So, I've got this new job. (Which is going good, by the way. I love working in creative services, I love reworking sentences until they're pretty, I love NOT PACKING UP PACKAGES IN A SWEATY BACK ROOM.) But that's not my point tonight. No, I'd like to chat about a little thing called Muni, San Francisco's public transportation system.
I'm never happy riding amongst throngs of sweaty crazies, but in the past I've figured out routes that keep the bad stuff to a minimum and get me to work on time. A new job in an unfamiliar part of town, though, means a completely new route. I tried it today for the first time.
Reader's Digest version? This morning, stranded in a random part of town, I had to take a cab after waiting and waiting and waiting and waiting for my transfer to the #10 bus. This evening, I had to guess on a route because the #10 just...didn't show up. It took me an 1.5 hours to get home.
Beside myself, I hit the Internets looking for a reason this happened. I have to admit I was a tiny bit nervous some of this was my fault, because I'm more than a little spatially challenged. And maybe I messed up or something? But then I searched my trusty Yelp for the #10 bus reviews and found these GEMS:
1. This bus is one of the most unreliable Muni runs. I kid you not--every other day I walk by a bunch of pissed off old people at my stop. Why? Because the bus hasn't shown up and they're waiting for the next one.
2. It will take almost 15 minutes to go the 8 blocks from where I get on the bus to caltrain. I CAN WALK THERE IN THAT TIME!!?!?!
3. When I need to be somewhere in 20 minutes, it does not help if you are running 20 minutes late. I'm not standing outside 15 minutes earlier to catch the 20 minute late bus that is running 36 minutes behind the 20 minute late bus. Did that make any sense? Fuck you if it didn't! YOU don't make any sense, MUNI, so this bitch doesn't have to either.
4. I walked California/Sansome to SOMA faster than your slow ass ever could have gotten me there. However, my big ass is still angry at you for making it do cardio. VERY.VERY.ANGRY.
5. During the day, the 10-Townsend undergoes some sort of hellish Jekyll and Hyde transformation. Towards the end of the day, it turns into a completely random, leperous hulk of a service. Time and causality are thrown out of the window, with the bus turning up whenever the hell it likes - if at all.
6. Is there some sort of Bermuda Triangle that swallows up every 5th 10 Townsend driving down Sansome? Because twenty percent of the time, it just doesn't show up. It's not just late. No. It just doesn't come.
7. RIDING MUNI STRESSES ME OUT!!!!!!!!!!!!!! That's it. Stop riding Muni. Take a taxi to work.
Ahh. I know I feel better now.
I'm convinced blogs are 75% about blowing off steam. With that in mind, excellent rant!
ReplyDeleteI feel your pain. When we first moved to the city I wanted to slit my wrists trying to figure the buses out. Not to mention survive riding them without being a victim of random violence.
ReplyDeleteMy husband swears by nextmuni.com, it gives you the estimated arrival time of the next bus based on the GPS location. But he doesn't ride the 10 too often, nor very far.
(BTW if you are going to the office of the company we discussed via email, you're right across the street from his office :)
oh yes, most definitely rant-tastic. sometimes you just have to throw up some words.
ReplyDeleteand YES nextmuni or nextbus are really good tools. (they said when the 10 was coming, but it...never came?)
HOWEVER i have mapped out a new route for today and i've got great hopes.
[ooo! ask your husband for some good lunch tips? :)]
Green solution to #10 - Ride a bike and push it when it's too steep.
ReplyDeleteRed solution to #10 - Go see the head of the MUNI system and ask directly why the citizens of SF are being denied what their taxes are paying for. If you don't like their answer write a letter to the editor of the largest newspaper telling the whole story. Things will change.
Green solution to #10 - Ride a bike and push it when it's too steep.
ReplyDeleteRed solution to #10 - Go see the head of the MUNI system and ask directly why the citizens of SF are being denied what their taxes are paying for. If you don't like their answer write a letter to the editor of the largest newspaper telling the whole story. Things will change.
Scooter?
ReplyDeleteWho reads newspapers?
ReplyDeleteI always complain about lack of public transportation where I live -- you have to drive yourself everywhere, so much traffic, etc. -- but now maybe I'm reconsidering. I guess dealing with unreliable public transport is just as bad as having to take yourself everywhere.
ReplyDeleteI believe that all the anger in this world can be quickly traced back to public transportation.
ReplyDeleteI wish riding a bike (or our scooter) down to SOMA everyday weren't semi-death-defying. I could wear cute gear and roll up my pant leg.
ReplyDeleteI'll probably write something to someone about this, but the main issue is budget cuts. California is screwed budget-wise and public transport has taken some serious hits.
Maybe I'll just walk 4 miles both ways and shed all that Peeps weight
Dudette, how death-defying is the cycling option? Because I can say from first hand bike-commuting experience that the pant-leg-rolling, messenger bag way of life is the way to go. Of course, my commute is on low-traffic roads and/or bike paths. But I do enjoy the calming effect it has on my commute.
ReplyDelete