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Hey how was your weekend? You didn't have to work, did you? Muni certainly didn't: on Saturday, NextMuni showed only one bus running the entire 33 route all by itself. Expected wait time: ranging from an hour to an hour and a half. We were hoping to swing by Cliff's in the Castro (they've got these awesome elephant-shaped teapots), but obviously you can't go shopping in neighborhoods you can't get to. Sorry, MUMC!
So, is this a driver shortage or a NextMuni glitch? It's hard to know for sure. It's also hard to care -- after all, from a rider's perspective, does it really matter? When you log on to NextMuni.com and see something like this, all you care about is adjusting your travel plans so that they don't involve the bus.
Fortunately, things were back to normal the next day -- there were four buses on the route, with two of them bunched-up. Wait times ranged from two minutes to an hour. Another jorb well done, Muni!
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wow Matty Matt, going a little crazy with that "new jobs" first pay check. Tea pots at Cliffs. What next??
Egg cups at Bed Bath and Beyond!!!! :-)
Well, there's a reason we call it the 33-Godot...
In regards to the story, it's not exactly true. There was construction happening at Arguello and Fulton, thus forcing all Muni buses (the 5 and 33) in both directions to get off the overhead wires and use their backup batteries to get around the construction.
Since there was a heavy traffic backup and construction at the intersection, the 33 going south on Arguello could not made the direct left turn onto Fulton, but had to turn go off-wire a block before hitting Fulton, make a right turn, then a left at the next block, and make a left on Fulton.
I guess to spare Muni the embarrassment of delayed buses on the 33, maybe they forced the drivers to turn off their GPS. Or maybe since that all the buses had to detour, it went out of range of the regular mapped route, and that the system could not put them back on the map.
I went carless this year...thought I would depend on MUNI. What a MISTAKE! It is soooo expensive not having a car! I take MUNI to work -- but I can't get many other places in it -- so I take cabs or take ZipCar. Still -- even carless 60% of my trips are in a car -- except this time I pay $15/each way / ride!
M
M - Get a bike.
I'm sure you don't miss your insurance payments or the inevitable parking tickets/paying for parking.
I totally agree with murphstahoe, re: get a bike. Come on, our city is 7 miles x 7 miles. I am NOT a hardcore cyclist, nor a hardcore athlete, but I can make great time (almost car-like) most places in the city. Get yourself a bike map ($3) and find the flatter routes.
Anyway, owning a car costs hundreds of dollars a month, do you really spend $400/mo with car share/zip car?
We can't monitor how many busses are running based on Nextmuni alone. Just this Saturday I counted 3 physical busses passing my place for every 1 that appeared online, for hours on end. Something is either buggy with the transponders, Nextbus, both, or something else, or whatever...
It irritates me to no end when people respond to MUNI complainers with "get a bike". Bikes are not for everyone. Many people are disabled, or otherwise physically limited. Many other people have had bad accidents on bikes or have had friends get badly injured on bikes.
Bicycles ARE NOT the final solution.
MUNI should run better and more efficiently. I have lived in many major US cities - New York, Philly, DC, and now SF. MUNI is by far the worst public transit system I've ever riden.
Yes, this city is only 7 X 7. Therefore, there is no reasonable excuse for public transportation being as bad as it is.
2thoughts
as to bikes great for some things not so useful for others.
charitable attitude about Nextbus opaque buses--hey its a computer...
equally likely operator sabotage. remember 250-A once conned Muni into agreeing not to use electronic bus tracking for ANY discipline issues--like parking chez KFC.