A change of station stops by the 30 Stockton bus appears to be short-lived, following rider reaction. Several folks complained that Muni failed to respond to their complaints, but apparently those complaints were still heard loud and clear.
The controversy involves the switch of a stop from Divisadero and Chestnut Street to Fillmore and Chestnut Streets. What should have been a simple switch of locations caused trouble for riders who missed connections, were forced to exit the bus in the street because there wasn’t room for the bus to pull up to the curb, and other inconveniences.
The complaints came flooding in; the Marina Times received numerous calls and letters from people upset with the changes. Resident Janet Maslow pointed out that when the driver stops to take a 15-minute break, passengers have to disembark and wait for the next 30 bus. “Sometimes there is a bus waiting and sometimes not. If one is waiting and you get on it you usually have a few minutes’ wait because he is still on break. I don’t have the patience to wait, and I usually walk the rest of the way [home], which is OK during the day but late at night not OK. When I am almost home, a 30 drives past, very often empty because most people don’t wait,” she noted. “I understand that this is a pilot project, but it sucks; even the bus drivers detest it.”
In late August, an SFMTA spokesperson told the Marina Times “We changed the location of the terminal temporarily to test its effect on the line as a pilot. Based on what we’ve heard from our riders, we plan to locate the terminal at the previous location. We should have this in place by October.”
Patricia Vaughey, a resident who has been collecting rider and Muni driver reactions to the change, said the initial change fits a pattern by Muni of making unilateral changes without proper consultation with the public. She says she received a two-day notice before the trial. “Why now?” she asked. “They had already decided it.” She said the disruption caused by the change included additional wait times and missed connections, meaning that for some people “it takes them 30 extra minutes to get to work if they ride the bus.”
