Tuesday, April 5, 2011

Not Particularly F***ed

The Chronicle Comical, in its infinite condescension, can only imagine how awful it must be to take the bus these days.  Why, Muni's own study shows it's on-timeyness is down "nearly one point!"  On-timeyness being a measurement of how not-too-early or not-too-late a given bus is in comparison to an unpublished schedule that only drivers and people doing on-timeyness studies know.  It's a measurement that offers no insight into the quality of my ride home last night on the K/T, which came as soon as I hit the platform, or on the 47 this morning, which also arrived within minutes but took me to work at a pace barely above walking speed.

I mean, everybody loves to complain about Muni.  Sometimes it can ruin your day.  Sometimes, complaining about the bus can make you look like an entitled princess (and Metro riders - I'm looking at you, N-Judah! - remember that over two thirds of Muni riders take the bus, not your train).

Muni can't be everything to all people.  But is it serving its purpose well or, to put it another way, is it fucked?  A man named Sam Kimbrel put together a clever and attractive site to ask that question: howfuckedismuni.com.  The answer may surprise you.  Clicking through line after line, I keep seeing the message "not particularly fucked."  I do expect that will change from time to time, nothing is "not particularly fucked" all the time.  But maybe the buses are alright.