Bus Report #299

MUNI, you need to do something.
I'm not even talking about enforcing fares, not today.
I'm talking about ON TIME ARRIVALS.
Or even, just-five-minutes-late arrivals.
Case in point:
This morning I left my house earlier than usual, because after yesterday's hellish commute I just wanted a normal one, which left me time to go get the paper and some coffee.
The 38 came on time (the bus flagger tried to flag down the 38L, to no avail, then took off walking and I never saw her again), driven by the smiley driver.
I got to Fillmore at my usual time, and noticed that my stop was full of people I didn't know.
One of the sewing ladies who lives in my neighborhood decided to talk to me.
"I've been waiting 30 minutes," she told me, "and 7 buses in the other direction but nothing here."
I didn't really believe her, because 30 minutes would have meant a lot more commuters.
Ten minutes later, though, I started to believe her.
When our bus came, it was a different driver, not the kind of mean driver. I couldn't tell if that meant I was late, or the bus was late, of if the kind of mean driver was out today.
We all got on the bus (I sat next to a surly girl who was getting out at the next stop anyway, so her mood, totally not appreciated).
The bus got packed quickly. By Haight Street we really shouldn't have been taking on new passengers at all, but we did.
By the time I got close to work it was time to be at work, so no paper or coffee for me, again.
Meanwhile, there were no buses behind us while in the opposite direction I counted 11 22 Fillmores chugging their way down Fillmore.
Get it together, MUNI.
Don't even think about raising fares again until you can raise your on time performance.
Seriously.