“When Did Jon Become an Angry Old Man?”
July 21st, 2008Every time I try to use public transportation in San Francisco.
Apparently, San Francisco MUNI hasn’t heard of credit cards or debit cards. Or ridden the New York subway where I can choose how much or little I’d like to put on my MTA card.
In a city that regards itself proudly as progressive, the consistently massive failure of the city to address the number one issue facing anyone in the city who needs to get around: MUNI blows. I’ve written about it before. I’ve ranted. I’ve lived in San Francisco. It’s unfriendly to everyone, but visitors in particular. I know it’s cool to look down your nose at the “others” intruding your “space”. Your misguided xenophobic and slightly aristocratic hatred of people who come to your city for business or vacation I can deal with. A city run by liberals who helped move legal gay marriage forward is awesome. Now fix your public transportation.
Lived this as a resident far too many days.
As I wrote before, compare San Francisco’s mass transit to any other major urban center. The only city worse than San Francisco is Los Angeles. BART is better than MUNI. Caltrain is better than MUNI. My ass is better than MUNI.
No coins. Fast Pass only. Fast Pass is a monthly pass. They only sell them for about 3 days a month and you can only get them for the next month if you remember that you have to buy early.
With a city so full of smart people, geeks, user experience experts and technologists why is MUNI so horrible?
I’m actively trying to reduce my carbon footprint when I travel (I know that offsetting airplane exhaust is futile, but still, I try) and a city run by supposed liberals is making it next to impossible. I took so many cabs this weekend. Not a single one of them was a hybrid or alternative fuel vehicle.
This is nothing short of a disgrace for anybody who calls themselves progressive. o
p.s. alternative answer to question posed in title: “Coco.”
p.p.s. apologies to the kind people who had a car and drove us a couple of times. You are awesome.
Tags: failed liberal policies, muni, muni woes, please don't ride our trains or buses thanks, san francisco
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July 21st, 2008 at 12:54 pm
Austin moved to a flat fee for a days worth of usage, which rocks. No one can make a cost effective case for transfers. I just wanna put a dollar or two in and ride. Make that happen.
July 21st, 2008 at 12:59 pm
Yikes. Thanks for the warning. I am headed out there for the first time next month. This whole time I have been thinking ‘I will just use the public transportation - it’s a big city they should have a good system’. Apparently not the case - maybe since Toyota is sending me I can convince them I need a rental Prius.
July 21st, 2008 at 1:07 pm
So basically you just have to remember to have some cash.change with you.
July 21st, 2008 at 1:13 pm
My wife and I recently spent a week in Paris. We never once took a taxi, we went everywhere by metro. The metro was extremely convenient. Most of the stations have manned ticket counters during the day, and they all have ticket machines that accept coins/bills and others that accept (european “chipped”) credit cards. They also offer passes (we didn’t take advantage of as we weren’t there long enough, and most passes were only good for certain sections of the city). They also offer volume discounts on tickets.
July 21st, 2008 at 1:25 pm
I have to stand up for San Diego and proudly say that our public transportation is one of the worst in California. The bus system is far more complicated than anything I’ve even been on and I’ve been on France’s bus system(not knowing any French).
July 21st, 2008 at 2:10 pm
At least there IS public transportation. I live out in the boonies in Maine. Try getting around here without a car.
MUNI does suck ass, though. NYC and most European cities really know how to do public transit. You can get around without speaking a word of the languages of rule. You really would think that San Francisco could get a handle on that. And really now — who carries CHANGE??? Or cash, for that matter?
July 21st, 2008 at 2:19 pm
Oh, no, the Bad Public Transit prize has to go to Philly. First of all, there’s the fetid-sounding acronym of the Southeastern Pennsylvania Transit Authority, aka SEPTA.
Then there’s the lame-a** slogans (”We’re getting there”) and the time schedule monitors that have displayed Windows error screens for literally months at a time at the city’s central train station. Train schedules that can’t be viewed on PDAs. A crappy elevator that sheared off a kid’s foot. Strikes more frequent than changes in the Oval Office.
And last but not least, there’s SEPTA’s ingenious solution to the buck-n-change issue:
* Charge $1.45 for tokens, but $2.00 for cash fare
* Leave most subway stations unmanned, with no token machines
* Refuse to issue change at manned stations (I kid you not)
July 21st, 2008 at 3:02 pm
Wow, I thought Boston was the last city to get rid of the coins. They just switched to a new card-based system last year and it is SO nice. I have one of the reusable plastic cards and that gets me a discounted fare (as opposed to the paper tickets you can buy) and will be extra convenient when I can recharge it online (coming soon). I love technology.
July 21st, 2008 at 3:12 pm
I don’t mean to stereotype, but the only time I was in SF it seemed like there were a ton of homeless people there. Is the system set up to be convenient for them? Cash and all.
July 21st, 2008 at 3:40 pm
Did you not get the memo they’re supposed to hand out at the airport, Jon?
It’s not that you’re hated by SF as a visitor, there’s just a different agenda going on here. The “City” has made great strides in eco-issues (no bottled water for city employees!), rights issues (the aforementioned gay marriage) and artistic support (SF Arts Commission), but there’s still a problem.
It’s coins. They need coins, and lots of them. You’re supposed to bring them with you to support the city’s need for coins, that’s all. The machines you photographed were already filled up by helpful tourists!
July 21st, 2008 at 5:34 pm
Most San Francisco residents have a monthly pass that costs a paltry $45
This is why they generally don’t care about anyone else.
However, next time you are in town, go to the Powell st. Bart and get yourself a Muni Passport. This will save you from having to produce correct change.
July 21st, 2008 at 6:06 pm
I sympathize, Jon.
I recently became an Angry Old Woman, which I never thought would happen, especially in the form it has. I mean, I love children; I feel terrible for fussy babies on airplanes and the evil looks they draw. BUT… I want to strangle the five-year-old twin girls downstairs who are, apparently, being raised by MONKEYS ON CRACK.
Did I mention the Tarzan clan also has a pair of incessantly screeching little parrots whose cage is put outside RIGHT UNDER MY WINDOW during the day? Oh, yes.
After the third time I complained to the manager (and the fifth time I screamed “SHUT THE FUCK UP! SHUT THOSE GODDAMN BIRDS THE FUCK UP!”), I realized I could officially be called “Old Lady J. Bo.”
It is to weep. I am become my hateful father…
July 21st, 2008 at 7:37 pm
Well… I have to nominate Dallas for DART as the least useful mass transit system. Our light rail has only been around for a short while and they aren’t smart enough to use turn stiles or charge for parking SO they are loosing money and can’t afford to increase the number of trains… since everyone that works in downtown Dallas is trying to ride it from out here in the ‘burbs. Luckily I work in the ‘burbs with a 5 minute commute, so my carbon footprint is usually pretty small even though I drive a (GASP) small SUV (Escape).
July 21st, 2008 at 10:32 pm
Chicago JUST got machines that accept debit cards this year.
July 21st, 2008 at 10:42 pm
Oy. Thats horrid. I’m glad you stuck with it and continued to try.
By making public transportation difficult to use is…. so counterproductive.
I too successfully used the Metro in paris - easy peasy. Subways in NYC too. Guess thats what I get for having a father who drove for the MTC and took busses almost more than we drove.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:19 pm
@chemmefatale, great tip!
if San Francisco wanted me to ride their trains, those passes would be available EVERYWHERE. And available any time. Including the Walgreens on Market. That is right by Powell station.
July 21st, 2008 at 11:48 pm
A couple of funny things about MUNI (I live here and I hate depending on it):
1. At the downtown combined MUNI/BART stations, you have to go to a BART ticket machine to make change for a $1 bill. MUNI provides no change machines of its own, and who would think that you would go to a BART ticket machine and press ‘H’ to change $1?
2. A couple of years back, there were literally signs on the machines that said “old bills will jam the machine” right next to signs that said “machine does not take the new style bills”. So you therefore had to have older bills that weren’t too crumpled to make change. I wish I had taken a photo of it.
3. They finally sell the monthly $45 passes online, but naturally only between certain dates each month. At least I don’t have to go stand in line at the booth which is mostly open during working hours. I just set a reminder in iCal to buy my pass by the 20th for next month.
Reliability is so horrid on MUNI. Saturday I rode from Santa Cruz to San Francisco on transit. I had to take a local Santa Cruz bus, the Highway 17 express, Caltrain, BART and MUNI to get home. The first four were within one minute of the posted schedule time. MUNI had very sporadic trains in the subway and was packed like sardines when the one i wanted finally arrived.
July 22nd, 2008 at 7:54 am
This all makes me appreciate what we have here in NYC that much more. Yeah, the subways here are usually crowded, occasionally break down, and are hot as f-ing balls in this horrid weather, but they are reliable and the passes come in many forms. I think I’d rather live in a city that does it right (Paris, NYC, London) or in a city that does in not at all (most American cities) than one like SF.
Good tips for those of us who want to visit there someday!
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:18 am
Although I spent the first 28 years of my life in San Francisco, I never figured tourists would want to take Muni. I mean, they only want to go the crappy places in The City anyway (present company excluded). Considering BART is SO much more expensive, maybe there is an agreement between the two organizations to make sure the tourists spend the most money on that. I loved Muni when I lived there and I guess that’s because I assume all public transp. comes with a giant margin of error and late schedule. Most of my friends use their monthly MUNI pass to ride BART within the city (yes, you can do that).
But yes, you’re right … it should be more user friendly. But everyone can agree that if you come to our walking-friendly city, you get buns of steel!
@Bill, it’s not stereotypical to make a statement based on your observations. Yes, there are more homeless in SF because the weather is generally agreeable and the hippie system gives them great handouts and zero mental health services. *sigh*
July 22nd, 2008 at 9:55 am
oh check out translink! i could not be more excited about this. a card that you can load money on from your computer, that will be could on muni, bart and other bay area transit systems.
i’ve lived in san francisco for six years and dont own a car, so i have a very love/hate relationship with muni. maybe if our mayor stopped doing blow and hanging out with 18 year old blondes we could fix some things.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:20 am
Wow, I had enough problems trying to negotiate the machine to buy a ticket for BART and I figured I was just being stupid!
I rode buses too, but with local friends guiding me. I think they avoided MUNI on purpose.
July 22nd, 2008 at 10:36 am
Hi Jon,
Slightly off topic but SF related. Was Mrs. Blurbomat’s session recorded? If yes, will it be available on the web for others to view.
Thanks
John
July 22nd, 2008 at 1:37 pm
well said.
people ask me how a muni blog can stay current and the thing writes itself. they need to reorganize and stop spending so much money on salaries for managers and instead spend it on things to make the system work better.
July 3rd was a legendary fail whale day:
http://www.njudahchronicles.com/2008/07/wow_todays_commute_just_plain_sucked.html
July 22nd, 2008 at 4:31 pm
Wow, I am so surprised! I have never had any problems getting around SF using Muni. I always get a Muni Passport when I get there and it gives unlimited rides on all buses, cable cars and trolleys while there. It is a great deal and I believe you can buy them for either 3 or 7 day intervals (last trip was a couple of years ago). I’ve only used a taxi in SF one time in a dozen visits. Never used one in NYC. Those pictures make it look like a nightmare, though! I do agree they could make it more user friendly and up the technology a bit.
July 22nd, 2008 at 5:12 pm
Sounds just about right. I take Muni every day.
The best is when a Muni driver kills someone. Sometimes they get put on administrative leave. After they are back out there for one year, their record gets wiped clean. Yes, every year they start with a clean record.
The second best is a few drivers who refuse to stop for people in wheelchairs. That’s public service at its best.
True, driving in SF all day is stressful, but for 80 grand a year, I would deal with it. And not curse at people, yell at them, intimidate them, slam on the brakes in order to knock all the people standing in the aisles over, all the normal things drivers get away with on a daily basis here.
And don’t get me started about describing dealing with a muni bus while commuting to work on my bicycle.
Thanks for the rant.