Bay Area Diaries — Part VI: Muni rail

The Bay Area Diaries is over the hump of the blog entry arc, and the focus is now on transit services within the city of San Francisco. Ahem, The City of San Francisco.

Since Part VI deals with San Francisco proper, and rail in particular, expect more people to start showing an interest in the series. San Francisco Municipal Railway’s three rail services get some play: Muni Metro, the F Market line and, of course, the cable cars. All this and a celebrity appearance.

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Muni Metro: the train that acts like a bus

Several Muni Metro Breda trains lay over at the yard next to Balboa Park station. Balboa Park is a major rail transfer center, served by BART and Muni Metro lines J, K/T and M.

One of the three types of rail service operated by Muni is the Metro network. The five lines — six letters, but K Ingleside and T Third are interlined — could be classified as light rail. The lines carry less than 50,000 boardings each and they run on rails. But Muni Metro is a far more complex system than most new-start light rail services.

Modern-era light rail lines are planned with stations, exclusive track sections, high speeds and broad stop spacing. Muni has some of that, but the trains are far more versatile at serving three different operating characteristics. This all-purpose service is like bus rapid transit, only with trains.

That is not meant as an insult. When a single rail vehicle can run three different styles of service, Sanfran maybe on the cutting edge even though the network is very old.

One type of service is high-platform conventional light rail service. This exists along the newest T Third Street line, and N Judah between the Caltrain terminal and Embarcadero Station. These stations also have ticket vending machines. The $1.50 fare ticket acts as proof of payment and as a 90-minute transfer.

The second type of service is the Market Street subway. Here all Muni Metro lines converge, with all but N and T trains terminating at Embarcadero station. Muni Metro shares stations with BART at Embarcadero, Montgomery, Powell and Civic Center, with Muni using the upper level. There’s no access between levels; passengers must go up to the mezzanine and cross the agencies’ respective fare gates. Muni has a three-prong turnstile and attendant booths at these stations.

The convergence of trains at this location makes for slow, unreliable train service. BART, in comparison, runs much smoother in the same segment. Muni trains have to wait for leaders to clear the station, routinely idling in the tunnel. Bunching is chronic, and there is no discernible rhythm to train arrivals. The train ride is also very rocky in the tunnel, but it was hard to tell if this was because of poor track or poor vehicle quality.

After the Market tunnel, trains branch off to the south and west. Some trains continue to the Twin Peaks Tunnel, with one of the longest times spent in a tunnel between Market and Forest Hill. It seems like the next station is never coming.

The trains then emerge for surface operation, for the third operating condition. The trains now act like buses. The tracks share the road with vehicles, and even the boarding islands resemble bus stops. Passengers who need to pay a cash fare board through the front door and drop their money into a farebox inside the operator’s cabin. The trains can operate in bus-like mode because the doors have stairs that fold down during street running and close to form a lever surface for high-platform and tunnel boarding.

A study in contrasts: Muni Metro cars have stairs that can fold down for street-levels stops, at right, and retract for high-platform and tunnel boarding, at left.

The surface routes look and feel like bus lines, as they travel at the speed of traffic and make frequent stops. This contributes to their unreliability on the surface, which compounds the bunching problems along Market.

Despite these problems, the Muni Metro application would be a great way to bring rail transit to cities that cannot sustain light or heavy rail service. The Breda cars Muni Metro uses can adapt to both rail- and bus-like operations, and a similar trunk-branch operation may be set up as in San Francisco. That eliminates the transfer/feeder bus problem as well. Plus, the work of Paul Weyrich and William Lind showing how cities can implement rail transit at a low cost by reintroducing streetcars mean rail can be brought to places that don’t have the ridership to justify light rail. This is what bus rapid transit tries to do in theory. Muni Metro accomplishes it by running BRT in reverse: the trains act like buses. If Muni wasn’t so bad at running its trains, the Metro concept could be applied all over the country.

The tourist’s experience wasn’t bad. Metro trains, while filthy, were easy to use, frequent and plentiful. Locals, though, have little love for Muni metro. Peruse the N-Judah Chronicles, Transbay, or advocacy group Rescue Muni’s blogs for the baseline experience. Bay Area Diaries is far kinder to Muni.

Museum on wheels

PCC #1055, painted in Philadelphia colors circa 1947, is one of the historic vehicles on the F Market & Wharves Line.

While Muni Metro reflects the more common, typical experience of San Francisco transit, the same agency that at times cannot tell its ass from a hole in a transfer wears its Sunday best for the F Market & Wharves line. Even on weekdays.

The F service is an example of idealism done right. Sanfran salvaged many old streetcars from the U.S. and the world, giving a few life while most others were unceremoniously relegated to the scrapyards of history. Muni operates the heritage railway service for Market Street Railway (link not provided since the page is full of broken links). Wikipedia maintains a list of car numbers, their colors and their origins.

Historic streetcars, painted in liveries of various transit systems of yore, roll along the Embarcadero from Fisherman’s Wharf, then turn on to Market Street, operating on the street as opposed to the Muni Metro trains in the subway. The line terminates in The Castro. The heritage railway line is designed to be a rolling museum and mainly geared to the tourist market, but locals and out-of-towners alike love the old trolleys. The ride is somewhat rocky, but the interior and exterior of the cars are sparkling.

PCC #1055’s interior needed no Photoshopping. It looked as new as if it just came out of the factory. The F line cars are overseen through a partnership by Muni and the Market Street Railway Foundation.

It’s hard to believe a ride of such quality is even associated with Muni. Perhaps it’s because of the association with the nonprofit group — and railfans are nothing if not cantakerous — that the cars are in great condition and the Muni operators are some of the most friendly and helpful in the system.

This heritage railway has a rich history and the most interesting route for out-of-towners to see the highlights of the city. It has the Wharf, the Bay, the commercial and business landmarks on Market Street, connections to all three cable car lines, and The Castro if you’re into that sort of thing. Not that we judge. Best of all, Muni treats this service as a local line — a $1.50 — as opposed to the $5 “hose the tourists” fare on the cable cars.

The San Francisco treat … with celebrity guest

Nothing could say San Francisco more than this photography taken on the Powell-Hyde cable car. This is of course Lombard Street, “the crookedest street in the world.” Down below is a sampling of San Francisco’s iconic architecture, with panoramic views of the Bay and Coit Tower. On the right is a segment of the cable car from the inside.

The cable cars are as much a part of San Francisco’s identity as the Golden Gate Bridge, the hilly terrain and the most militantly left-wing politics in the country. Riding one of Sanfran’s cable cars is a tourist cliché everyone must do at least once. It’s not something that can be done often.

Muni knows the tourist appeal of the lines, and bleeds the rubes appropriately. A single boarding on the line is $5. A purchase of a passport, available at the Powell and Market streets turntable, takes the pinch out of cable car touristry.

Then again, the higher fares are warranted since it’s costly for Muni to maintain a service that serves little practical use. Trolley buses accomplish the same thing, but much faster. Cable cars share the road with other traffic, and climb hills at a speed marginally faster than walking. There are no cable car manufacturers anymore, so Muni craftsmen must build every car from scratch. Plus, every cable car has two employees: a gripman who pulls the levers and stomps the pedals to make the cars move, and a conductor to collect the fares and chat up the customers.

There’s a lot to see and do along Powell street, shared by two of the three lines, which branch off to Hyde or Mason streets. With stops at every corner, more or less, the lines pass noisily through the residential areas of Union Square, Chinatown, Nob Hill and Fisherman’s Wharf. In any other part of the country, homeowners would have shut down operations like these. Thank goodness San Francisco has no regard for property rights.

The neighborhoods and the hilltop views allow for amazing views, but it’s also worth a look at how the gripman controls the cable car. It’s constant pulling of heavy levers and stomping of brakes, along with the clanging of the bell. When that’s all done, at the end of the line they must assist in pushing the cars around on the turntable (this is not true of the California cars). The gripman on the outbound Powell & Hyde cable car on January 17, in particular, was a maestro. He rang out classical and top 40 notes on the bell, keeping the riders sharp on their musical trivia while snapping photos of the signature Sanfran architecture.

It turned out this trip included a celebrity sighting. The Powell-Hyde gripman was none other than …

Byron Cobb.

Wait — who?

Byron Cobb? Famous?

While he’s not yet as iconic as Domingo Ghirardelli, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, or — ugh — Willie Brown, Byron Cobb had a place in Sanfran history as a five time, five time, five time, five time, five time champion of the Cable Car Bell Ringing Contest. The 19-year veteran gripman’s last championship was in 2005, and he’s placed second and third in a few years as well. It was amazing to watch him not only work the grips and brakes, but also to hear him play such tunes as “Saturday Night” and “Louie Louie” all the while.

A very fascinating operator for a very fascinating ride.

Approaching Embarcadero station

Fun or functional? Cable cars represent Sanfran’s fun side. Tourists keep an historic monument alive, even though the mode is archaic and not practical to expand. Yet it would still be hard to imagine Sanfran without them. Walking the hills is a challenge for even the most physically fit. Hyde Street was more of a climb than a walk, where getting from Beach Street to Lombard — the crookedest street in the world — felt as though it was a mistake to walk without the aid of a Sherpa and a backpack full of supplies. And this is speaking from a frequent walker and exerciser’s perspective.

Muni Metro represents the city’s functional side. Even the highest rents and an unbearingly gentrified population could not remove the system’s … hmm, “honesty” would be a good term. Crowded. Grimy. Uncomfortable. Unpredictable. But this is meant as a compliment, albeit a backhanded one. Muni Metro shows San Francisco isn’t a complete boutique city. The silver cars give Sanfran the authenticity lost by rents that cost the same as the sticker price of an entry-level sedan. The City’s real people — the service workers, students and youngsters — still have a place in a hometown that’s increasingly pushing down on the pillow that has smothered many more before them.

Then, there’s the F line, managing to be both fun and functional. What began as a novelty system took on a life of its own by making a fleet of old, discarded trolleys showcase quality and becoming an important part of the Muni grid. It’s also a social leveler, as transit dependent, choice local riders and tourists ride as one.

Previously:

• Prologue
• Part II: Megabus
• Part III: Golden Gate Transit
• Part IV: Sonoma County
• Part V: Golden Gate Ferry

Photo by neutralSurface via Flickr (Creative Commons license)

BART Board for upcoming arrivals: Muni buses around San Francisco arrive in 1 day CalTrain to Millbrae arrives in 2 days BART to Pittsburg/Bay Point arrives in 3 days Closing thoughts arrive in 5 days