Heading between the Mission and North Beach shouldn’t be an aggravating experience. After all, it’s roughly four miles. There’s several public transit routes one could take.
Easy, right?
Well no; if there’s one thing that’s worse than taking Muni, it’s taking Muni on the weekends. But it turned out to be much worse than I thought.
Heading to the party
On the way to a Fleet Week airshow party, my girlfriend and I decided on Google’s suggested route; take the Metro to Powell and then take the cable car towards Hyde St. Simple, right?
Well the line at the cable car roundabout was incredibly long. We realized this was an impossibility so we hiked up to the Union Square stop. Here, we waited while one full cable car after another went by without stopping. The one (out of five) that DID stop only let six people on. The line was moving fast, but only because everyone was bailing out.
One couple in line swore they’d never return to San Francisco, and with service like that who could blame them?
We gave up to and hiked over to the 30 stop on Stockton. We ran, making it just in time to get on a crowded bus. The 30 took off and then suddenly made an unexpected turn onto California St. There was no announcement as to why we had just gone off route. Everyone pushed and shoved off the bus. We decided to get off as well, as it seemed like the bus was going out of service. But actually it was simply being re-routed with NO announcement as to why or where it was heading.
There was a guy in a Muni vest at the intersection directing the bus. Passengers were asking him where the 30 was going, and he wouldn’t tell them; instead he just said “it’s a long story” and “tell me where you’re going.” Well jeez, thanks a lot!
Why there was no announcement wasn’t explained. It was also not explained why there were no fliers or maps to show where the bus was being re-routed to. Or why there were no signs at bus stops.
We got back on the next 30 to try our luck. Eventually it turned out the 30 Stockton went down California and took a right at Van Ness. With a little uphill hiking we made it to our destination.
After the party
On the way back, we were again divided between the 30 Stockton and the cable car. NextBus said the 30 would come first, so we waited at the 30 stop… and watched as the cable car went by. D’oh! Finally the 30 came, but of course it was full and passed us by. We started walking, and eventually caught up with the full bus and forced our way on.
At Market St. we headed down to the Metro platform only to find that there was a problem with the “switching” or the “computer” depending on who you listened to. Or to put it another way, “we’re completely incompetent and have no clue how to run this system.” Just like every day on the Metro, basically.
I said forget it, we’re taking the F. So we went upstairs and waited at the F stop, while NextBus counted down for the arrival. And then we waited as the times started counting backwards. 8 minute way? Nope, try 9 minutes. Oh, 9 minute wait? How about 10?
It wasn’t coming. Time to head back down to the Metro platform. We made it down just in time to catch a J back to my place.
Conclusion
If anyone with any sense whatsoever was running Muni, they would spend time on outreach. Telling people what’s going on is as simple as printing up some fliers and handing them out. This isn’t rocket science.
As for the daily problems with the Metro, this system has been running for THIRTY YEARS. If you can’t figure out how to operate it by now, it’s time to either find a new vendor and/or just fire everyone and start over. There’s no excuse for having the same problem every fucking day.
If there’s one thing that’s clear, it’s that the people at the top don’t care about the people they serve.