It may not have been the fiasco that was July 4th, but the SFMTA's strategies for handling the massive crowds at Outside Lands still don't reflect the experience of 18 years of doing this.

This past weekend was the 18th Outside Lands in San Francisco, and the popular music festival has only grown more popular over the years, with tickets sold out faster this year than in recent memory, and capacity was said to be 75,000 people per day.

While festival organizers seem to have mastered the not insignificant task of keeping the artists on a strict schedule, getting food out to all those attendees, generally maintaining civil order, and keeping porta-potties from being too overwhelmed, the same can't always be said of the SFMTA.

There were no major nightmare scenarios reported this year when it comes to the buses and N-line trains ferrying people in and out — or with regard to Waymos clogging up roadways. But that does not mean it was smooth sailing for people trying to exit the festival, especially on the Fulton Street side, and especially if it was near the time the music ended each night.

SFist spoke to multiple people who had similar experiences with the SFMTA's designated choke point for 5X and 5R buses, at 30th Avenue and Fulton. For some reason, despite thousands of people exiting through VIP each night six blocks west at 36th Avenue, and many others who unwittingly went back to the other exit point at 25th Avenue, SFMTA workers were only loading one bus at a time, at this one choke point at 30th, leading to unruly crowds piling up as people poured out of the park en masse, and extremely crowded buses.

Leaving early, say five or six songs before the last set was done, was also not the answer. I personally experienced the choke point on Sunday night, well before the final Rufus du Sol numbers, and after one 5-Fulton bus left completely full, the next one was set to arrive 38 minutes later — with no 5Rs or 5Xs running until the concert was done. I actually had to be informed of this by this kid, Da'Von Griffin, a self-appointed Muni guide and transit nerd from Oakland who was standing just behind the bus stop at 30th and Fulton helping to direct people. He, too, was puzzled as to why the buses were so far apart despite many people leaving the festival early after a long weekend.

Getting out to the festival in the afternoon was also an exercise in frustration, with over-packed 5-Fulton and 5R buses being the norm — and virtually no one else fitting on the buses past Civic Center unless multiple people who weren't headed to Outside Lands squeezed their way off.

Ubers were, per usual, nearly impossible to get, with extended wait times just to connect to drivers — and with many Uber/Lyft drivers simply parked along the side avenues at 30th, 29th, etc, trying ot catch off-the-books fares. SFist spoke to one group who was charged $100 by a driver to get to the Castro, and midway through the trip, because of all the traffic, the driver said the fare had gone up to $150.

The Chronicle reports on some festival-goers being frustrated — as they always are! — with the slowness and infrequency of N-Judah trains heading inbound at night, leading to extremely crowded trains when they did come. "On Friday, it was so bad I lowkey had to stand on the handrail lol," writes one festival-goer on Reddit, apparently describing the handrail inside train doors?

Those in the know who hiked up to Balboa Street, for the 31 bus, or further up to Geary for the 38, likely had better experiences, as I did, though those buses were also not running as frequently as they could have been. The 31 and 38 also proved vital in getting out to the festival, and got you there quicker than Ubers, Lyfts, or Waymos could — and those cars also couldn't get any closer to the park than Balboa (Uber and Lyft) or Geary (Waymo) due to SFMTA restrictions.

Anyone else have experiences to share? Please share them in the comments.