Your place to share stories on and off the bus.
More than once now, I’ve boarded a 31-Balboa inbound on a weekday around 9 a.m. only to be let out at Masonic.
When it happened just now, I asked the driver, who was clearly pissed at my question. “It’s the schedule, dude. Call Muni and complain.”
Hmm, more on that later. For now, anyone wanna guess (or impart wisdom) as to why they’d do this? When it’s happened to me, the next inbound bus is just a few minutes behind. I can’t make any sense of it.
Waiting for a 49 at Mission and 20th. Checked NextBus.com before leaving home. It said 5 minutes. Perfect.
Got out here and the NextMuni marquee said 2 minutes. Awesome, I thought. It’s working.
Except that four minutes or so went by. No bus. I waited a few more minutes then went to check the marquee.
Side note: As I approached the shelter wherein the marquee lives, the clearly homeless guy began taking a piss … while remaining seated.
Anyway, magically, the next bus was now scheduled to arrive in 22 minutes.
How does this mindfuckery happen???
Of course, it was a matter of three minutes before the bus (which I’m on now) arrived.
Gotta love it.
A funny write-up of an all-too-common phenomenon on San Francisco buses.
I heard something on the F yesterday (yes, I still take it when I’m too encumbered or lazy to walk downtown) that was moderately appalling. Though, truth be told, it was the end of the day and I was starving for dinner.
A woman and her son (dad and Other Sibling were elsewhere in the streetcar) got pretty awesome pole-standing spots right in front of the back doors, by the stairwell. As long as you hold your bag in front of you, it’s really not a bad place if you’re stuck standing. The stairwell space gives you room to breathe, and you get a pretty awesome blast of fresh air when the door opens. If you stand aside, it’s just mildly annoying to make way for people on their way out. Mom clearly realized this was a good place to be, encouraging her son to “stay in this spot, because it’s the best one.”
Had this been a full car with a smattering of standers, then, by all means, stand at the choice back-door spot until you’re blue in the face. But remember the Golden Rule of Public Transportation: if people are still boarding a standing-room-only bus…
keep moving to the back of the bus.
Wow.
I just traveled from Balboa and 28th Avenue to Mission and 20th Street in 38 minutes. Yes, you read that right.
What a totally easy commute. The 31 was there at 28th Avenue right around 9 a.m., like it’s supposed to be. No long stops, no rowdy passengers, a very polite (if quiet) operator.
And I didn’t have to wait longer than two minutes on Van Ness for the 49 to appear. Again, a very nice driver (albeit talking on her phone the whole time), polite passengers, many green lights.
I had another harrowing experience waiting for my F car this morning on Market at Van Ness. Two alleged trolley-bus Fs (their signs said they were, in fact F buses, and included “Market/Wharves” and everything) came by after a long while…and both drivers said they were stopping at Eighth Street. If you didn’t know, Eighth Street is about 3-4 blocks from where I was standing. And the F train is a charming little streetcar that is mostly for tourists, and therefore hideously unreliable. It is, unfortunately, among the fastest ways to get from the Embarcadero BART station to the northeast end of town, second only to walking, if you have time. It might (might) tie the 10-Townsend or the 9x, though both are crazy crowded in the mornings.
I hadn’t seen an F train for 15 minutes at least, and Jeff, my partner in life and Muni Diaries, said NextMuni was estimating it wouldn’t be there for another 20 minutes. I thought I had to take a cab to work for the third time in a month – a ride that costs at least $10 more than the $0 it normally does. My golden solution was a 47-Van Ness, which hit its scheduled stop on Van Ness at Market right after I got there. The driver was helpful when people asked questions, and it put me a block from my office. Thank you, 47. I always liked you better than that dirty sister of yours, the 49.
Meanwhile, people gathered at the F stop across the way in greater numbers, looking expectantly up Market for a car that probably still hasn’t gotten there.
I wasn’t that late (got in around 9:25 instead of 9:10), and I don’t mind the ride. It’s just unfair (and highly lame) when you have to play guessing games with your commute. If this keeps up, I might just break up with the F train altogether – this time, I mean it.