Muni Substituting Diesels on Trolleybus Lines on Sunday - Major Delays to Happen

This Sunday is the big NFC championship game where the 49ers are traveling to Seattle to face the Seahawks.  But the more troubling issue is why Muni is not allowing any trolleybuses to run in the city, and instead substituting it for diesels all Sunday.

From the Chronicle, the reason why the trolleybuses are being locked in the garage is a precaution in case there's fans rioting in the streets.

Riots?  If citizens wants to riot, they'll vandalize or destroy any Muni bus they please, regardless if it is diesel or electric.

The truth of the matter is, if Muni takes all the electric trolleybuses off the streets on Sunday, you will experience severe delays on all trolleybus lines.  There are not enough diesel buses to make-up for a huge loss.

And how do I know of the delays?  Last week Saturday, Muni switched all electric lines running along Market street to diesel only (excluding the 14-Mission), but they had a legitimate excuse, there was major road construction on Market and it blocked the overhead wires and the tracks used by the F-Market.  I ride the 6-Parnassus, but the diesel buses ran too far apart, with wait times of 30 to 40 minutes; normally the wait with trolleybuses is about 15-20 minutes.  Even the bus substitution for the F-Market was terrible, I was waiting 25 minutes for a bus that was sardine packed; after that point, I turned around and went home.

But wait, there's more.  This Sunday, Muni is cutting-off all Cable Car and F-Market service and they are also going on diesel as well.  For the entire three day weekend, the N-Judah will not run trains from Duboce and Church to Ocean Beach, and instead run much slower and smaller capacity buses.  This means that all the diesel lines will be STRETCHED THIN.

I seriously question the SFMTA's choices of cutting-off all the trolleybus lines for diesels.  Like I said earlier, with all the lines being forced to diesels, there is not enough diesel buses to make-up a huge gap like this.

Don't Anger the Casino Junket Buses in San Francisco

The local news is reporting about a plan for the city government to charge shuttle bus companies who pick-up their passengers at public transit stops to pay a fee every time the company uses the stops.

In my opinion, it's a fair compromise that would then sanction/legally allow private shuttle companies to use the stops to pick-up commuters and take them to their technology company jobs.  A lot of people enjoy this shuttle service perk because they don't have to drive, and one single bus can take dozens of cars off the congested roads and highways.

On the other hand, protesters have made two points, the use of public transit stops for other than public transit buses is illegal, and that it's driving-up the costs of housing in San Francisco.  I can understand the illegal use of a transit stop, but I'm not against tech folks finding residence here in San Francisco; they have the money, so let them spend on what they want.  Living in San Francisco is a great experience with tons of cultures and world class food; how boring would it to be living in some city with a not so interesting neighborhood?

If the city just kept giving a blind eye on the illegal use of a transit stop, shuttle bus companies have a couple of choices: Either risk the $271 fine for parking in a transit stop, or double park as the double park penalty is much lower than a transit stop violation.

But there's a bigger question out there: How about the gambling buses?

Way before technology companies made it big with shuttle buses picking-up passengers, the casino junket buses was driving people up to Cache Creek casino on a regular basis by using transit bus stops and double parking on the streets.  Now with even more casinos within a reasonable vicinity of San Francisco, I see more of them daily.

I feel the city is still going to give a blind eye on the casino junket buses and protesters wouldn't dare to block the casino buses.  Why?  Simply my dear, it's the angry old Chinese ladies.  If you know about the ones who shove their way into a Muni metro vehicle at Powell station, good luck blocking a casino bus while the pink bag ladies will kick their asses.  It may sound amusing, but it's the fear factor that keeps the city government and protesters away.