Glad I live in Chicago, which has comparatively (for USA) awesome public transport.
Why is San Francisco public transportation so bad?
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Re: Why is San Francisco public transportation so bad?
#22Because most of the transportation operates on public streets (busses and muni). This forces them to deal with traffic and pedestrian crowds, which make them no better than driving. If SF had a real subway system, things would probably be different.
The Green Line in Boston runs down a protected center path in the road for a significant portion. Is there a reason that SF can't carve out those lanes for exclusive Muni use?
Re: Why is San Francisco public transportation so bad?
#23SF transit is poor partially because they have managed to make car movement so miserable that people feel compelled to use transit. By making all the alternatives worse, you can seem decent.
Compared to cities outside the US, it is a mess.
Re: Why is San Francisco public transportation so bad?
#24> Why is San Francisco public transportation so bad? You should try Los Angeles. Btw, decades ago, Los Angeles had a perfectly good commuter line system (aka Red Cars which was electric trolley car) that went EVERYWHERE including right on the beach. The bike lane on the famous Venice beach was actually where the rail used to be. One pic I saw showed the rail didn't run to the beach at a perpendicular angle. The rail…
Hah! you should all come to Mexico some day.
Re: Why is San Francisco public transportation so bad?
#25> Why is San Francisco public transportation so bad? You should try Los Angeles. Btw, decades ago, Los Angeles had a perfectly good commuter line system (aka Red Cars which was electric trolley car) that went EVERYWHERE including right on the beach. The bike lane on the famous Venice beach was actually where the rail used to be. One pic I saw showed the rail didn't run to the beach at a perpendicular angle. The rail…
Hah! you should all come to Mexico some day.
No. At least you guys didn't have 1000+ miles of rail 9 decades ago that got ripped up for no good reason.
Re: Why is San Francisco public transportation so bad?
#26You should try Marin County Transit--you could walk faster.
When I worked on SF--I quickly bought three beater bikes and
chained them up. They were so crappy no one stole them.
I chained them in strategic spots around town and used them.
This was 10 years ago, maybe the thieves have gotten desperate?
Re: Why is San Francisco public transportation so bad?
#27Here's the thing about the bay area, and California in general: everyone that lives there says "not in my backyard" to every infrastructure project ever. Nobody wants more infrastructure.
Why is the N so slow? Because it stops every block and runs in traffic. It's a smoother bus, not heavy rail.
California firmly embraced the automobile, and that's the state it will be in for a long time.
Re: Why is San Francisco public transportation so bad?
#28Glad I live in Chicago, which has comparatively (for USA) awesome public transport.
I completely agree. I moved to Chicago about a year ago, and have been very happy with how great their public trans is!
Re: Why is San Francisco public transportation so bad?
#29Coming to SF and Expecting world beating infrastructure is a very naive expectation to begin with. Keep in mind the kind of politics (and hence policies) that SF is known for. It is not know for ruthless efficiency and well oiled policies, it is instead the "WORST run big city in the US" http://www.sfweekly.com/2009-12-16/news/the-worst-run-big-ci... Do not expect things to get better either unfortunately.
And one of its ex-mayor, Gavin Newsom, is aiming to be the next Governor of CA.
sigh...
Re: Why is San Francisco public transportation so bad?
#30As someone who doesn't live in the SF bay area, the sheer number of transportation systems confuses and puzzles me. Caltrain, BART, Muni, SamTrans, Golden Gate Transit, etc. Why aren't these systems unified under a single system map and timetable? In the Boston area we have the MBTA, in New York there's the MTA. Why does San Francisco need 5+?
In New York you have MTA Metro North, PATH, MTA Subway, MTA Select Bus Service, NJ Transit, etc.
Plus things like JFK AirTrain, Amtrak.
It's not confusing though --different names for different things. commuter rail vs intra-city transportation. Metro North doesn't share ticketing with the subway even though they're both MTA