy to give a helping hand when asked.
The 53 is a lifeline from the high forgotten hill on the east side to the city, and the removal of the line will be distressing to many. For many Muni riders, the loss of a bus route will not truly be mourned, but for the 53 riders, there is no doubt that without this bus they will lose the social service that the city has provided for as long as one can remember. That no one spoke up for the 53 at the budget hearings nor on Muni Diaries is no surprise; it has been quietly doing its job and was an inconspicuous but necessary addition to the Muni fleet. For those who loved it, the 53 will not be forgotten.
Click here for a couple of positive reviews of the 53 on Yelp. And SFGate has a 2001 story of a “runaway” 53-Southern Heights.
Just because the deadline for sending us your obituary has passed, don’t think we don’t want to hear your story. This week is a week of mourning for the dying lines, but it’s never too late to write their story (or any Muni story, for that matter). Share your Muni stories here.
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I live near the top of Rhode Island, a formidable hill, and (being able-bodied and stubborn) usually prefer to walk it, even when laden with groceries–so I didn’t ride the 53 very often. But when I did, it was a completely different experience than riding other nearby buses. Every time a person got off the bus, the bus driver wished them a pleasant day, and more often than not the person would thank the driver as he or she stepped down to the pavement.
I will miss the 53.
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Can we please get meter rates increased and hours extended? The cuts, along with the fare jumps is putting the entirety of the budget crisis on the back of the MUNI riders.
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