Comments on: SFMTA Saturday: Muni Metro East and the CultureBus

By: Jamison Wieser

Jamison Wieser — Wed, 24 Sep 2008 22:37:11 +0000

Metro East should make things run a lot more smoothly. In terms of planned service, it won’t make the trains suddenly run on time or end bunching, but it will solve some problems Muni faces every morning trying to pull all trains out from a single yard.

In the mornings, they have to stagger pulllouts because there just isn’t enough power for all the trains, nearly 150 in a yard only mean for 100. And while the J,K, and M can pull out right into service, the L and N have to go quite a ways before they can start service. Pulling out from Metro East the N-Judah’s only have to go a short way before they hit 4th and King.

By: Chris

Chris — Tue, 23 Sep 2008 02:30:43 +0000

Yeah, I don’t have a problem with the extra fee for Fast Pass users, I’m just surprised that I heard nothing about it (and there were no outcries against it).

By: Steve

Steve — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 20:20:32 +0000

Will having the Metro East yard open affect planned service at all? Or is more a matter of a general sense that things should run more smoothly now that it’s open?

By: Ben Pease

Ben Pease — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 17:51:21 +0000

Weird they spent all that money on a web page and brochure and didn’t even include a route map. For the average visitor it’s just a weird list of street corners. I’ve been waiting for a midday, one-stop express bus from the RIchmond District to downtown. I might even fork over the $7 and try it!

If you’d like to set your feet on a piece of history, visit Buckshot Bar and Game Room at 3rd Ave. and Geary where the footrail of the ba, built for Pat O’Shea’s Mad Hatter, is a piece of streetcar rail salvaged (as legend has it) from the B-Geary line.

Not likely to be a stop on the culture bus, it does have decent drinks, pool table, skeeball, and recently started cooking up fairly believable “Southern soul food.” (My partner’s son is the owner).

By: Eric

Eric — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 04:43:31 +0000

David, you’re awfully optimistic about that B-Geary revival! ;-)

By: David Dugan

David Dugan — Mon, 22 Sep 2008 04:40:33 +0000

Kinda wacky… too bad, because the Legion of Honor is my favorite of the bunch. Oh well, I guess I’ll just wait until I can ride the B-Geary streetcar out there!

By: Edmund

Edmund — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 07:34:41 +0000

I was wondering when MUNI would ever get around to finishing/opening the Metro East light rail facility.

Yellow colored hybrid…the still relatively new Orion VIIs??? This I gotta see.

By: Eric

Eric — Sun, 21 Sep 2008 06:50:27 +0000

Hi Chris -- the linked Chron article mentioned a $1.6 million/year price tag. The $3 w/ Fast Pass fare, and the $7/$5/$3 is standard for Muni's special service express buses to Candlestick Park. Even if it's not a special event, it does sort of fit well into the special (non-commute) express bus category, and it's an all-day fare. Maybe it'll have the effect of encouraging people to visit more museums than they otherwise might, now that it'll be so easy to do so. I happened to run across two CultureBuses today, just coincidentally; one was going westbound on Geary at Jones, and another at the Asian Art Museum, but only the first was the signature yellow vehicle. I noted that I saw the bus on Geary at about 11:15 am, so the buses were on schedule at that point, at least.

By: Jeffrey W. Baker

Jeffrey W. Baker — Sat, 20 Sep 2008 17:53:36 +0000

I just now passed the 74X as I was walking to my office (yes on Saturday morning). I stopped and asked the driver what line is this, because I’d never heard of it. He said it goes to all the museums. Very cool! Nobody was aboard, but it was 10AM on the first day at the end of the line, so I’ll give them a break.

The bus was a hybrid with a very bright yellow livery.

By: Chris

Chris — Fri, 19 Sep 2008 20:17:31 +0000

Eric,

Was there special funding allocated for this line? I’m curious as to what the reasoning is for a non-special event bus to have an additional charge for Fast Pass holders.