Nob Hill Needs More Buses!

greenspun.com : LUSENET : Transit First San Francisco : One Thread

As a San Francisco voter, a native San Franciscan, a lifelong resident of the San Francisco Bay Area, a continuous resident of San Francisco for the past 27 years,and a long-time tenant resident of Nob Hill, I have the following grievances and would like the following changes made to the bus service on Nob Hill, a very steep hill inhabited by hundreds of San Francisco voters, most of whom are tenants who work for a living.

GRIEVANCES:

1. The toys for the tourists known as the cable cars, run right up the steep section of Nob Hill called Powell Street. On the rare occasions when there are few tourists, usually at night and in the winter, even when there are few people, the cable car operators, especially if they are white (regardless of whether we riders are white, as is this writer/rider), insist on being cops and yell at us to get to the end of the "line" which is almost non-existent. We do so, get on the cable car, and are treated with contempt when we remind these cable car operators that we are San Francisco voters/residents. These cable cars are of course inadequate public transportation in that there are not enough to service all of us who live here, as well as the tourists, they are cold and wet in the winter, and they are unsafe all year round, especially in the winter. They are museum pieces and should be treated as such.

2. The 27 Bryant bus, which swings by the Powell Street station, then goes off to the Leavenworth/Hyde area to avoid the steep hill on which so many of us voters/workers live, runs about every half hour, and not 24 hours a day.

SOLUTIONS:

1. There must be a bus that runs EVERY 10 MINUTES, 24 HOURS A DAY, the ENTIRE LENGTH OF POWELL STREET. That way, the rich tourists can stand for hours in line for their stupid, quaint anachronisms known as cable cars, while we voters and workers, who shop and work here, can have decent, dry and warm in the winter, safe, and comparatively roomy transportation up steep Nob Hill, which is difficult enough to just walk, much less carry packages and walk. Tell Willie and his Muni flunkeys not to insult us with the expensive "take a cab" routine. We pay for public transportation; it had better be there, frequently and adequately.

2. The 27 Bryant should run EVERY 10 MINUTES, 24 HOURS A DAY.

3. Please convey to the bus drivers and cable car operators that this writer is a staunch supporter of unions, but has no use for lickspittles of the anti-labor Mayor Willie Brown. When they hear from a rider that the person is a San Francisco resident, they should be extremely respectful, because that resident can and will complain and vote.

4. Keep up your wonderful website.

-- tyler (tyler@igc.apc.org), June 02, 1998

Answers

Scheduled service on the 27-Bryant is from 530am to 1230am, frequency ranging from 12-15 during the day to 20 later in the evening. My experience with the 27 is that it tends to have low ridership on off hours, especially north of Market. Owl service would be impractical due to low ridership north or Market, and existing 90-Owl on Potrero.

Parallel diesel service on Powell for a small ridership is also impractical, as is Cable Car owl service. I have watched your complaint about lining up for the cable cars, and as a rider, I disagree with you. I feel that queueing up is for everyone, not just the tourists, and I resent people who think they are exempt. You might try waiting a couple blocks up Powell at the next stop, if you dislike the line so much. As a driver, I dislike passengers who Demand privilege due to (your choice of status/situation), I much prefer passengers who are friendly and willing to follow the rules and work with me; indeed they often receive service beyond the call.

Other alternatives involve the 1-California (and a downhill walk), the Cal Cable, and connections involving the 30/45.

I'm sorry you, as a Native San Franciscan, so dislike the Cable Cars, but I will happily take your place, riding on one of the front corners, late in the evening, as the fog rolls through the cool summer night.

Robert Parks 6 and 22 lines

-- Robert Parks (rparks@linneaus.com), August 13, 1998.


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