Updates: Daly City BART to Muni Transfer and The E-Line Pilot May Fail

I thought I'd spend some time and provide updates on two of my past blog entries.

The Daly City free Muni transfers:
Originally, passengers who exited the Daly City BART station with their Clipper card was given an electronic transfer encoded on their card for two free Muni rides.  The first ride must be claimed within one hour of exiting the station, and therefore the second ride is validated.  The spirit of the rule is the passenger will receive the free ride for the return back to the station; but due to Muni's lack of inputting data into each vehicle console, if a passenger took the 28-19th Avenue away from Daly City, the next Muni ride, regardless of route is free (such as transferring to the 38-Geary).

But now the second ride fun is over.  Muni has now instructed operators to input into their Clipper console the route number, therefore the two way electronic transfer from Daly City BART is now only valid on the 14L, 28, 28L and 54.  The only little problem, if the operator doesn't input the bus route number, the transfer might not go through.

Take a look at your Muni card history report.  For nearly all the Muni rides, it will say "MTANONE" indicating no route information was inputted.  But when I rode the 28 line, I noticed it say "28" as the route, therefore the e-transfers issued from Daly City is only good on the routes that goes to and from Daly City BART.

I should note, a change in the transfer policy will start August 1st when the e-transfer rule of exiting BART and taking Muni within one hour will be changed to 23 hours.  Read more about the change.

The E-Line May Fail
After publishing my blog entry about the exciting news regarding the E-Line pilot project going from Caltrain to Fisherman's Wharf, the project might not even happen.

While Muni's report acknowledged that staffing levels and equipment may be a problem, the Market Street Railway notes that things are bleak.  The big problem Muni and MTR will face is the lack of double ended PCC streetcars that are required for the route.  There's barely enough of these rare cars, and it depends if all of them are street worthy and safe to operate.  If one breaks down, the pilot project can either die or will run at more than a 15 minute headway.

The Market Street Railway does not recommend the pilot program to start unless if Muni can provide ample staffing and streetcars to run the program.

Ride Muni's E-Line from Caltrain to Fisherman's Wharf on August 25 and 26

At today's SFMTA Policy and Governance Committee meeting, a little hidden secret is hiding in their agenda documents... it's about the E-Line route.

If you are not familiar with the E-Line, it was originally the route used prior to the N-Judah and K/T Ingleside-Third taking the route to Caltrain and AT&T Park.  The E-Line ran between Embarcadero station and 4th/King (Caltrain).

Muni has been in the works for years to run a line to go from Fort Mason to 4th/King/Caltrain, and has built curbside platforms that have been unused for years along the route between the Ferry Building and 4th/King.  Now they will be used for just two days to test the waters.

The new E-Line is planned to operate from 4th/King to Jones/Beach for a pilot program in preparation for the America's Cup sailing race.  This pilot program is scheduled for the weekend of August 25th and 26th for eight hours per day with 15 minute headways.

Muni will be operating the double-headed PCC historic streetcars along the route.  Although the E-Line will be on pilot, it will not affect operations of Muni metro's N and K/T lines, and the F-Market.

I shall note, this is currently planned for.  If Muni can't get the equipment or staff ready to run this, expect the pilot test to not happen.  But odds are, Muni will run the pilot program.

To review the announcement, click here to read the PDF document.  It's located on page 25.

F-Market Crash equals Less Service for Everyone

Muni's proposed budget cuts will trim back service, but how about a definite guarantee of worse service starting immediately?

That's right folks, just this morning, the inbound J-Church collided with a F-Market Milan historic streetcar in route to start it's run.

While the metro cars are built strong and can take a beating, the old F-Market historic fleet are a lot more fragile. Whenever they get into a serious collision, it's practically the end of the streetcar until the city can dish-up the money to make the repairs necessary to get it back to work.

So that means one less F-Market streetcar on our streets. Great, a guaranteed service cut for the failing agency.

The F-Market already has a notorious record with the public:

• Infrequent service; from cars just seconds apart to over 20 minute waits.
• Frequent breakdowns.
  
• Overcrowding with tourists.
• Long lines to board due to the tourists paying cash and asking to break a $5.
• Not moving to the back of the car.
  
• Skipping stops when the first half of the car is full, but the other half is not.
• A portion of the streetcars don't even go the Castro. Just the Ferry Building to Wharf route.

So by having another streetcar out of service, more of us will suffer. Muni hardly provides diesel buses to cover the route, except for major holiday weekends and events (e.g. Fleet Week), so one less operating historic streetcar means less service for you and me. I feel a migraine coming.

Wouldn't it be nice if Muni could invest into new low floor light rail cars that could also run alongside the historic streetcars? While the line has a notorious reputation, tons of people ride the line and having more cars running on the rails can help gain more popularity with the line.

Easy Solutions for the F-Market to Run Better

I asked a question last August about why tourists don't like to stand in the back of the F-Market, and many commentators gave their insight. One said it's because they don't want to miss their stop, while another said they are not used to public transit and have the death grip on the handlebar.

Saturday and Sunday due to the President's Day weekend was a terrible time for me to ride the F-Market. The trains were crowded and Muni had to supplement service with the articulated buses. Many vehicles were very delayed because the foot traffic along the Wharf was spilling on the street and cars were blocking the path of the tracks.

The wait times, delays, and passenger loads got so bad, the gap between vehicles was more than 20 minutes apart, and the buses didn't go to the Castro, they ended at the Ferry Building. Vehicles were skipping stops with waiting passengers while back of the vehicles were empty and could cram at least another 20 people (taxpayer waste extravaganza).

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I learned a new lesson this weekend while riding the F-Market and I want to share it with you!

If you want the tourists to move to the back so it can finally leave, just yell out these two phrases:

1. "There's plenty of room in the back!" (That starts the conversation)
   
2. "There is a fifty dollar bill on the floor back here!" (It's a fun joke, but people get the message)

I learned the $50 bill joke from an operator on the F-Market who wanted to grab people's attention. The tourists didn't give a shit when he kept saying: "move to the rear" until he said the $50 joke to get them laughing and the swarm moved to the back so he can accept more riders.

Just remember, don't make it sound too serious or pissed off, just make it lighthearted and funny.

It worked like a charm on Sunday when there was a huge gap in the back of the articulated bus running on the F-Market route. The front of the bus looked like a can of sardines, but just telling people the joke moved the mob.

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I can understand the F-Market is a line that serves both locals and tourists, but the line continues to get heavily delayed all the tourists. The major problem with the delays on the line is because the tourists are not prepared to pay the cash fare and they ask many questions to the operator.

Muni needs to do a few things to help keep the service running on-time:

1. Use some of that federal stimulus money to install pre-paid ticketing machines at major stops (e.g. Ferry Building and Pier 39) so the passengers can flash their machine printed transfer instead of lining up and slowing down the process. Why not have the machines sell day passes too?
   
2. How about hiring some interns or seek some volunteers to be at key stops to answer questions so they don't hold up the trolleys? Free work is better than paying some union wage donkey to do the job.
   
3. Put stickers on every single bus and trolley front doors that clearly says: "Cash on the right, passes & transfers on the left." Also, put a white stripe down the middle of the stairs to divide the sections and spray paint letters saying "cash" and "passes & transfers."
4. Don't let the Muni operators take their 10 minute break at the Wharf terminal, make them immediately continue back towards the Castro, then go potty. Muni doesn't allow drivers to take a break at the Legion of Honor anymore for the 18-46th Avenue.
   

Tourists in San Francisco: Why don't you move to the back of the F-Market?

Here's an itching question that needs an answer:
Is there a reason why tourists hate standing in the back of the F-Market historic streetcars?

I was riding the F-Market today from the platform near Embarcadero station to Pier 39, and when the orange colored Milan car approached, I thought it was crowded. But once I got in, I moved all the way to the back of the car that there was so much room, I could literally lay down on the floor and not even kick someone. During the entire ride, the sardine packed mob that conquered the first 3/4 of the cab and never even moved towards the rear.

Even worse, I was watching people at the boarding platforms frustrated like hell that the trolley skipped them, and seeing me, the only guy with plenty of room in the rear.

Yet... while it is a frequent problem with the tourists, it occasionally happens on the regular Muni routes too. I'd say "excuse me" and "pardon me" to get through the swarm, and there's plenty of comfy room to stand in the rear of the bus!

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Here's my take to the problem:

I think people always believe the back of the bus is always full of the "bad" people and usually the easiest sign is the graffiti and glass etching on the rear windows and on the walls. Typically, nothing ever happens or goes wrong as people go on their merry way home.

But here's the strange part: the F-Market is relatively clean and always safe. I've never seen any graffiti or destruction to the Milan cars, but the PCCs sometimes have a little graffiti, but not much (maybe because of the knee-banging legroom of the seats close proximity).

So what are the tourists afraid of by not scooting themselves to the back of the F-Market? Would you enjoy having the trolley skip you because tourists can't understand a damn request by the driver to shove your butt to the back?

On several occasions, I even yelled out to people to move to the back of the train, but does anyone even listen? HELL NO. Maybe I should buy a cattle prod.