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SFist reader Caroline sends us this rotten story of Muni misery, which we have also encouraged her to submit to Muni's complaint department. While we're always thrilled to get your Muni tales both good and bad, we hope those of you who can will make sure to send your complaints and commendations to Muni, as well -- and let us know if they follow up with you!
After finishing the Bay to Breakers, my spouse and I were good little citizens and walked to the MUNI buses that were lined up to take us back toward downtown. We had paid $7.00 for this service, and we used it without trouble last year. Everything seemed normal when we boarded. And then, as our double-length bus wound its way through Golden Gate Park, one rider noted, "Uh, I think we're going the wrong way."It's probably hard to drive through the park, especially with a long bus, so I ignored him, but I became suspicious when it took us about 20 minutes to get out of the park. Several restless riders noted the presence of a gas station on the edge of the park, at Lincoln, and we told the driver that he should ask for directions. The driver stubbornly followed the driver in front of him, who was also lost. The notes on the Bay to Breakers website say, "The Express buses run back to the start area with intermediate stops ..." However, I don't think returning to the start area included a long trip down Lincoln toward the Ocean. The despair rose along with the avenue numbers, and one of the runners in the back of the bus became so queasy from all the twisting and turning that she vomited all over the bus floor.
Here's where it got ugly. We began to yell that there was a medical emergency and that it was high time to pull over. The driver kept on going. Luckily, a sexy, older, heroic doctor with an Ed Harris vibe leapt up to assist as the driver doggedly persisted, turning back into the park and winding up on the 1 North. He could have turned right at any time and headed East, but he chose not to. One wiseacre yelled, "Hey! While you're at it, can you take us to Larkspur?"At this point, the first driver in the chain of fools stopped and told our driver to stop tailing him because he didn't know where he was going either. The driver looped back around to Lincoln and started driving west. Again. The suffering runner responded to this fiasco by threatening to vomit a second time, at which we screamed to stop the bus, and Dr. Ed Harris, my spouse, and I flagged down a traffic cop who called for an ambulance. He guided her to a bus stop, where she no doubt felt much better.
After this episode, we were about 35 minutes into the drive when our driver decided that it might be a good idea to start from scratch. He started tailing another bus, whose driver - mercifully - knew how to find Golden Gate. Yet he kept making stops at anything and everything, and many drivers ran out when they had the chance, screaming, "We're free! We're free!" as they tried to find a bathroom where they could relieve themselves.
By the time we reached Montgomery, we had logged 70 minutes for what should have been a 20-minute ride, and, during most of the ride, the bus smelled of vomit. Armed with the bus number (the driver was, unsurprisingly, avoiding eye contact), I promptly called a friend who works for MUNI. He ran the race and was also underwhelmed by his bus ride, for his driver kept zigzagging between Lincoln and Irving for no apparent reason. I asked him what the MUNI drivers were smoking. He said, "Well, not many of them live in the city, I guess, and they weren't on their usual route."
Okay, that's fine. San Francisco is a pricey city. But does MUNI have a frickin' copier? Couldn't someone in the MUNI brass have copied maps and given them to the drivers? Or, gasp, considered the highly likely possibility that an inexperienced runner might hurl thanks to a combo of dehydration and motion sickness? I could have used my $7.00 to make these copies!
Did you use Muni's service after the race? What were your experiences? Please let us know in the comments!
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What drove me nuts about Muni on B2B day was that the underground didn't start running until 8AM, the time that the race starts. So, those hoping to take public transportation to the race in San Francisco were left to try and board overcrowded busses, though many people couldn't even get on and were forced to walk, run or take taxis to the start of the race. Amazing.
OMFG the bus situation was a mess. First of all, there was no indication of where those "Bay to Breakers" busses actually went. No signs or maps posted, no destination mentioned on their LED signs. So maybe that's why this poor woman's bus driver wandered all over creation -- he simply didn't have any specific destination in mind.
Also, there was no indication of who could ride those busses. I have a Muni pass, but I know those busses are special shuttles, and sometimes you have to have a special pass to ride those ... would my pass let me on? Could I pay $1.50? Does it cost more? Did I have to get a ticket in advance?
And those busses only loaded one at a time, and very slowly at that. So it was a five-minute wait even to get on board. Meanwhile, three or four empty busses were in line behind the front bus, refusing to accept any passengers until the bus got to the front of the line. What a totally arbitrary way to make everyone stand around and wait for no reason.
Also: the regular bus routes were totally overwhelmed. Between 35th Ave and Stanyan, you couldn't board the 5 or 21 or 31 because they were so packed. A lot of people gave up and walked, or hailed a cab, especially when it started raining and they didn't want to stand in the rain forever waiting for a bus that wasn't coming, woudln't let them board, or was sitting there empty refusing to let them climb on board. Muni lost out on a lot of fares by not running enough busses.
From the end of the parade to home (which is next to the USF campus) took nearly an hour for me. It should've been under 15 minutes.
My friends and I decided to hop on the 21 just past Park Presidio when it started to rain. No problem getting on with my fast pass, I even gave a buck to some guys who didn't have the right fare, it was a surprisingly pleasant ride, with chatted with a couple nice people on the ride. The driver didn't even stop us from bringing open cans of bear on board!
"What drove me nuts about Muni on B2B day was that the underground didn't start running until 8AM,
Posted by: Brian | May 22, 2006 11:37 AM"
I was on the train at 7:45 a.m. What station did you try to use?
Trains were running at 5:45 at West Portal, Castro, Church and Van Ness only, and only if you had the $7 Muni sticker on your bib.
Unfortunately, they weren't running very frequently. I had to checkin for my group no later than 6:30. I arrived on the Castro platform at 5:50 and waited 25 minutes before an express train came in. I just made it to the checkin point by 6:30. The lady in the booth said that the first two trains had already left Castro. Great, two trains in the first 4 mintues of service and then nothing for 25 minutes. Typical Muni.
Going home I just took an N Judah and walked from Duboce Park. That was only a little crowded, but I was on the train before 10:30 am--way before most of the crowds.
Short description of my total anger at MUNI for bay-to-breakers:
Arrived 7:15ish am at Carl & Cole, fully expecting a crowd, and getting that. Paid our 7 dollars to an ununiformed guy handing out stickers - what choice do we have? Got on the overcrowded N (or special-N, race shuttle, whatever) Lining us up and herding the crowd on took at least 15 minutes, as they had three or four guys checking stickers at the ONLY open door, the very front one on the first car. The doors close - off we go.
We get to Duboce & Noe, and EVERY DOOR ON THE TRAIN OPENS AND THE HUGE CROWD THERE JUST WALTZES ON IN. No seven bucks, no check-your-pass-here, no fare control WHATSOEVER. What chumps we are that live on the other side of the hill. I guess those of us up in Cole Valley/Upper haight need FOUR GUYS just to sell stickers and make sure we've all paid - but below the tunnel, it's all good. Sure enough, the same thing at Church St - all the doors open and the crowd thickens even more.
Someone once asked me why I root for MUNI all the time - which I do - I feel like I'm always defending riding the bus or train but today I feel like the biggest fucking sucker in San Francisco. Seven bucks for a train ride that's normally 1.50 is bad enough but then randomly enforcing that fare is downright larcenous.
My ultimate MUNI story came from last year's B2B. We hopped on the N Judah at the beach and thought we had scored because there was nobody on that particular train. After a block or two, we realized why-- somebody had taken a sh-- by one of the doors. We have no idea who or why (crazy homeless person or drunken racer) but it was just everywhere. One of my friends told the driver what was up and he stopped the train, took a look, then announced to us and a few other people that he was shutting the train down and we all got off and had to wait for the next train.
"What drove me nuts about Muni on B2B day was that the underground didn't start running until 8AM,
Posted by: Brian | May 22, 2006 11:37 AM"
I was on the train at 7:45 a.m. What station did you try to use?Posted by: Chris | May 22, 2006 05:41 PM
I tried to get on at Van Ness. The two Muni workers there said to me, "Sorry, trains don't start running until 8AM today."
"I was on the train at 7:45 a.m. What station did you try to use?Posted by: Chris | May 22, 2006 05:41 PM"
I tried to get on at Van Ness. The two Muni workers there said to me, "Sorry, trains don't start running until 8AM today."