Photo by Flickr user napolifd
Violence on Muni has once again been on our minds lately, seeing this week’s stabbing on the J. As much as we wish these weren’t the stories to remember Muni by, some of the things that happen on Muni are regrettable. Muni rider Gordo sent in this obit for the 7:
I once got punched in my shoulder riding the good ol’ no. 7. It didn’t matter to the random assaulter that I was wearing a sling on that arm after breaking my shoulder two weeks prior. the guy just laughed and then jumped off at the next stop. oh no. 7 I’ll miss you and your unprovoked acts of violence.
And Muni rider Rob Nagle had this to say about the 7:
Today, among other lines, the 7-Haight will no longer be with us. In an effort to save money, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency will discontinue the 7-Haight along with seven other lines.
As for the 7-Haight, it’s a good bet no one will notice. I can’t remember the last time I’d even seen a 7-Haight let alone ride one. I live on Haight Street and usually get a 6-Parnassus or 71-Haight-Noriega whenever I need to catch a bus. Even if I’m not riding the bus, the 6 and the 71 are all I usually see when I’m out and about on my block. That is until Sept. 25 when I saw two heading downtown within an hour of each other while I was doing laundry on a Friday night (I know, laundry on a Friday night? = lame). “There goes my angle for the obit,” I thought to myself, regretting the fact I had put it off.
But the truth is the 7-Haight was a rare sight. I’ve definitely ridden one from time to time, but it’s been at least three years since I did. I thought it had already been discontinued. I work at a newspaper that covers Muni all the time and remembered something about service changes to the 7 a while back. As it turns out, it was just a service reduction that I remembered. In September 2005, service on the 7-Haight and two other lines were curtailed, one of which – the 4-Sutter – is also dying.
A search on the rarely spotted 7 reveals two reviews on Yelp, one good and one bad, but one helps explain perhaps why I’ve so rarely seen the 7. “I used to hate the 7-Haight – but now I love the 7-Haight. It only runs at rush hour, they use the big double buses, it’s normally nearly empty in both directions, so there are many seats to choose from, and it’s faster than the 6 Parnassus,” opines one Yelper. If it’s true the 7 only ran during rush hour that would explain why I never saw it. Of course, the night I saw two was after rush hour but this is Muni we’re talking about, so making sense is not necessary.
The other reviewer’s sentiments probably help speak to reasons the 7 is no longer with us when he writes “The 7-Haight is a horrible bus line. It probably used to be really important and iconic and old school, but since Muni added the 6-Parnassus, 71-Haight/Noriega and 71L Haight-Noriega Limited, the 7 serves absolutely no purpose.”
So, farewell 7-Haight, according to Yelp, half of the time you were awesome and half of the time you totally sucked, but a .500 record isn’t a terrible thing. Those that actually rode you may miss you, but me, I feel I barely knew you.
Be sure to read California Beat’s obituary for the 7-Haight.
All this week we are running eulogies written by you, dear riders, to honor the Muni lines that are being eliminated this Saturday. Come back tomorrow for more stories in memory of these lines.
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I’ve been quietly mourning the impending passage of the 7 since I heard of its cancellation. I love the 7-Haight for the very reasons the Yelper does: people like Rob, residents of the Haight and rush-hour Muni riders, had no idea that it was even running. It always showed up a minute or so after a packed 71 rolled by, and each time was a little victory and an inner “haha, suckers!” to the commuters that didn’t know the secret of us 7-riders. It was an island of peace in the flow of crowded, rowdy 71s. I will miss it dearly.
The silver lining, it should be noted, is that the 21-Hayes is now originating at Stanyan and should therefore be similarly empty and calm, at least until Divisadero.
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…yeah, the Seven was my intro to Big City Life here…back when i got my first job with DSS…i caught the 7 every morning at haight and shrader…bought the Chronic first and then jumped on…pretty regular and steady for the mid-70′s…jumped off at market and duboce and tried my damndest to get to work on time…then back home at 5 pm with the rest of the wage slaves…riding MUNI has never been bad…but WAITING for it takes fortitude…
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The 7 is awesome. It’s like your own rush hour shuttle running between Haight Street and downtown.
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wow, look at all those businesses that used to be on Market St. I remember that record store.
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Funny thing is, since I wrote this I actually rode on a 7. It was one of those special shuttle buses with the blue seats, but it was labelled a 7. I said to the driver, “I thought they discontinued the 7,” and he said, “In December.” Glad I got to ride it one more time before it was gone.
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I had an interesting last ride on the 7 tonight, the signs on the front and sides of the bus weren’t working, so the driver held up a piece of paper with a big 7 on it at each stop. Almost no one got on, though we were right behind a 6 and 71L the whole way up Market and Haight.
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