Less than a week ago, SFMTA/Muni released information to the public about the service changes scheduled to happen on December 5, 2009.
Where's the public's reaction about these changes? Having major service changes on the busiest transit service in the Bay Area is something that should be headline news the day after the changes were posted by Muni; but it's unusual to find most of the major news media shying away from reporting the changes. I'm also keeping an eye on chatter box (Twitter) about Muni and it seems there's very few people who are angry, nor delighted of the upcoming changes in just one month.
So people... are we simply just accepting these major changes or are we all just pent-up full of anger or sadness? It's time to speak-out and tell everyone if you like one of Muni's service changes ideas or you hate them.
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I'll tell you my opinions, these changes suck for my neighborhood, the Outer Richmond. Muni is eliminating the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch and the 18-46th Avenue will be re-routed and cover that route from 33rd/Geary to LaPlaya/Cabrillo.
I think it's a bad idea because you now force 38-Geary passengers to transfer to the 18 to get to their homes on Balboa and Cabrillo, and that means a wait of an average of up to 20 minutes; but if an 18 is a no-show, your wait can be up to 40 minutes (totally unacceptable). It also removes direct service to the Cliff House, which is essential for ADA passengers due to the very steep hills.
Here's my idea:
- I see very few people taking the 38 Geary to V.A. Hospital/Fort Miley; so why doesn't Muni just remove that branch and have the agency run a shuttle bus, just like the folks at Laguna Honda Hospital (89-Laguna Honda)? The 38L can get passengers to 42nd Avenue, and the shuttle can just fetch and drop people off at the hospital (it's only two blocks away). This keeps service on the 38 to Ocean Beach, and the 18 continues to serve on Geary, Pt. Lobos, and the Cliff House.
5 comments:
Of the changes to buses I normally take, most of them make sense and/or make my life easier, especially expanded 38L service (long overdue) and having the 2-Clement keep going to Ferry on weekends. In response to your complaint, wouldn't people who live on Balboa/Cabrillo just take the 31-Balboa or 5-Fulton to get downtown? It always seemed redundant to have the occasional 38 go down to OB.
Some feel the need to take the 38 to catch the 38L at 33rd/Geary, or for those for a direct ride to Chinatown, the 1 California terminal.
I'm not sure about people who wants to catch the 38AX, but what's nice about that line is they go express starting at 25th Avenue/Geary (much earlier than other Richmond express lines.
I think the public didn't respond to this because these changes were supposed to take affect in July, so we've been on a grace period. Furthermore, Muni informed the public about two years ago that these changes would happen. There was a lot of outcry, but it was just a matter of time, and that time has come.
On a personal note, although I lose the 21 to 6th Avenue, I gain a 5 that starts at 6th Avenue during peak hours. Ironically, I seldom ride Muni.
I hope they plan to run two-car trains along the Embarcadero line for weekend ball games. Can you imagine having only one-car T trains serving all the baseball fans?
I can certainly understand not needing two-car N trains going to Caltrain on weekends most of the time.
The challenge with running two-car T trains is the platform length on 3rd street. They are only made for one-car trains.
It's likely that since the metro is a money maker for ballgames, they'd add extra cars to keep the public happy. I was once pissed off at Muni for waiting over 10 minutes for a train with 200+ people waiting.
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