An attempt to ride all Muni lines in one day
Illustration by Walter Baumann
At 9 a.m. on an overcast Wednesday in June, I step out my front door in Noe Valley and within a few minutes hop on the 35-Eureka heading south (the opposite direction I usually go), forgetting the bus would soon loop back around past where I got on. Frustrating if I were a normal commuter, but part of my plan to go for distance and boost my time-in-transit. For two minutes I’m the only passenger on the 35.
In some sense, solo-busing quashes the green pride you’re feeling for removing one car from the road, and it confirms Muni’s recent budget woes. On the other hand, a city employee has become your personal chauffeur – in a vehicle longer than a Hummer limo – for $2 or less.
I sit in the back, staring out the window, doing the math I should have done a lot sooner: A transfer is valid for 90 minutes. Riding from 9 a.m. to 6:30 p.m., without a monthly pass, I’d need to buy seven tickets at a grand total of $14. Conversely, Muni sells an all-you-can-ride 1-Day Passport for $13. Even with my monthly pass, I’d need to repeat this experiment four more times to make back the $60 I spent. Bastards.
Read the rest of Steven’s amazing account at the Bold Italic.
The laws of physics state that for every overcrowded rush hour bus or train there has to be an empty or nearly-empty bus or train going in the opposite direction.
It would be easier in a city where the transit went faster than a bicycle.