Pass-ups meets Most Ignored Federal Law #1

From the driving-is-hard-let's-go-shopping dept.

A flawless double performance by today's morning driver on the 29 Sunset:

1. The bus was an old one with no annunciator. This allowed the driver to strive for complete perfection, by saying not a single word between Irving and Ocean. Not a single stop was announced audibly or visibly in any way. Score: 10.0 / 10.0.
2. And evidently as a Muni driver, when the mood strikes, you no longer need to pick up passengers - even if your bus isn't full. Although the bus had room for 10-20 more passengers, the driver didn't make even one stop between 19th and Ocean - same as yesterday. Score: 10.0 / 10.0.

1) is illegal; next.

With regard to 2), Muni counts a refused boarding as a pass-up only if there is no bus with room following within 3 minutes. But what about when the first bus isn't full? Why should a passenger have to watch a bus go by when it still has space, even if the wait for the next one is "less than 3 minutes."

Not even thinking of picking these people up....

Anyway, I've been on the 29 3 out of 4 mornings this week, and we've blown by 30-40 (would-be) passengers so far. Nice work, Muni!

And also:

Oh my God, this is funny. I thought it was only in South America that people ride on trains. I wonder, is or isn't fare evasion one of the things you could be charged with for doing this? You're not inside a paid area when you're clinging to the outside of a vehicle, are you?

Pass-ups Part 3: Back in School

From the see-ya dept.

The kids are back in school and the 29 is full again in the morning. The bus ran 5-10 minutes late and it was almost standing room when it arrived at Irving. We blew past Noriega, completely full, leaving about 10 people standing there. We passed up every single stop between 19th and Ocean.

The cool thing is, this time, I have pictures! With any luck you'll be able to see the sad faces of people holding out bus passes as we drove by.

Yesterday the bus also ran late and was full when it arrived at Irving. However, there was another bus right behind it, as in, right behind it.

My back-of-the-envelope calculation is that if you board the 29 somewhere between Judah and Wawona, between 8 and 9 in the morning, you will be passed up by at least one out of every 10 buses. Probably closer to one out of 5. If you live on the hill between 19th and Ocean, maybe one out of every 20?

Hey, it's only $1.50; what do you expect?

The Hybrid Power Switch: Updated

By the looks of it, Muni has got the power switch problem solved. The prominent labels are gone, and the doors are now screwed down. (Riveted, actually.) Of course, the lower left hand side of every door has been bent up in an unsuccessful attempt to pry it open. Old habits die hard.

[Photos to come.]

I seriously doubt it's pry bar resistant though, and I'm guessing that on a normal day there are more than a few pry bars being carried in pockets in Hunter's Point.

Most Ignored Federal Law #1

Heard over the radio on the 29 today:

Attention all operators. Federal law requires that all mass transit operators announce all transfer point stops.

Huh. I'd always wondered why two or three N Judah drivers announced "transfer points," particularly the driver who we all know as MAJOR TRANSFER POINT Guy. Personally, I like the guy on the L Taraval who announces "Safeway" and "Walgreens."

Through the wonders of the internet I came upon the source for this. It's a product of the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990:

The U. S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) regulations implementing the Americans with Disabilities Act of 1990 (ADA) contain two requirements that are meant to assist persons with vision impairments and other disabilities to use fixed route transportation services. Section 37.167, subsection (b), which applies to public and private entities that operate fixed route systems, requires that:

...The entity shall announce stops as follows:

(1) ... at least at transfer points with other fixed routes, other major intersections and destination points, and intervals along the route sufficient to permit individuals with visual impairments or other disabilities to be oriented to their location.

(2) ... stops on request of an individual with a disability.

Section 37.167 (c) requires that:

Where vehicles or other conveyances for more than one route serve the same stop, the entity shall provide a means by which an individual with a visual impairment or other disability can identify the proper vehicle to enter or be identified to the vehicle operator as a person seeking a ride on a particular route.

I think that the signs and voice announcements on buses would satisfy these requirements, mostly. But of course the signs aren't working about a quarter of the time. I hear and see just fine and I can't tell what street I'm passing on Sunset if I'm on a bus where the sign is out, the windows are scratched, and the driver hasn't said a word in 20 minutes. At least when I'm getting off at Irving, I can make a panic pull if the bus turns off to the right and only have an extra block to walk.

The N Judah, forget it. Without an announcement, the only way you can tell where you are on that train is by looking out the north side windows for street signs. Carefully.

Quiet on the 29 This Week

With school out, the 29 is empty in the morning. It's a good time to do those pass-up stats!

Little Tyrants at 4th and King

It's always the same. I get off Caltrain at 4th and King and there's an outbound N Judah waiting on the platform with its doors open. People are getting in. Good for them; it's 50 degrees and windy, or raining, or midnight. Or 50 degrees and windy and raining and midnight.

My fellow Caltrain riders and I wait for the traffic light to change. As we cross the street, the driver looks at us, closes the doors, and moves forward on the platform a few feet to the red light. The very long red light. Or waits until we have reached the platform then closes the doors and pulls forward. Sometimes someone outside pushes a door button and says to the driver, "Hey, the door's not opening." Regardless, the driver doesn't make eye contact. The train continues to wait at the platform while the people who haven't experienced this regularly suddenly understand the reality:

The weather sucks ass, and the driver's not going to let me on.

A quick glance at the NextMUNI sign shows that the runs-every-few-minutes N isn't going to be along for 20 or 30 minutes. The driver knows the next train is late, and that he or she is about to leave people standing out in the cold/rain/dark/wind until it shows up. The driver contemplates this in self-satisfaction, and the people on the platform look through the windows into the warm train and tighten their coats. Time passes and the light changes, and the train slowly recedes down the street. Would-be passengers mill about, powerless and humiliated.

Admit it: If you could inflict misery and outrage on complete strangers, every day, with total impunity, you'd do it too, right? If your answer is actually "yes," then the San Francisco Muni Metro has a job for you.

Freezing to Death at Taraval (Where were the 29s? Part 2)

So Saturday around noon it was beautiful out here in the Sunset. I had such plans for photography. I was going to shoot some street candids then in mid afternoon walk from Sloat to Judah up the beach, and take more candids and some IR photos. Part A worked out well; I took the N to Noe, then walked down to Castro Station, and took the L or K or something through the tunnel. I'd never been to Forest Hill station so I got off there and actually walked the 120 or so steps up, then back down. (Damn, that's a lot of stairs. They're complaining about the proposed Chinatown station being 100 feet underground? Forest Hill is already 75 or 80. Like, big deal.)


Then I rode the Taraval to the end of the line. Still, from inside the train, it looked like a beautiful day! I got out and was instantly disabused of that notion. It was only about 3PM but the weather had changed .... It was about 50 degrees and the wind was blowing. Blowing. So much, in fact, that sand had drifted partially across the parking lot opposite Sloat. I tried to walk down to the water but my hair, pockets, and eyes were filling up with sand. I turned around, and so much for that. Problem was, now I was stuck down near Sloat and I needed to be on Judah, and it was just no fun anymore. I needed a bus. I'm embarrassed to admit that I forgot that the 18 runs on 46th; I began my search for it at 45th and kept walking uphill. "Where is the bus stop?" I wondered. I zigzagged my way to Taraval and finally thought, okay, I will just walk up to Sunset and take the 29.

What all this very very long story is coming to is that when I got to the 29 stop, the nextmuni banner read 33 minutes. On Saturday afternoon. In godawful weather.

That's service for ya.

I had lost interest in freezing to death so I took the L back to Van Ness and then the N home. Sooo sloooow. Oh well. I had a nice conversation on the way back, which was unusual, and cool.

Oh. I thought it was kind of neat that the Taraval bus stop faced away from the water, to shield passengers from the weather. But then again, if you're shielding yourself from the weather, how do you see the bus, and vice versa? The striped glass isn't all that transparent from a distance. A well intentioned, but fundamentally stupid, design.