Our adventure in San Francisco consisted of taking the L Taraval to the Zoo in the Sunset district. The L Taraval is a cute two car light rail. We got it underground on Van Ness and Market Street and it eventually became a light rail street car.
It got us to the zoo and we saw: Giraffes. Rhinos. Gorillas. Leumers. Penguins. Zebras…you get the idea.
Afterwards we waited for the 18 bus to take us to the N. Judah Muni line which would take us to Golden Gate Park and the De Young Museum. We were told that the 18 bus stopped across from the Roberts Motel, which had a small sign that read: Sleep by the Sea.
There are no metal bus signs in San Francisco. The streetlights wear yellow arm bands with dim lettering with the name of the bus.
We waited for nearly an hour and decided it was a fictitious bus. When an old Chinese woman stood ont he corner with us I asked her if the bus stopped here.
"I think so. I haven’t taken this bus in years."
We waited quite a while more and nearly gave up. I tried my Brooklyn trick of calling a car service, in this case, the DeSoto Cab Company. But they were a no show.
When I spoke to the dispatcher he told me that it was a very busy weekend. "There are concerts, two baseball games, people moving in and out of apartments and a parade…I’m trying to get you a car."
Finally the 18 bus appeared. The bus was packed with people because apparently two previous buses had broken down. The bus made a stop and did the kneeling bus thing.
It couldn’t get up. Turns out there are new buses in San Francisco.
"Man, they haven’t trained the bus drivers in how to use the buses," one woman complained. Two cool kids tried to help the driver.
Have you tried putting it in neutural.
Have you tried turning the bus off.
Have you tried…
Finally we got off, along with about half the passengers, and began the walk to N Judah…
After a few blocks we saw the 18 and got back on…
In San Francisco, you can always call 311 to find out when the next bus will arrive. It would be better if Muni was on time, but I don’t see that happening in my life.
Wow. I used to live in SF in the sunset district and aside from the N Judah being fairly reliable, everything else out there was either a five minute or an hour and a half wait or more, no way to predict. Sometimes you wait because the walk to the N or over to the Geary, then the commute back into the city, and then back out to somewhere else is about that long. When I was pregnant, a long walk was not always the most thrilling idea.
Aside from that, the Sunset was and still is my favorite neighborhood. So many vegan and or organic options plus a great coop. Friendly, quirky, mellow…plus bon fires at the beach.
Hopefully transport gets better, but maybe that’s why it’s such a hidden treasure. All in all, I miss it.
SF Muni Sucks big time.
When I was in SF, the buses could’ve passed muster in any third world country. If they ever came. And union rules allowed personnel to just not show up to 7 days a year without any reason or even calling in. And God forbid you ever asked a driver any questions.
Things have improved in the last 5 years: you don’t know how good you have it now, Louise!
Who waits an hour for a bus? Seriously.