Via a comment on Streetsblog LA’s recent post about bike parking at Dodger Stadium I found this awesome Streetsfilm about free valet bike parking at the AT&T Park, home of the San Francisco Giants:

I was shocked to find out that over half the people who attend Giants games get there without a car. I bet under 1% of Dodgers fans get to games without a car. The AT&T Park’s website lists public transit directions before car directions in the Getting To The Park section. The Dodgers website, on the other hand, has its own special mini-site dedicated to parking with FAQ’s, safety tips, traffic info, and other such crap that would be irrelevant if they made it easier to get to the stadium without a car. Pathetic.I wonder what kind of overall cost savings (internal and external) the ballpark and stadium sees by having more that half the people attend games without a car.

Whew! What a trip it has been. A four-day vacation in the Bay Area led to a bumper crop of material for MetroRiderLA, allowing for a 10-part miniseries. It was a joy to write; hopefully MetroReaders enjoyed reading the series.

Exploring San Francisco and Santa Rosa was tremendous fun. Four days was not enough to see and experience all of what just these two cities had to offer. Even an extended vacation would still show a mere fraction of all what the Bay Area has to offer.

With dozens of bus systems, three urban rail services, several commuter and tourist ferries and three busy train services, the Bay Area shows Elhay where Southern California what we are supposed to need. Right?

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The Bay Area Diaries takes a noticeable departure from the usual quality and tone brought to the entry on Muni’s bus operations.

The Diaries, and L.A.-oriented Ride Reports published on MetroRiderLA, takes pride in copious attention to the fundamental details of the ride. What time did the bus arrive, what was the number and make of the bus, what line is ridden and how many passengers were aboard. The pedantry’s message: We care.

There will be no effort to maintain that level of detail for Muni buses. Muni earned heaps of well-deserved scorn from San Franciscans for management and operations that seemed to have been mailed in — by Pony Express. If a transit agency, through concerted inaction or lazy inaction, could treat its riders this way, the Bay Area Diaries’ feedback loop senses that it can act the same way with its readers. And will.

Fortunately, this entry is going to be lightly patronized since it’s about buses and most people couldn’t give a crap about them in the first place. Rail’s another matter. That attracts a lot of attention and very passionate viewpoints, so commentary must tread with caution. Muni buses, though, get the tritest of all literary and discussion devices: A Top 10 list. Unroll your eyes for a second and click below for MetroRiderLA’s Complete Muni bus Info and Rider’s Guide.

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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.

This $11 Muni passport is free with the click of the “continue reading” button.

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Last summer Megabus chose Los Angeles as the second hub for the English coach operator’s American market. Soon after the service debuted, MetroRiderLA took Megabus on a short jaunt from Union Station to San Diego. The fare, speed and ride quality on that service left a helluva first impression. That was a two-hour journey, mere child’s play for an operations manager.

But what about taking the big blue bus — no, not that one — to its limits? How well can Megabus do when traveling across California, from the congested megalopoles of Los Angeles and the San Francisco Bay Area? And, more importantly, is the Megabus concept catching on here as it has in the UK and the Chicago hub?

A trip from Los Angeles to San Francisco is scheduled for 7 hours, 15 minutes. This won’t take nearly as long to read.

Let’s ride.

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A 10-part miniseries!

Featuring a cast of thousands!

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