Computer Glitch -- Tunnel Closed!!!

I knew it as I approached 17th and Market... that crowd standing at the F-line terminal could only mean one thing. Yep -- The station agent at Castro announced a "computer software glitch" had seized the entire Muni tunnel. No trains in either direction, good luck getting anywhere this morning.

Judging the size of the crowd at the terminus, I decided I'd race the F-line on foot, and hoofed it down Market street. The mass of people on the sidewalk were all walking the same direction I was. Two women chatted me up along the way -- "Nice day for a walk anyway, eh?"

I was well ahead of the F-line until Octavia, when it finally overtook me. But alas, by the time I hit Gough street I was ahead again as the crammed rail car got stuck behind an overcrowded bus. I love the cute little trains in midday when they aren't crowded, but when they get packed in like today, without any ventilation systems, those little trains are really uncomfortable. When I arrived at my destination near Van Ness Avenue, the train had just pulled ahead again, beating me by about 45 seconds.

Some thoughts for the proponents of Muni's expensive toy railroad, sometimes called the Market Street Railway:

• F-line streetcars are very slow -- I almost beat the train in my walk from Castro to Van Ness
  
• F-line streetcars are surprisingly low capacity, compared to the Breda cars and certainly compared to BART
  
• You cannot base a real, modern city's transit system on such old technology and expect residents to be well-served. Maybe it's nice for the tourists
  

I'll see if I can find out what exactly happened to tunnel service today and will update if I get anything.

Friday commute worse than usual -- as usual

Dealing with a transit system that is overcapacity is a nightmare. The service cuts from last fall really made offpeak travel unbearable. And, mind you, offpeak means just seconds after 6pm in the Muni Metro tunnel.

Waiting at the Van Ness station for a K/L/M train to Castro that isn't completely full is frequently an exercise in patience. This Friday I only waited for seven trains before giving up (this time it was NN, K, NN, NN, J, L, NN). The Van Ness platform was completely filled with people obviously trying to get into the Castro for the evening, all quite frustrated that none of the trains were heading in the direction that the most people want to go. I took the N, which was completely full; had no A/C; and in fact even the fan was not running.

So here's my question. Why does it seem like the mix of trains in the tunnel is the most screwed up on Friday afternoons? Even if more drivers call in sick for the weekend (something I don't know is true or not), it doesn't seem like a driver shortage should mean that only N-Judah and J-Church lines run.

And while I'm at it, since there only needs to be one driver per train, why are so many of the K/L/M trains one car during rush hour? Is Muni saving electricity?

Experience the Muni Meltdown

Welcome to my new blog, Muni Meltdown.

After ten years of suffering, I'm finally going to document all the awful antics we all endure on Muni. More to come.