Your place to share stories on and off the bus.
Rode a 49 down Mission the other day for the first time in a month or so, and I noticed that the stretch between 16th and Cesar Chavez has actually gotten worse. It’s like kids have been out there with pickaxes, tearin’ shit up.
Perhaps the Obama administration’s infrastructure-stimulus plan can start right here in the heart of the Mission. I am now officially unemployed, and would love to get all Habitat for Humanity, only on road repair. Sign me up!
So I boarded a 49-Van Ness the other evening, with Gida, my 12-pound Boston Terrier, stowed safely in her bag. I paid my double-fare, per SFMTA regulations, and kindly asked the driver for an extra transfer. One “for my dog,” I said.
“Huh,” he answered, incredulous and condescending.
“Can I get a transfer for my dog? She’s in this bag.” I said, giving him the benefit of the doubt.
“You don’t need that,” he said, as if I were new to this routine. Clearly, it was the other way around.
“Well, I’ve been asked several times for a transfer for her. I’m paying fare for her.”
At which point he begrudgingly handed me the transfer.
So, I refer this driver (and you, dog-owning Muni rider) to SFMTA’s rules concerning traveling with pets:
Maybe, since I’m now unemployed, I can get some side work schooling Muni operators on their agency’s rules.
Time for another incredulous installment of “is this you?”
I could smell your whiskey as soon as you stepped on the bus, you referred to the Latino driver using the ever-condescending “amigo!” and you sit like an asshole. I know the bus wasn’t full, but that’s no excuse.
Jackass.
Maybe it’s just a coincidence, but on both of my buses this morning, the driver announced next stops, and gave connecting routes, over their bus’s PA. Not only that, but you could also make out what they were saying.
Is this a new attempt at better transit? Anyone else notice this lately?
I have to say, of all the pitstops I’ve seen in my eight-plus years of riding Muni, this was probably the most efficient. It was around Seventh or Eighth Avenue, in the middle of the block. He must’ve called it in.
This bus-tourism article from The New York Times Travel section just tickles me. I’m a big proponent of buses (yes, really), especially as a way for visitors to get a quick-and-dirty look at local life. The NYT story claims that by using one of their suggested $7.50-per-day city bus tours – an idea likely borne out of the dismal economy – you can see most of Manhattan in 3.5 hours of bus time, plus a few short walks and/or Subway rides.
Since it takes an hour, roughly, to get between any given Point A and B in San Francisco on Muni, bus tourism is a tragically laughable concept once you translate the idea for our fair city. For comparison’s sake, based on square-footage, Manhattan Island is a little less than one-half the size of San Francisco.
San Francisco has an identity crisis. This manifests itself in a number of ways, including copious, self-conscious references to it being a “world-class” city with “world-class” stuff. You can find such references in everything from Mayor Gavin Newsom’s 2008 inaugural address to his endorsement of a contemporary art museum in the Presidio to just about any time someone official talks about San Francisco International Airport. Sadly, the world-class city with world-class stuff doesn’t have world-class transportation, effectively disqualifying it from consideration to host the 2012 Olympic games.