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Today we explore when and why Muni Drivers leave people in the lurch at bus stops.
"When do you decide to wait for somebody who is running to a stop and when do you decide to just go anyway and leave them as they're approaching the bus stop?"
{Disclaimer: I am not an official spokesperson for anything except my opinion as a MUNI driver, San Franciscan, and daily passenger just like the rest of you sorry sods relying on MUNI to get us to work on time. If you figure out who I am, please, please don't tell my bosses 'cause I want that pension some happy day - assuming there's any money left in the fund for the lowly drivers by that time.}
The first point to make is that there isn't an official MUNI policy on this; it's pretty much up to the driver. The reality on the ground is that if a driver is behind schedule, or is cutting it close, there's a strong motivation not to wait.
Personally, if I see someone within reasonable distance of where my stop is making a real effort to get to the stop I'll wait regardless of my time on the schedule. I may complain bitterly inside, but I'll wait. On the other hand, if someone's three blocks or on the other side of a major thoroughfare and waiting for what I know is a long light, I'm not waiting. Mind you, I will definitely NOT stop once the bus is in motion and moving (or already in) traffic. That's just stupid and dangerous frankly it's pretty damned rude of anyone to expect it. But of course in our me-centric culture they do, and often.
Another thing I won't do is stop for someone who isn't at a bus stop and is trying to flag me down. Nor will I offload passengers anywhere but the official bus stops. You might be surprised how many people seem to think that MUNI is a personal door-to-door taxi service, not a public transit system! Drivers who do stop at non-official places are putting their jobs on the line. If someone is injured - falls down, gets hit by a car, whatever, the driver can and probably will) be hung out to dry by MUNI. No wonder; you can't expect the organization to take on liability for drivers who are essentially going off-route by stopping at inappropriate places. Mind you, I get nastier complaining from passengers for not dropping them off wherever they want than for any other reason. I've been cussed out by kids, old people, and everyone else on this issue. Apparently most folks think I should trust my job to their individual judgment of what constitutes a safe dropping-off location. Good grief.
It's really an individual judgment call between being considerate of the passenger who's trying to get to the bus, and being considerate of the passengers who are already on the bus and have to get somewhere in a timely fashion. Again, of course, this is one of those issues that are left up to the personal preferences of the driver. I abhor those drivers who seem to have a hard-on for offending the public and do lame shit like letting you get all the way to the door before sneering and pulling away, leaving you fuming on the curb. I know it happens a lot, I've seen it and been that person on the sidewalk, and there's no excuse for it. Report, report, report! It's volume that counts on stuff like this.
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Action Needed Today - Monday - for Better Transit
Muni needs your help TODAY. The City's leaders are wrangling over much-needed Muni reform, and they must decide by tomorrow whether to place an important charter amendment for Muni improvements on the ballot this November. If every SFBC member takes a minute to send an email or make a call TODAY, we can make a difference. Please call the Supervisors and the Mayor TODAY, and tell them (1) you support improved Muni service and (2) urge them to put the Muni charter amendment on the ballot. This measure would give significant new funds to Muni -- an estimated $30 million a year -- and create important structural changes that will help Muni be more responsive to riders' needs. All of this means more people taking transit and fewer people driving, good for biking too!
Please take a minute today to call the Supervisors and the Mayor with this message. And when you call YOUR district Supervisor, (see the district map to check who that is), be sure to identify yourself as a resident of that Supervisor's district. Thanks for your help -- please make those calls and send those emails!
The above is from sf bike coalition. Rescue Muni is making the same pitch: http://www.rescuemuni.org
I may not like where bus stops on certain routes are placed, but I won't cuss out the bus driver for playing by the rules.
No policy on people running after the bus? Last I checked, Golden Gate Transit has a policy of not stopping for people who are running after the bus after the bus has started moving. Why? Because people have gotten sucked under the rear axles and, you know, died.
People trying to stop the bus to get on once it has started moving would be less "me-centric" if they knew another bus would come within a reasonable time frame after one bus departs.
If I see I'm gonna miss the 24, you better believe I'm gonna run and try to stop it. Otherwise I'll wait 40 minutes for the next one, and some of us, you may know, depend on Muni to get to work. Employers don't like it when you're 40 minutes late -- unless you work for Muni, that is. And for those of us who don't have a big, fat government pension waiting for us, time lost really DOES mean money lost.
As for expecting a personal drop-off or pick-up point, that's just retarded. Those passengers suck; they're probably the same ones who refuse to move back. MOVE BACK, DAMMIT!!
Stop exaggerating Van. The 24 comes at least once every 20 minutes, even at night.
Though 20 minutes is still quite a while to wait.
No, the 24 is SCHEDULED every 20 min, but every day 10% or more of published service DOES NOT OPERATE.
Indeed the basis for much rider bitterness and otherwise ill behavior.
Along with the Bike Coalition and Rescue Muni endorsements I'd like to add that I am a member of the SFMTA's Citizen Advisory Committee which voted unanimously in support of Supervisor Peskin's charter amendment.
While it's not the 24, I've been sitting around waiting for the M before and when I check NextBus find that the next train is listed at 54 minutes or so and after waiting for about 15-20 it certainly seems like they mean it. For a line that's scheduled at around 15 minutes or so that's a pretty big difference (even taking into account that NextBus is often wrong).
As for the drivers in these cases, well, I always assume that I've missed my bus, but I might as well try as hard as I can. If I miss it, well, I was already resigned to that, if the driver stops and does me a favor, well... it's always appreciated. I had a driver stop on the other side of Park Presidio after having to cross Fulton and being unable to get to the stop due to traffic, in the rain.
In my experience most of the Muni drivers I've dealt with have been rather nice. While my sample size is much, much lower the few AC Transit drivers I've run across were almost always much meaner and ruder biting my head off over even minor things (like, say, asking for a transfer when I get on).
Noe Valley Jim,
The 24 is pretty consistent during the day, but I often work nights, and it is not consistent, especially past 9 pm. I once walked from Geary and Divis to Castro and 18th without seeing a single bus headed in my direction. That's a long walk, which took me about 35 minutes. Sometimes I don't feel like waiting on Geary and Divis for that long.
I am not familiar with the M, so I cannot comment on it.
I do however live close to the 24 and take it all the time. It runs about every 10 minutes during the day and every 20 minutes late at night and it is much more reliable than say, the J or even the 26. In fact it is probably the most reliable Muni line I have ever regularly ridden in my 15 years of riding Muni.
It is also on NextBus, so if you have a way to check it, you can see when the next one is scheduled to arrive. Again, I have never seen the "ghost bus" phenomena like so often happens with the J.
I understand though, people just love to come here and b*tch, no matter what the actual facts are.
To be honest, I feel like most Muni drivers err on the side of being too "polite" to riders who want the bus to wait for them. I ran after the 1-California (outbound) at Sacto & Van Ness today, and I caught it before the light at Van Ness changed. However, had the light changed before I got there, I would have fully expected (and wanted) the driver to take off without me. There is no point in delaying dozens of other people just to save me a few minutes, especially if it means the bus might miss a green light.
That said, it seems like expected headway should make a big difference. If it's the middle of the night and expected headways are 20-30 minutes, then it seems appropriate to wait an extra 10-15 seconds for someone. But if it's midday on the 1-California and the next bus is probably 3-4 minutes later, there is no point at all in waiting more than a second or two for someone.