Caught Same Muni Driver a Year Ago Continuing to Treat Passengers Poorly

If you recall back in late August 2011, I mentioned about a Muni operator on the 18-46th Avenue line that continued to treat passengers poorly.  In one incident, he pulled over to the front end of a very long bus stop at La Playa and Cabrillo instead of the middle of the stop where the bus shelter is located; but with no passengers requesting to exit the bus, he sped off while I noticed passengers in the shelter grabbing their groceries and starting to move towards the bus.

So did the driver learn his lesson all these months?  Nope.

Just yesterday, I just finished my medical appointment and went down to my local Safeway at LaPlaya and Cabrillo (also known as "Safeway by the Beach") to pick-up something for dinner.  When I walked back to my car, I heard the familiar sound of the 18-46th Avenue inbound bus to Legion of Honor come by.

When I took a look at who was driving, I noticed the familiar cap the driver of the previous incident wore.  Thinking he might pull that unfriendly trick on passengers again, I quickly pulled out my iPhone and started recording video.  You can view the video at the top of this blog entry.

The short video you watched shows the same driver pulling all the way in front of the bus stop, instead of stopping near the cluster of passengers waiting next to the bus shelter.  The 'regular' size Muni buses are 40 feet long, and the back end of the bus was as the front end of the shelter, so I'd estimate the driver pulled 40 feet too far forward (as usual) to discharge and pick-up passengers.

Akit's Opinion:
I personally feel this is totally rude and disrespectful.  He knows the shelter is where all the passengers wait for the buses and nearly all the other drivers stops in front of the shelter, but decides to go all technical and pull to the far forward end of the bus stop.

I'm also concerned about the elderly passengers.  I normally notice many older passengers riding the 18 from that particular stop, and forcing them to haul Safeway groceries an additional 40 feet while worrying if the driver is going to close the doors and drive off is not a great feeling.

Lastly, wouldn't you think the incident back in August I blogged about and calling it in to 311 solved anything or disciplined the operator for being discourteous?  It seems like he hasn't learned his lesson.  Perhaps this blog entry doing some public shaming will teach him a lesson.

For the record, this most recent incident happened:
Thursday, June 7, 2012
5:07PM
LaPlaya and Cabrillo
Bus #8439
Route: 18-46th Avenue
Destination: Legion of Honor

Sunday Streets Changes Route, Still Forces Muni's 18-46th Avenue to take 51-Block Detour

Sunday Streets in Golden Gate Park and the length of the Upper Great Highway is happening this Sunday, and hopefully the weather will be cooperative.

But once again, Sunday Streets organizers are forcing Muni to waste time and extra gas for one of my favorite lines, the 18-46th Avenue.

Why? The 18 line must cross through Sunday Streets at Great Highway in order to make it to the opposite side of Golden Gate Park. But if the Sunday Streets organizers don’t allow the line to cut through the event’s route, the bus line is forced to take a 51 block (10-15 minute) detour via 25th & Fulton (northern side) and 19th Avenue & Lincoln (southern side).

Regular route of the 18:

View Larger Map

Re-route due to Sunday Streets:

View Larger Map

When I saw the Sunday Streets map for this Sunday’s event (PDF document), they made an event route modification to not use Great Highway between Lincoln & Fulton, and I felt this was a success from my previous blog entry complaining about the issue with the 18 line. The new route map only cuts through one short city block from Lower Great Highway & Lincoln to Upper Great Highway & Lincoln (less than 500 feet), which would make it possible for the 18 bus to make a minor cut through the event route.

View Larger Map

But the old Sunday Streets route (below) made it impossible for the 18 line to get through because it took a huge chunk (half a mile) of the Great Highway (from JFK drive to Lincoln).

View Larger Map

Muni hasn’t confirmed a re-route for the 18, but Sunday Streets believes the 51 block re-route will be in effect. I ask Sunday Streets and Muni to allow the bus line to briefly cut through the new Sunday Streets route so it doesn’t drastically effect their on-time schedule and wasting the taxpayer’s gasoline for a totally wasteful 51 block reroute.

If the 44 line can cut through the Golden Gate Park road shutdown every Sunday to go north & south, why can’t the 18 also get an exception for this event?

Muni's 18-46th Avenue Major Reroute - Through Irving Street?

Remember when I mentioned about Muni's 18-46th Avenue line taking a 51 block detour because of Sunday Streets?

Just yesterday, the 18 line had to reroute because of the Nike Women's Marathon blocked off many roads, including the Great Highway from midnight to about 4PM. While that did cause big delays for the line by only being allowed to cut through 19th Avenue and Crossover drive, I didn't expect Muni to pull this particular stunt off:

Around 1:30PM, I was driving through extremely heavy traffic eastbound on Irving from 26th Avenue to 20th Avenue to grab some lunch, and noticed in my rear view mirror an 18 bus going through Irving. To give you an idea of how bad traffic is on eastbound Irving, there's double parking, cars moving to a crawl, and traffic at a standstill within two blocks of approaching 19th Avenue.

That made me scratch my head... why did the 18 bus go along the entire length of Irving? Normally during a reroute, the 18 bus would go on eastbound Lincoln, but since it can't make a direct left turn onto 19th/Crossover, it has to follow the 29-Sunset's route as shown below.

View Larger Map

For me, to get through the heavy traffic from 26th Avenue and Irving to 20th Avenue took nearly 15 minutes (and failed to find a parking space). Why would the 18 take the slowest street in the entire Outer Sunset district when the bus should have taken Lincoln which has faster speed limits, less traffic jams, and very few stop signs?

Akit Already Knows Muni Won't Take Action Against an 18-46th Avenue Driver - So I Will Just Report it Here

When you ride Muni on a regular basis and strictly follow the time schedule, it's likely your bus operator will be the same person. This is especially true for me when I take the 18-46th Avenue line because it operates on 20 minute frequencies during rush hours.

But when you ride with the same driver, you start to notice certain patterns that are just inappropriate, and I finally got fed-up enough to call 311 and report the driver for poor practices. But as we well know, reporting problems to Muni just gets ignored, so I'm deciding to take another step and use the power of my blog to get a wider audience.

Before I tell you about what happened, did you know that in order for Muni to take action against a bus driver, the union rules states that you have to surrender your name and contact information? I usually call 311 and just state I refuse to provide that info, but without it, Muni can't do shit.

Here's the whole story:
Bus: 8417
Line: 18-46th Avenue inbound (to Legion of Honor)
Time: Bus leaves at 6PM at Stonestown (outbound terminal for 18 line)
Driver #: Not known
Description of driver: African American male, thin build, in his 40s.

First incident: Stop at Lake Merced & Font (SF State)
I normally ride the 6:05PM bus arrival at that particular stop because it's just a short walk from my office and it takes me close to my home in the Outer Richmond District. The same driver always picks up passengers 50 feet ahead of the yellow mark on the pavement that indicates the bus must stop there to pick-up passengers.

To make it even more amusing, I flagged the driver by standing near the yellow mark as it was about 200-300 feet away, enough time for the driver to gently hit his brake and hazard lights, but every single time, pulls fifty feet ahead of the yellow mark, thereby forcing any passenger waiting there to rush over to the front door.

Here's a streetsview map from Google:

View Larger Map

On the map image, you'll see a bench on the right side, and just in front of it on the pavement is the yellow mark indicating it's a bus stop for the 18 line. All other Muni operators who drives on this line always stops very close to the yellow mark and the bench, but the regular driver of the 6PM bus doesn't; that driver pulls up to where you see the green "Font" sign, about fifty feet ahead of the bench/yellow mark.

Second incident: Stop at La Playa & Cabrillo
The bus stop at La Playa & Cabrillo next to the Safeway supermarket is a really long bus stop of about 400-500 feet, and the passenger shelter is in the middle of the long bus stop. This stop is so big because back in the day, Muni used that long red zone as a terminus for the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch, and those articulated buses are a good 60 feet long. These days, it's not used as a terminus stop because Muni built a terminal area for the 5-Fulton and 31-Balboa in an empty lot just across the street, and the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch doesn't exist ever since the 18 line was forced to take over that route.

View Larger Map

Since the bus stop is so huge, the same driver always decides to pull to the very front end of the bus stop, this means the people sitting or standing near the passenger shelter has to walk about 50-75 feet just to catch this particular bus. When I ride at other times with other drivers, they stop as close to the shelter as possible, and that even includes the 31-Balboa. A lot of times, the passengers are mostly senior citizens carrying grocery bags, and making them rush to catch a bus that pulled 75 feet in front is just rude and disrespectful.

Here's what made it worse. Yesterday, the driver did the same tactic: Pull the bus to the front end of the bus stop (very close to where that white truck is). Nobody wanted to exit the bus (did not ring bell), and there was about three people sitting in the shelter. The driver slowed down upon approach to the front end of the stop, and I noticed in the window, two people standing-up wanting to catch the bus when they saw it. The driver assumed nobody wanted to board, so he picked-up speed and continued on. I took off my headphones and hollered at the driver, "wasn't there people who wanted to board?" I got no response.

By this point, I was fed-up with this driver. He doesn't give any respect to passengers pulling-up close to the passenger shelter at La Playa & Cabrillo and doesn't make an effort to stop at the yellow marking at Lake Merced & Font. Oh, but he'll allow any of his friends to board at any point along the route that's not a designated bus stop.

Now that I told my story online WILL MUNI TAKE SOME ACTION? It seems complaining to 311 just goes through the cycle of nowhere.

Sunday Streets Forces Muni's 18-46th Avenue to Take 51 Block Detour

One of my favorite Muni bus lines is always the 18-46th Avenue because it's the easiest and most direct route to my office at SF State and stops not too far from my home in the Outer Richmond district.

But it made me a little suspicious of why the Sunday Streets organizers could not accommodate the 18 bus along its normal route via Great Highway, and instead, re-route it by forcing it to drive 51 blocks (3.7 miles) versus its regular route that is a mere 8/10th of a mile. What a waste of gas and time for one of the most timely bus lines in all of Muni.

Here's what the normal route looks like. On La Playa, it turns right onto Fulton, left on to Great Highway, left onto Lincoln, and right onto 46th Avenue. Average time: Approximately 3 minutes.

View Larger Map

Since Sunday Streets happened, Muni had no choice but to re-route the bus. Instead of turning right onto Fulton, it was left on Fulton, drive 24 blocks to 25th Avenue, take Crossover Drive, turn right on Lincoln, and drive an additional 27 blocks to reach 46th Avenue. Time: At least 10 minutes with no traffic, but since Sunday Streets shut-down Upper Great Highway and the road was too narrow on Chain of Lakes (the closest location for vehicles to get across), it took the 18 bus at least 15 minutes to do this re-route.

View Larger Map

Going northbound was much worse for the 18 bus because it can't make a left turn at Lincoln & 19th Avenue; it has to follow the turn procedure the 29-Sunset uses by going around 20th Avenue and using the left turn lane at Irving & 19th and that adds on at least another 5 minutes, especially with the infamous Irving street traffic. Muni buses also can't make a left turn at 25th Avenue & Fulton, so it has to go one block ahead to Cabrillo; that adds on more minutes to the trip.

View Larger Map

Maybe the next time the city wants to host Sunday Streets, how about allowing the 18-46th Avenue bus be able to drive slow along the short stretch of Great Highway instead of inconveniencing a lot of people by taking a route that is triple the time? If Muni can allow the 44 bus to cut through Golden Gate Park's road shut downs on Sundays, why can't they accommodate the 18 line? I hope Muni doesn't make a solution by making people walk from 46th & Lincoln to catch a second bus at Fulton & La Playa; the line carries a lot of elderly passengers and some can't walk too far.

Muni was Excellent Today - I'm Not Kidding!

As you may know, I frequently blog and Tweet about the bad things Muni does to the public (delays, no-shows, PR embarrassments, etc.), but when they do something right, I praise them too.

Today is a good day on Muni. I took a short ride on the 38AX Geary Express to 33rd Avenue & Geary and found the vehicle astonishingly clean. Just how clean? There was no graffiti on the walls and seats, no garbage anywhere on the floors, and not even any etching on the glass.

Even all the Clipper readers was working "normally" this morning (unlike yesterday) while I stood around for ten minutes at 33rd & Geary waiting for my 18-46th Avenue bus.

Oh... but the fun doesn't end there!

Remember when I told you about the Muni pamphlet thief on the 18-46th Avenue? Every Tuesday and Thursday, he rides the 18 and always steals all the pamphlets from all the pamphlet holders on the bus, then moves to the back of the bus.

I eventually got fed-up with the guy months ago and yelled to the driver to look at his mirror. He got out of his seat and grabbed all of them from him. From that point on, the usual driver would remove all the pamphlets before the bus ever arrived to pick-up the guy; sometimes he stopped just 100 feet short because he forgot to remove and hide them.

Today was even crazier. The brazen thief, fed-up with no more pamphlets to steal does something incredibly crude, he rips out the temporary announcement posters (the ones in metal frames) located behind the driver's seat (similar to the one in the above photo). He doesn't gently pull it out, he tears out the entire poster and the second one too.

I yelled out "WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!" and the driver was watching too. The driver was really pissed and so was I; the driver slammed the ban hammer and threatened to refuse to pick-up that passenger ever again. I was so pissed-off and shocked (so was the other passengers), I threatened to call the cops.

The lady sitting in front of me said, the guy is mentally disabled. I responded back to her, I knew that, but that's no excuse for what he has done today and in the past. If the guy wants to conduct more problems, I swear I will call the SFPD. He can take a fucking cab for all I care.

Justice served, again! That made me smile.

Just another day on Muni. A good day on Muni!

Update: Muni Service Changes Updated on 511 Trip Planner Only

With only three days until the service cuts to Muni, I've been putting on the pressure for Muni to post their time schedules and having the trip planning programs be updated in a timely manner. (Blog post #1 on April 22, and post #2 on May 2).

This morning, I found out the May 8th and beyond time schedules have been updated on 511.org's trip planner, a customizable transit planner that tells passengers the fastest route to the one with the least transfers.

Here's a sample:

The information I input into the trip planner:

• Starting point: 33rd Avenue and Geary
• Ending point: Lake Merced and Font
• Date of travel: Monday, May 10, 2010
• Start time of travel: 7:45 AM

The results as shown in the white box on the right shows the revised time schedule of 20 minute frequencies during weekday morning rush service:

1. 7:58 AM
   
2. 8:18 AM
   
3. 8:38 AM
   
4. 8:58 AM
   

Prior to May 8th's service changes, the 18-46th Avenue operated every 15 minutes during weekday morning rush service:

1. 7:57 AM
2. 8:12 AM
3. 8:27 AM
4. 8:42 AM

To compare the frequencies of the 18-46th Avenue and other lines prior to the May 8th changes and after, click here.

Although this is a start, 511 still has a responsibility to post the entire full bus/train schedules for Muni. The trip planner helps, but sometimes you may have to stay later at work or leave earlier than planned and the full time schedule helps a lot. Google Maps will not help plan transit service for users who choose a departure date of May 8th and beyond.

Update: Muni's May 8th Service Cuts - Schedules Still Not Posted

As I reported on April 22nd, Muni announced their "10%" service cuts to many of its bus and rail lines, but argued that new time schedules and trip planning programs (Google Maps and 511) was not updated with the new information.

With less than one week left before major service changes are put into effect, the new time schedules and trip planning programming updates are not done.

• Time schedules: Muni refers everyone to 511.org where the time schedules are posted. At this current time, the time schedules have not been revised. To view a time schedule, use your address bar and type in: http://www.sfmta.com/ and after the slash, type in the bus line. For example: http://www.sfmta.com/18 and it will go automatically to 511's website for the 18-46th Avenue's bus schedule.
• Trip planning: For customized trip planning on Muni, people depend on 511.org's trip planning program and Google Map's public transit option. Both work equally well, but they have their issues with the service changes on Muni. 511 will provide you the pre-May 8th schedule even if you designate a future travel date of May 8th or after. For Google Maps, asking the system for a date on or after May 8th will result in an error.
  

This is not good for Muni. People need to prepare with ample time for upcoming service cuts. People do not like waiting or standing at a bus stop longer than necessary, and many depend on a time schedule or accurate information provided by trip planning programs for the fastest way to get from point A to B.

18-46th Avenue Spared from 30 Minute Frequencies (Except Late Night)

This is a bittersweet victory for those who ride the 18-46th Avenue and/or have also advocated to SFMTA to prevent the outrageous 30 minute frequencies (non-peak service hours) originally proposed in February by management to their board.

I wrote back on March 1st on my blog about the 18-46th Avenue by giving an in-depth look at how much the line has already changed (especially with the reroute via Balboa), and how ugly 30 minute frequencies would be to a line that serves various communities and a major higher educational institution. I have argued that by allowing Muni to force 30 minute frequencies on non-peak service hours, why should the line take a 33% cut, while others are getting next to nothing?

In today's bittersweet victory, Muni caved in, however... the 18 line did get get some cuts that are not as bad as originally planned. Let's take a look:

• Current weekday frequencies: Peak service - 15 minutes, mid-day service - 20 minutes, and late night - 20 minutes. Last bus just past midnight.
  
• Revised weekday frequencies: Peak service - 20 minutes, mid-day service - 25 minutes, evening - 25 minutes, and late night (at 11PM) - 30 minutes. Last bus at approximately 11:30PM.
• Current weekend frequencies: All hours - 20 minutes.
• Revised weekend frequencies: All hours - 25 minutes.

Service changes effective May 8, 2010. That's right folks, it's officially May 8th, while others have argued it's May 1st.

I'm still against any service frequency cuts to the 18-46th Avenue due to its importance to connect with major downtown lines, and being the sole service that serves the western edge of the city, the apartments on John Muir Drive and Lake Merced Hills, and the Janet Pomeroy Center. Since the changes to the 88-BART shuttle removing service to the secluded apartments at John Muir Drive, it has been a large impact on those commuters that now depend on their car or the (worsening) frequencies of the 18-46th Avenue bus line.

Be warned: 511 and Google Maps online trip planning program websites are not ready with Muni's frequency changes when you set the date on or after May 8th, 2010. Also, 511's time schedules are not published, so it is unknown of when buses will depart/arrive based on Muni's modified frequencies schedule.

It is my expectation that Muni will publish the new time schedules and have the trip planning programs ready with at least two weeks before changes happen. I will be watching Muni very carefully and publish updates as we approach "fail day."

To view the upcoming weekday and weekend frequency changes, click here.

New Muni Service Cuts in May - Akit Reminds Muni how they Failed Before

I'm a pretty well informed citizen of San Francisco. I read the news from various sources and keep up-to-date on my tweets; it's sad to see that our public transit agency wants to take a step backward in the wrong direction to hurt not just their customers, but send their overall reputation further down the grave that we call the "Central Subway."

I've heard word that there was a last minute long shot appeal to see if an environmental review was necessary to give the "10%" cut in services on Muni, yet I had a gut feeling that it wasn't going to go well; I was right, the board kicked it to the curb with a 7-4 vote.

What makes me even more frustrated is just how soon the "10%" cuts will actually happen. SF Weekly claims it will start May 1st, and the SF Gate's City Insider says May 8th; but regardless of what date it may be, May will be the worst in Muni's history.

How can Muni decide to take drastic cuts with so little notice? Does less than 17 days notice actually give Muni the balls to pull off a massive PR campaign to inform the public of their beloved transit service going to make drastic cuts?

Let me refresh Muni's memory on some blog entries that gained major attention for FAILURE TO PROVIDE AMPLE NOTICE:

1. When Muni announced their so-called 10% cuts at their board meeting, they specifically targeted the 18-46th Avenue in a showboat attempt to say that service will be reduced from 20 minutes to a whopping 30 minutes mid-day, evenings, and weekends. I wrote a very serious in-depth analysis on why it was not fair to discriminate the 18-46th Avenue with 33% cuts while others are getting less than 10%.
2. The most recent cuts happened on December 5, 2009, and I reported on November 24th that Muni has not made an effort to provide new published bus/train schedules in a timely manner and online planning programs were also not ready. This story alone spread like wildfire and it really caught Muni's attention very quickly.
3. On November 26th, two days after I reported the failure of map planning programs, Google Maps was ready.
4. On December 1st, just a few days away from the major changes, 511's online trip planner program was updated with Muni's changes, but there was no time schedules posted.
5. I also gave a brutal punishing to Muni for failure to provide ample notice of an adult pass hike that was scheduled for January 1st. On November 5, 2009, I argued it was not fair to give such late notice of a pass hike because it would affect people who need to update their payroll deduction for their commuter benefits program. Just few days later (November 8th), I caught Muni in the act of updating their website about the pass hike.

This is a serious warning to Muni management, do not make service cuts without giving the public ample notice. One month's notice is barely acceptable, but with only 17 days left until the new month, that's not enough time to publish a new schedule, and not enough time for the techies at Google and 511 to input the new data into their trip planning program.

You've already screwed-up December 5th's cuts, so why should be trust you to get the time schedules and trip planning software updates in a timely manner? This is especially true for me, the 18-46th Avenue passenger whose going to have to get the worst punishment while others who ride major lines may not even notice much of a difference.

Update:
Here's an additional posting showing evidence of Muni's PR failure: The PGA golf tournament at Harding Park where Muni only gave the public one day's notice of major bus re-routes for the 18-46th Avenue and (the former) 88-BART Shuttle. And even then, I did all the research and posted it faster than 511's alerts page.

An In-Depth Look Into Muni's 18-46th Avenue

The 18-46th Avenue is the line I take to get from my home in the Outer Richmond district to my job at SF State. I also took this line as a graduate and undergrad at State, and frequently took this line when going to City College (via the 29-Sunset). It was known as one of the best bus lines in the city, and was extremely desirable for the most senior Muni operators for the easy to drive route, happy passengers, and great views. For the passengers, this bus line was always on-time, reliable, and able to connect with many major lines heading towards downtown.

But after the major re-route on December 5, 2009, the line's reputation has gone down the gutter. I never see the same bus driver every single time, the on-time reliability has dropped drastically, and the morale of the passengers is really low.


Problem 1: It's not a community service route.
As you see on this weekday grid provided by Muni, the 18-46th Avenue is receiving the worst service reduction out of the rest of the lines. Service is being reduced from 20 minute frequencies to 30 minutes (mid-day weekday, weekday evenings, and all-day on Saturdays and Sundays).

Why is it the worst? Look at the mid-day weekday time changes: the 18 is going to be cut back 10 minutes while many other lines are only getting a cutback of an average of 3 minutes (5 minutes for the 33 and 37). Also, no other lines (other than the 18) are being reduced to 30 minute frequencies.

As you look at the grid, you will notice the lines currently operating mid-day with 30 minute frequencies are the lines considered "community service" and typically runs the 30-foot hybrid buses and specifically drive within a certain neighborhood or smaller zone versus buses that drive miles covering multiple neighborhoods/areas.

By doing a reduction in the 18's service to 30-minute frequencies, it's like turning the line into a "community service" line instead of it's true nature, a crosstown route like its brother, the 29-Sunset. How can Muni punish the 18? This line is the only lifeline serving the far west end of the city, and is the sole bus route route to access the Janet Pomeroy Center, Legion of Honor, and the apartments along John Muir Drive (southern end of Lake Merced).

It serves more than any community service route can ever do. This line stops at major stops like:

• Stonestown, SF State, Lowell High, Janet Pomeroy center [for the disabled], SF Zoo, Ocean Beach, Beach Chalet, Safeway "at the Beach," Balboa business district, and Legion of Honor.

The crosstown bus line also has transfer connections to all these lines:

• 1, 1AX, 5, 16X, 17, 23, 28, 28L, 29, 31, 31AX, 38, 38L, 38AX, 71, 71L, L, M, and N.
  
• SF State Shuttle

Problem 2: Post December 5, 2009 reroute not helpful.
The 18 used to run along Geary and Point Lobos, and passed by the Cliff House. But after December 5th, Muni decided to run the 18 along Balboa and Cabrillo and remove the 38-Geary Ocean Beach. I've argued that it is a bad decision to eliminate the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch and Muni should have eliminated the Fort Miley branch since the 38L (weekdays and Saturdays) and 38 (weekday evenings and Sundays) drops passengers just ONE BLOCK away from the hospital. If Muni just eliminated the Fort Miley route, there would be no reroutes for the 18 or the elimination of the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch.

The 18 currently runs at 20 minute frequencies which is less than what the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch ever operated, and when changing the 18's frequency to 30 minutes, the passengers will suffer greatly. Many have to ride the 18 so they can connect with the 5-Fulton, 38L-Geary Limited (faster ride to downtown vs. the 31-Balboa), and access to Chinatown via the 1-California.

--------------------

Can someone tell me why Muni is targeting the 18-46th Avenue? I thought the re-routes were bad enough, but 30-minute frequencies just makes it worse.

When a Muni representative presented to the SFMTA Board the service cuts, the lady specifically targeted the 18-46th Avenue. I thought to myself, why target the 18? Why get on the microphone and do a P.R. stunt for shock value by saying the line will be getting cut to 30-minute frequencies (10 minute increase) while not comparing all the other routes that will only get a 3 to 5 minute increase to no more than 20 minute frequencies?

The 18-46th Avenue will receive a 33% cut in service. How can they claim a "10%" reduction?

Just today, I was reading NextBus and it showed the 18-46th Avenue was to arrive in 14 minutes and 44 minutes. There's supposed to be another one in 29 minutes (15 minute frequencies during rush hour). Reliable? Not anymore.

If this agency has a grudge against me, don't take it against the public who ride this line.

Do you like someone who can find huge mistake, expose it on the internet, get it re-tweeted to thousands of people in a matter of minutes, and change public policy? I've done it multiple times: Not posting new route schedules and failing to update trip planning programs just a week before changes, barely informing the public about a pass hike, ineffective fare inspectors, and Muni promised to accept "Muni to BART" transfers for the ride back from AT&T Park and I exposed them on video of them failing on their promise.

You will not let the 18-46th Avenue die. I won't let you do that without a fight.

Consolidate Muni's 17-Park Merced and 18-46th Avenue?

Things are not pretty with Muni and all the service changes and the recent cost increase in passes is not saving enough money. It made me think, what bus lines could be consolidated to save Muni money, but still keep the service consistent?

My answer for Muni is to consolidate the 17-Park Merced and 18-46th Avenue into a singular bus line. I was looking over an article written by SF Appeal's Matt Baume about what bus lines are most at risk, and the 18 and 17 are high on the list for most at risk.

Currently...

• The 17-Park Merced is a 'loop' route that starts at West Portal Station, drives through the Stonestown Galleria, University Park North (formerly Stonestown Apartments), SF State, Park Merced, and basically backtracks it to West Portal. This is a very short route and is lightly used.
  
• The 18-46th Avenue's terminals are the Legion of Honor and Stonestown; the route primarily serves the western most region of San Francisco's Outer Richmond and Sunset districts, and the isolated area on John Muir Drive.

Muni originally suggested ending the 17 line because the M-Ocean View line follows about 80% of the route (West Portal to SF State), but does ignore the intimate service provided to portions of Park Merced and University Park North, so it wasn't a fan favorite of the neighbors who fought to keep the line. Muni also suggested modifying the 18 to ignore John Muir drive and continue on Sloat and drive along the north shore of Lake Merced Blvd. and force the 17-Park Merced to provide service to John Muir Drive and the homes in the "Lake Merced Hills" residence community.

Here's two ideas:

My recommendation:

• Combine both bus lines so it's basically a route going from Legion of Honor to West Portal Station. Instead of the existing 18-46th Avenue bus going to Stonestown, it will take a portion of the 17-Park Merced routes for service to West Portal.
• This bus line will act as a back-up when the Muni Metro experiences a fail and can provide direct service between West Portal, SF State, and Park Merced.
• The bus line helps connect passengers who live in the apartments at John Muir Drive to get onto Muni Metro faster. The recent elimination of the 88-BART Shuttle segment to their area is pretty bad, but at least those people can use one bus line to connect with Muni Metro at West Portal for service to downtown. For those who need BART, just transfer at 19th Avenue & Holloway for the M-Ocean View to Balboa Park or the 29-Sunset.
  
• There's no need for the 18-46th Avenue to drive on Winston anymore, that's easily covered by the 29-Sunset for the short hop to/from Stonestown.
  
• The combined bus route will need to take a more direct route through Park Merced because it would add additional time to drive through the narrow side streets instead of sticking to main roads like Font and Juan Bautista Circle.
• The modified route will have to ignore direct service to University Park North, but it's only a few minutes to walk to the 29-Sunset on Winston & Buckingham, and just a few minutes away from the new combined route bus stop along 19th Avenue.
• It would require Muni buses to run along 19th Avenue between Holloway and Winston if Muni wants to keep bus service near Stonestown. If Muni wants to ignore 19th Avenue and Stonestown completely, just move service to Junipero Serra Blvd. via Holloway.
  

Here's a custom map I made of the modified route:

View Larger Map

Alternate Recommendation:

• An alternate option for Muni is to still consolidate the 17 and 18, but the modified route will terminate at Stonestown with bus service going through Park Merced. This would force any passengers needing Muni Metro to connect at the Stonestown or SF State outdoor platforms.
• There is no need to make a new bus terminal for Stonestown, just using the existing one (19th Avenue & Buckingham) for the 18 works if the bus makes a u-turn at northbound 19th Avenue & Winston. The route back to Legion of Honor just goes straight through 19th Avenue and turns to enter Park Merced.
  
• Service will still not enter University Park North (Stonestown Apartments) due to walking access to the 29-Sunset on Winston and the modified bus line terminal at Stonestown.
  
• It's a more efficient route that helps the 18 maintain its reputation for timely service and gives coverage to Park Merced, but grumpy Park Merced residents who love to shop in West Portal or wants to take the metro at West Portal station will bicker.
  

Alternate map:

View Larger Map

On the "Last Ride" for the 18-46th Avenue

It's tough to say goodbye to the 18-46th Avenue's route that serves Geary, Point Lobos, the Cliff House, and a small portion of La Playa.

Today is the last day of service for this segment before it is re-routed to take over the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch segment from 33rd/Geary to the Ocean Beach terminal. This will make it more challenging for me to catch this bus line that goes directly to my workplace at SF State as I have to walk the notorious steep hills between Balboa and Geary.

Today's "last ride" did not have my usual driver (actually, I haven't seen her in a week), and one of those orange vested SFMTA "ambassadors" was on the bus as well to remind people of the deleted segment starting tomorrow.

Even more interesting is the buses had their automated announcements fixed. The bus announced every single stop, but only the street names. The modified announcements did not mention any major attractions/locations like this one: "Lake Merced and Font; San Francisco State University" or mentioning the SF Zoo.

Even more amusing is listening to the announcements that mentioned that the bus line will be modified and service hours reduced in three different languages, but also noticing that it kept getting cut-off every time because the stop announcements had priority over these reminders.

Read my obit-lette for the 18-46th Avenue and 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch on Muni Diaries.

Update: Muni's 18-46th Avenue Passenger Shelters Removed

Within 48 hours of my recent posting about the removal of key components of the bus shelters on the 18-46th Avenue bus lines for the soon to be defunct route covering Geary and Pt. Lobos, Muni has removed all the shelters on that route segment.

Before...


AFTER

Here's all the before & after photos I have taken:


I'm disappointed at Muni for removing the shelters way before the route changes are in effect. It's freezing cold at the stops near the Cliff House and the shelters are the only protection.

Muni already dismantling 18-46th Avenue bus stops

The above slide show is Muni's preparations for the end of the 18-46th Avenue segment that serves Geary and Pt. Lobos. While the route changes are about 20 days away, Muni has already removed the glass, route map, and lettering indicating it is a bus stop designated for the bus line.

To make matters worse, within a day of the removal of items, graffiti artists tagged-up the two bus stops at Pt. Lobos and 48th Avenue.

Just removing the glass makes things look sad for one of my favorite bus lines that takes me to and from work at SF State University. There's no protection from the elements and I was freezing my ass off waiting for the bus today.

Did Muni ever put a notice on these bus stops that they will be terminated on December 5th? No.

New Idea for Fixing the 38 Geary - Fort Miley Shuttle

Since my previous posting about the possible changes approaching in the months ahead for SFMTA/Muni, I was wondering how feasible it would be to modify service on the 38-Geary and save money.

Muni's original proposal (the "TEP") says the agency wants to eliminate service on the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch and force the 18-46th Avenue to take-over that eliminated route.

I argued that changing the two bus lines serving the Outer Richmond was not a good idea mainly because of access issues for disabled passengers on the 18 serving the Cliff House, and regular commuters who depend on the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch being forced to wait up to 20 minutes for an 18-line to take them home. You can read about my arguments on page 19 (PDF document). As expected, Muni didn't give a damn in their response.

--------------------

I just spent my weekend riding the 38-Geary local because the 38-Geary Limited on Saturday was a holiday and Sunday service does not provide limited buses. I thought to myself, is there a better way to cut service on Muni and limiting the frustration and damage to the public?

I knew the solution!

Instead of deleting service to Ocean Beach, why doesn't Muni consider deleting service to Fort Miley (a.k.a. V.A. Hospital) and replace the short segment with a shuttle service?

Here's why taking away the 38-Geary Fort Miley service is a useful idea:

1. 95% of the route covering Transbay Terminal to/from Fort Miley is already being served by the 38-Geary Limited (weekdays and Saturdays to 48th Avenue), and 38-Geary (regular/local to 48th Avenue) on Sundays and holidays.
2. I see many hospital workers exit at 42nd Avenue and walk it to the hospital. This includes the passengers riding the 18-46th Avenue towards Legion of Honor who also exit at 42nd Avenue.
   
3. Ocean Beach passengers can continue to take the local bus directly to their destination.
   
4. 18-46th Avenue passengers who have limited mobility can still access the Cliff House without struggling the steep hill.
5. 18-46th Avenue passengers who work at Fort Miley hospital will not have to transfer at 33rd Avenue/Geary for the Fort Miley bus (assuming if TEP eliminates the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch).
   
6. For disabled passengers and people who cannot make it up the hill to the hospital, Muni should provide one shuttle bus (a mini bus used on the 89-Laguna Honda) that serves the hospital and serves all local stops up to 33rd Avenue. Why 33rd Avenue? See below.
   
7. 33rd Avenue should be a transfer point for all local bus passengers riding the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch so they can cross the street and wait for the Fort Miley shuttle. For 38-Geary Limited passengers, they can exit at any point between 33rd Avenue and 42nd Avenue for the shuttle.
8. If Muni wants to save money by only using the shuttle on days when the limited bus is in use (weekdays and Saturdays)... the regular 38-Geary service (weeknights and Sundays) should revert to their old service that was "48th Avenue via Fort Miley" where outbound passengers can request service to the driver for Fort Miley, and when waiting for the bus at the hospital, they press the signal button that notifies the driver at 48th Avenue/Pt. Lobos to pick them up.

I believe this is a great solution that does not drastically affect an entire neighborhood.

If Muni can run one shuttle bus that serves Laguna Honda hospital from Forest Hill metro station, why can't they do that from 33rd/42nd Avenue to Fort Miley? Why run 60 foot buses every 15 minutes with so few passengers to Fort Miley terminal, when one shuttle bus can just run in circles for the short hop down a hill to ride the super fast 38-Geary Limited or to 33rd Avenue to catch the local 38?

I see plenty of passengers wait for the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch going towards downtown (I shop at Safeway frequently and eat at Kam's), and the 18-46th Avenue can continue to serve the Cliff House where accessibility problems are a big concern. I wonder why the hospital workers who depend on the 18 doesn't complain to Muni of making it a big inconvenience?

Plus, the Ocean Beach terminal has plenty of bus parking spots; if Muni eliminates that segment, extra buses will be forced to crowd-up at 48th Avenue or Fort Miley, and they are usually full during the day hours, and forces buses to park illegally.

--------------------

I would love to hear your comments about my new proposal. Will it work or will it fail? I know that folks from the MTC, Muni, and elected officials read this blog, so what you suggest may work!

It worked for me when Phil Bronstein and Eve Batey helped me out by getting Muni to BART discount coupons accepted for AT&T Park fans, and I'm still thankful for their help.

(Photo from Flickr user: ocu-master using a Creative Commons license)

Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP): SF Muni's Bad Ideas for 38 and 18 Lines

Many people may or may not know that I live in the Outer Richmond District. I noticed a little while back that San Francisco Muni had released these new proposals to modify many of the transit lines that we are so used to. But two of my local lines really started to hurt.

Since I cannot go to the hearing on Tuesday the 16th because I'm stuck at work, I e-mailed the SFMTA Board of Directors as requested by the TEP representatives, but I don't even know if they will even read my lengthy comments. So I'm going to post my ideas here:

For the 38-Geary line, the proposal by Muni will eliminate the Ocean Beach branch of the line. Currently the three major branches is: Ft. Miley (38 regular), Ocean Beach (38 regular), and 48th Avenue and Pt. Lobos (38 limited). I really think they are going in the wrong direction with this and should plan to restore service to the Ocean Beach terminal. I can understand that having huge articulated vehicles running on Balboa Street is not the best idea due to bus noise and the narrow lanes in certain sections, so it might work best if the line runs the 38-Limited route, but goes down Pt. Lobos past the Cliff House to the Great Highway and turns at Fulton to the Ocean Beach terminal. The inbound route will follow the opposite direction, but stop at the 38-Limited terminal for an easy transfer to the limited line.

(Inbound daytime service starting from Ocean Beach Terminal)

(Outbound daytime service to Ocean Beach terminal)

Muni's TEP people also proposed changing the 38-Geary Owl service to not terminate at the Ocean Beach terminal, but to stop at the Fort Miley terminal. I think Muni should take an opportunity to increase their coverage on the owl service line by serving all three terminals. People are used to taking the 38 Owl to Ocean Beach, so why not restore it and also serve the neglected areas like 48th & Point Lobos, and Fort Miley hospital? The area around here is very hilly, and for people who live north of the Ocean Beach terminal live on an extremely steep hill. Still, it follows my proposed route modifications, but will eliminate the loud noise on Balboa street since that line runs 24-hours a day in a neighborhood. Passengers who live on Balboa can easily take the 5-Fulton owl service and walk two blocks on a usually flat or slightly pitched sidewalk.

(CORRECTION: The 38-Owl service is proposed to terminate at 48th Avenue and Pt. Lobos, however this error still does not change my argument to serve all three terminals)


(Inbound 38-Geary Owl service route serving all three terminals)

(Outbound 38-Geary Owl Service route serving all three terminals)

Lastly, the 18-46th Avenue line's modifications are not really acceptable. While I did not make any maps, I'll point out the changes that might take place. To give some background on the 18-line, the bus line is one of the best lines in the entire city, easily accessible route to SFSU, and only the most senior operators with the best reputations get to drive this line (because everyone wants to drive it).

1. In the northern section (above Golden Gate Park) of the route, it is proposed to remove the route going around the Cliff House by having the line actually drive through Balboa and turn North to serve 33rd Avenue and Geary. This route will slow down the line's current efficient route because Balboa is a "stop and go" type of road, and I think in the best interest of the neighborhood, eliminating the noisy gas powered buses will be a real help. And the people at Balboa can ride on the quiet 31-Balboa line to the Ocean Beach terminal to ride my proposed modified 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch line or the 18, or can even walk two block to ride the new proposed 5L-Fulton Limited line.
2. In the area around Lake Merced, the TEP proposal will not go around John Muir Drive (the southern edge road of Lake Merced) and will run on the northern end of Lake Merced. It is true that it will make the ride faster, but it has a major disadvantage. If you have ever driven the south edge of Lake Merced, John Muir drive has this big apartment complex, and when I ride this bus, a lot of SFSU students, staff, and faculty board the bus for a direct ride to SFSU. The TEP proposal eliminates this and moves the 17-Parkmerced line to serve this area. However, this change will nearly triple the time it takes to get to SFSU because the eastbound bus will go into Daly City to pick-up Daly City BART passengers, and wind through the road maze known as Parkmerced. If the 18-line stays the way it is, it is only adding a five minutes to the route, and just that few minutes can bring in extra money to Muni since SFSU folks at John Muir drive depends on this route for direct service to campus.
   
3. Also noted about the route change on Lake Merced, there is no easy to access bus stop for SFSU students at all. All SFSU affiliates get-off on the current route at Lake Merced and Font Blvd. (the dorms) and take a short walk to their classrooms. The new route will make people walk a longer route to make it to campus since it does not make a direct stop at campus, thereby may not make the line suitible for SFSU affiliates. This is especially discouraging for SFSU people who attend or work on the west end (lower end) of campus versus the east end ("up-campus") of campus. I use the 18 for a direct ride to SFSU, and if this route goes into effect, I might just drive to campus.

Thanks for reading. Below is the original letter I sent to the SFMTA Board of Directors:
--------------------------------------------------
Dear SFMTA Board of Directors,

I am e-mailing the SFMTA Board of Directors today to post my comments on some of the proposed changes to the lines serving the Outer Richmond district.

In regards to the proposed removal of the 38-Geary Ocean Beach branch line, I believe that this line is still very useful during its daytime operations as it also is part of the late night owl service used in today's Muni service.

--First of all, I believe the daytime route should be modified outbound to go straight down Geary and down Pt. Lobos on the road towards the Great Highway (passing the Cliff House) and going directly to the bus terminal. For the downtown trip, it would start at the Ocean Beach terminal, go up Pt. Lobos past the Cliff House, right turn at 48th Avenue to drop-off/transfer passengers for the 38-Limited for a faster ride (this will be a popular option for passengers!), and continue on Geary on the normal route. This alternate route is faster, gives easy access for tourists to visit the Cliff House, eliminates the "stop and go" driving on Balboa, use of noisy motorized buses on Balboa, and 38-Ocean Beach branch line passengers can still get to their destination on Balboa by simply transferring to the 31-Balboa line.

--The Owl line route should also help out more residents of the Outer Richmond too. Currently, the only 38-Geary route Owl service is the Ocean Beach branch. However the proposed modification would remove the route and terminate at the Ft. Miley hospital for owl service. Since the 38 line is one of the main lifelines of this city, I feel it best if the line should serve all three major terminals in one route so that it can accomodate everyone, espeically the very hilly parts of the Outer Richmond that makes it a challenge for older passengers (this is especially true in the 40th-48th avenues where the hills are steep between Cabrillo and Geary). My suggestion is to have the outbound owl buses serve in this order: Ft. Miley (by request), the bus stop at 48th Avenue and Pt. Lobos (northwest corner stop, diagonally opposite of the Seal Rock Inn), and terminate at Ocean Beach terminal (by driving on Pt. Lobos (going past the Cliff House). For the downtown route: Ocean Beach Terminal, 48th Ave. and Pt. Lobos terminal, and Ft. Miley by request of activation of the signal at Ft. Miley. If there is a concern about regular Owl passengers losing their service on Balboa, it should be noted that the 5-Fulton is an owl service line and Balboa is only two blocks away with little or no hills to climb and could calm the motorized bus noise problem dramatically.

I also disagree with the proposed changes to the 18-46th Avenue line. The current route of the line is very efficient, fast, and is considered one of the best bus lines in the entire city; even to the point where Muni operators highly desire to drive on this route.

--The modified route on the northern sector of the city will cause much longer driving times and does not serve any real convienence. Balboa is a very "stop and go" street and I believe that not using Balboa for this modified route will reduce the vehicle noise and help out the neighborhood at large since the 31-Balboa is a trolley bus line. If you are wondering if this will cause any problems for Balboa St. passengers, they can easily ride the 31 to the Ocean Beach terminal for the 18 or ride my proposed modified 38 Ocean Beach branch. Also, removing the 18-46th Avenue's service area covering the Cliff House and 48th Avenue/Geary to 33rd Avenue/Geary will hurt tourism for the Cliff House and the many residents who rely on an easy and direct route for many services (SFSU, SF Zoo, Stonestown, etc.) and connections to other major Muni lines.

--I am also aware of the removal of 18 service on the south end of Lake Merced (John Muir Drive), where it is proposed to be more efficient to run on the nothern rim of Lake Merced. I do agree that this route modification will improve service, however this does cause problems for students and employees of SFSU. The new proposed change will make it much harder to access SFSU as there is much more walking involved. Many SFSU students and staff exit on the current route at Lake Merced and Font, next door to the residence halls (dormitories) and most SFSU students to not exit at the end of the line (Stonestown) to walk half a mile to campus. There are also many SFSU students and employees who live at the apartments on John Muir Drive, and if the proposal goes through and the 17 line serves this route, there will be no fast direct access to SFSU for these people. The 17's modified route serving the John Muir Drive apartments would have to go through a dizzy maze serving other parts of Park Merced and Daly City BART, and that would really add much more time to their already simple commute. Now surely the modified route would cut the bus ride by five minutes, but that five minutes can also rake in more passengers and financial income if Muni does not modify this line.

In summary, I believe the proposed changes to the 38-Geary lines can be adjusted to still serve Ocean Beach terminal, there can be an easy change to adjust the 38-Geary owl service to serve more than one terminal, and the 18-46th Avenue line should not be changed for efficiency purposes and to keep its service on John Muir Drive for SFSU affiliates.

Thank you.