Should Muni launch a new bus route to help tech workers get to Caltrain faster?

Bernalwood reader makes the case:

First, Yellow Cab and FedEx drivers could take the bus to their workplaces, which are within a block of this stretch of Cesar Chavez. But primarily, Caltrain has become an essential way for SIlicon Valley workers to get to their jobs. Catrain ridership is at historic highs, and 1500 workers now board Caltrain at 22nd St. every morning, headed for points south.

Right now, there’s no easy way to get to the 22nd Street Station. Yes, you can take the 48-Quintara down 24th St. and over the hill, but this takes a very long time. It would be so much quicker for the bus to head down our remade Cesar Chavez, bypassing Potrero Hill, making a turn at Third St., and heading straight for the station. I’ll bet it would save at least 15 minutes vs. a comparable trip on the 48.

Read on.

35 Responses to “Should Muni launch a new bus route to help tech workers get to Caltrain faster?”

  1. Sam says:

    Actually I doubt it would save time, the 48 bus never really encounters traffic

    • John Murphy says:

      What?

      24th Street is a fiasco from Castro to Potrero. The turn onto Potrero is a disaster, as is SFGH. Then you have the weaving through Potrero Hill to deal with the grades and dead ends. That bus takes forever.

      • Sam says:

        I have no idea what you’re talking about, the turn onto Potrero is easy in the morning. Weaving through Potrero Hill from 24th and Potrero to 22nd and Pennsylvania might take 7 minutes, and can definitely take less.

      • LibertyHiller says:

        You think it’s bad now but I find it laughably convenient, because I was doing that run in the late ’90s when the 48 went from SF General all the way down to 26th, back up to 20th and only then descended into Dogpatch. That was 15 minutes on a good day and 20 or more on a bad one.

        Most days were bad ones, too; with no Nextbus to give you even a guess at when the bus might actually arrive and no Baby Bullet with skip-stops, the ride between 24th/Castro and San Mateo could turn into 2 hours of hell, and I know there were nights when it was closer to 3.

    • Ros says:

      … but, it does encounter a lot of intersections, stops and pickups at the General Hospital. I think it’s a pretty rad idea.

  2. CATMOM says:

    Love this idea!

  3. mister g says:

    also: move the caltrain stop from 22nd (wtf) to Chavez. better!

    • SuperQ says:

      This is a fantastic idea. I’ve always boggled at the location of the 22nd street station.

      They already need to lengthen 22nd street in order to support the new 6-car trains. I wonder if it would be just cheaper to build a new platform at Chavez.

      Based on what I can see on google maps, it looks like there is more than enough room.

      • S says:

        they are planning a new station at oakdale so maybe if they moved 22nd street to CC it would make that station too close to the new one?

  4. Old Mission Neighbor says:

    As a shuttle rider, I would take this option every once in awhile (like during the hellish Monday morning and Thursday evening commutes on 101).

    I actually took Caltrain + the 48 yesterday afternoon from the peninsula to the Mission, and it took me slightly less time than the shuttle normally does. Having to transfer wasn’t exactly convenient, and it did cost me ~$10 instead of $0, but it’s definitely worth it when traffic on 101 is particularly bad and I’m late for something in the city.

    • “I actually took Caltrain + the 48 yesterday afternoon from the peninsula to the Mission, and it took me slightly less time than the shuttle normally does. Having to transfer wasn’t exactly convenient, and it did cost me ~$10 instead of $0, but it’s definitely worth it when traffic on 101 is particularly bad and I’m late for something in the city.”

      This. THIS. A hundred times this. A million times this. Hell, a GOOGOLPLEX times this!!!

      • Leary says:

        Except that for more than 90% of of workdays, it most certainly _isn’t_ faster to take Caltrain (unless, perhaps, you live right next door to it) than a private shuttle. For most, traffic on 101 has to be _astronomically_ bad to get to the point that dealing with the glacial pace of MUNI to get to the Caltrain stop, then Caltraining it, and then taking _another_ shuttle from Caltrain, is actually better.

        Of course, better MUNI service would provide more incentive to go this route. Hell, I support more public transit to just about anywhere at this point.

  5. Blexxxxch says:

    Nah. Just move down the peninsula.

  6. m says:

    Alternate headline: I willingly moved 30 miles north of my place of business and would like San Francisco to be more accommodating of my self-imposed horrific commute.

  7. m says:

    Dammit, I fell for the clickbait.

  8. Eric says:

    C’mon lazy Bernal people, admit it: you just don’t want to walk from Caesar Chavez to 24th. Schedule says Mission and 24th to Pennsylvania and 22nd is 16 minutes. I know it’s about 10-12 minutes from Harrison and 24th to 2nd and Penny. I take it 6-8 times a week. Can’t save 15 minutes off a 16 minute trip unless you ‘re in the Millenium Falcon.

    But hey, if you can fill it up, add the route! More buses, less cars, cleaner air, a 3% reduction in Googley sumugness– we all win.

    • Eric says:

      *to 22nd and Penny. Same destination. This is what I get for posting while on BART instead of Muni–much worse lighting.

  9. G says:

    How about 1000 or 1500 of them move to Mountain View?

  10. sftico says:

    You know, I’m sure we’ve all fantasized about easier commutes that drop us right where we want to be as quickly as possible. The difference here is that the wealthy young techies of the Mission are so narcissistically impressed with themselves, they think the entire transprtation infrastructure should be reworked because they want it. MUNI serves the rest of the city, too. Lots of kids take the 48 to schools along the current route. I’d say use the 48 as it is, or use part of your generous salary to figure out an alternative for yourself. But FFS, quit trying to make yourself the most important thing in the City.

    • Old Mission Neighbor says:

      “I’d say use the 48 as it is, or use part of your generous salary to figure out an alternative for yourself.”

      Oh, you mean like a alternate transportation system? The kind that people throw rocks and literally vomit all over because it’s separate from existing infrastructure? Wait..

    • Leary says:

      Translation: “I’d rather whine about having to share a city with new people than actually see my city’s aging, woefully inadequate public transit system scale to actually meet the needs of the city population.”

      Now that’s narcissistic.

      • YeahBut says:

        either you are a lot of the population so we should change the city for you or you are unfairly blamed because you are not that huge a part of the city

        which is it?

        • Leary says:

          There are a lot of services in this city that are there to serve the needs of a small but still significant minority of the population.

          Thousands of San Franciscans use Caltrain daily. To willfully refuse to link it properly with the city’s own transit system because FUCK TECHIES is some stupid shit indeed.