Blog

Short blog posts, journal entries, and random thoughts. Topics include a mix of personal and the world at large.

It can be done!

This past Saturday I needed to get down to San Jose from where I am at in San Francisco. A 50 odd mile trip that would take about an hour by car. But I couldn’t do the drive. You see I was heading down to San Jose to buy a car. That meant I couldn’t arrive with a vehicle, lest I call a friend to come with. Hashtag lonely driver.

The Bay Area isn’t metropolitan Asia, but the public transportation infrastructure around here is reasonably passable. I wouldn’t rely on it to get you to work at a specific time (if you can avoid it), but for the odd getting around on the weekends at a leisurely pace, it’s quite alright.

So I hatched a plan to get down to San Jose using purely public transportation. First I took a bus to the nearest BART station (the regional subway network, for those of you unfamiliar). I then took the subway southbound to Millbrae, a transfer point to Caltrain. I took the local train for the majority of the miles down to San Jose, then transferred again to the local light rail (VTA) for the final leg to the dealership. In total, the trip took two and half hours door to door.

What do you think? I reckon that’s a decent time for a 50+ mile trip using public transportation. The fares in total for the single way trip was about $18. Compared that to hailing a ride-share: Lyft quoted me $75 for the same distance, plus tip. No thank you.

I think we are fortunate to live in a region where such a trip is even possible, sans private car. On weekends when you are not under any time pressure, it might even be more enjoyable than driving. The views on the train down to San Jose were rather interesting!

No rush, no hurries

Sometimes I forget how decent the public transportation is in San Francisco. It obviously pales in comparison to the ones in Asian countries, but constantly comparing will only make you depressed. Instead of lamenting the intervals between buses is too large, and being on-time is merely a suggestion: it can be worse! At least we are not Los Angeles.

A few weeks back I attended an event at Golden Gate Park. Anybody sound of mind knows to avoid driving there on a weekend, especially when the weather is nice. Rather than hailing an increasingly popular Waymo driverless taxi, I decided to take the bus. The local 28 took me right to the edge of Golden Gate Park, and then I walked inward to the final destination. Easy.

The festivities continued into the evening at a spot downtown. No problem! We were a few blocks way from the N metro train, which can conveniently take us downtown right to the door steps of the venue. Later that night, I took the M metro train back home. No car, no parking, no gas, and worries. It was rather convenient and wonderful.

I can of course understand why we avoid public transportation. A car will almost always get there faster. If parking is a pain, we rather hail a ride-share than suffer through a bus. Think of the time savings, right? That’s the thing: when we travel to other countries, we have no problems slogging through the local public transportation network to visit a sightseeing destination. It takes however long it will take.

Why don’t we keep some of that spirit here? Especially in a city like San Francisco (or New York City) where bus and train service is reasonably extensive. Especially when going to places on weekends; you should not be in any hurry!

A master debater

The first workout after time off for sickness is the best. I finally feel like my normal, productive self. Though surely I will be worse for it tomorrow, as delayed onset muscle soreness is especially acute when you exercise after some time off.

A coworker was regaling me with his horrible experience on the bus to work. There was a guy openly masturbating on the bus, yet no one was saying a word about it (I guess there weren’t obvious school-aged children on the bus). Everybody on the bus was content to pretend the problem away, until my coworker finally said something. Not because of any civic-minded heroism, but rather the masturbater was in his way of alighting.

And that, kids, is why you study hard, go to college, and get a high-paying job: to avoid having to take the bus. As a seven-year veteran of bus taking during my latter schooling years, I too have seen my share of blood and craziness on public transportation. And soon as I was able to drive for a commute, I never looked back.

It’s a sad referendum on our civic decline when bystanders simply by-stand. Nobody says anything, so long as the crazy doesn’t directly affect them. I don’t blame them one bit. In this country of second amendment freedom, you don’t want to risk personal injury by speaking out. We live and let live not because we condone, but in self preservation.

Because it should be the job of sworn-in police - paid for by our tax dollars - to handle a masturbater on the bus, or a delusional homeless person on a drug-fueled tirade. Even that social contract has deteriorated. The people on the bus with my coworker didn’t call 911; they know that nothing is going to be done about it. It seems we live in a time where civic nuisances are tolerated, so long as no blood is involved.

Apathy towards our civic duty is very dangerous. Things will collapse when a critical mass of people give up on doing what is right. When law-abiding citizens stop paying for bus fare because they see fare evaders go unpunished, that will be it.

Can't be trusted

It occurred to me why people run to catch the bus or train. Because they understand that if they miss this particular one, when the next one will arrive is an absolute crapshoot. Sure, the schedule says one train every 10 minutes during rush hour, but we all know that’s not reliable at all. I too would risk traffic impalement to run across an intersection, chasing after the bus.

This isn’t Japan, where trains arrive every five minutes during commute times. And you can be damn sure it’s going to be on time. If there are any delays, the train conductor apologies profusely over the PA system. It’s very sad when you see proper standards of what is possible, and then you return to your own country and see that it can’t be had. My advice: don’t visit Japan or other modern Asian countries.

I read on the Reddits that a majority of San Francisco’s school children gets driven to campus. The article points out it would be better for congestion and the environment if more kids take public transport or bike. No shit, but has the author done either of those things back in his schooling days? I’ve taken the bus to school, and I wouldn’t want that for my (hypothetical) kid if I can help it. The amount of crazy and violence I’ve seen (and been done to) on city buses is enough to give PTSD.

Biking might be worse. Anyone that’s driven in San Francisco since the pandemic would agree the driving quality has utterly deteriorated. A tiny kid on a bicycle is a huge gamble against the laws of physics.

I get it: parents want as much control as possible. If you can eliminate any doubt that your child will get to school safely, you do it. Zoom zoom.

Catch me riding easy

I saw this post on r/sanfranicso of a Muni bus driver reminding others to be alert when riding. Thieves are on the hunt for unsuspecting riders who are nonchalantly using their phones. The perps would snatch the phones and hop off just as buses are arriving at stops. Moral of the story is: don’t sit or stand close to the bus doors?

Tell me you don’t live in the southeastern side of San Francisco, without telling me you don’t live in the southeastern side of San Francisco. Those of us that do (or formerly did for more than two decades) have always had to be on alert whenever we ride public transportation. Never pick a seat where someone can block you in. Always have your heads up, be cognizant of who is getting on. If something doesn’t feel right to the gut, get as much distance from that thing as possible.

And for god’s sake, never have your electronics visible. Back in the day, I used the brokest most ragged looking pair of earphones to go with my iPod. The signature white ones that came with the music player put a giant visible target on you. The iPod never left my jacket pocket ever whilst on the bus. That habit continued into the smartphone era. I never take my phone out when I am riding public transportation.

These are simple basic survival skills on how to avoid being a mugging victim on the bus. Now, one can strongly argue that you shouldn’t have to carry the alertness of an undercover spy just to ride. Indeed in a country where you can have nice things, that should be the reality. I never have to worry about anything when I am riding public transport in Asian cities. The comparative calm is enough to give me PTSD when I have to switch it back on here in the States.

Any hope of change has to start with creating strong incentives against thievery on buses. We need stronger deterrence than slaps on the proverbial wrists. If the perps are minors, then the law should hold their legal guardian(s) responsible. Victims cannot be the only ones with (sometimes literal) skin in the game.

I should have drove

Yesterday evening I got invited to attend a Giants game at Oracle Park. For once, I decided to take public transport instead of driving. I live two blocks from a light-rail stop, on a line - with a brief transfer at a later station - that takes me directly to the ballpark. It doesn’t get any more door-to-door service than this. It sure beats getting stuck in rush hour traffic driving, only to park many blocks away from Oracle Park (because free parking), necessitating a lengthy walk.

That is, if the light-rail is actually functioning normally. I got on the first train yesterday, only to encounter a completely shut tunnel system. No trains of any line were able to go underground towards downtown. We had to instead get off at West Portal - just before the tunnel - and take a surface shuttle bus. It doesn’t take a genius to realize a street bus is far slower than an underground metro train that’s unimpeded by car traffic. Worse, the bus shuttle got me only to downtown - it didn’t extended beyond towards the ballpark. So I walked the rest of the way.

A trip that at most should have taken about an hour, instead took two. And you wonder why public transportation ridership hasn’t recovered fully from the pandemic. It’s a really bad look to have a major section of the light-rail system closed off during evening rush hour. Folks have already suffered the nine hours at work already! Adding to their already lengthy commute time is kind of unconscionable. It’s a bad deal for the people with responsibilities waiting at home. I at least had the luxury of not being in a hurry (I’ve been to enough baseball games to not care about missing the opening few innings).

Silver lining to everything: it was an enjoyable walk along the Embarcadero towards Oracle Park. The summer evening sun provided a great ambiance. Crisp air and excellent views will make anyone forget about the unscheduled delay.

Took the midnight train

San Francisco Bay Area folks: did you attend the Taylor Swift concert at Levi’s Stadium? I sure didn’t, because who can afford the thousand dollar get-in price on the secondary market? You’d have a better chance of hitting the billion dollar Mega Millions jackpot than acquiring tickets through official channels.

Nevertheless, a friend of my friend did manage to score Taylor Swift tickets, and my friend got invited to join. The logistics of getting down to Santa Clara from San Francisco is, in a word, challenging. Nobody in their right mind would drive, unless you plan to get there super early. So public transport it is. My friend rode the BART train to Milpitas, then took the local VTA light rail to the stadium. So far, so straight forward.

Leaving the stadium, however, was apparently quite the nightmare. The concert did not end until 11:40 PM (Taylor really gives your money’s worth: a three hour plus jam-packed show). VTA trains were running after hour to ferry folks to either the Milpitas BART station, or the Mountain View Caltrain station. BART was not an option for my friend, as the special late-night train did not go all the way to San Francisco. So Caltrain it is.

Unfortunately, there’s but one special train heading northbound to San Francisco. It was scheduled to depart 75 minutes after the concert ends. That proved to be hugely optimistic. Due to the sheer number of people, my friend didn’t even get to Mountain View station until 1:45 AM - two hours after the show ended. At that point, the lone train was still there, looking less than half full, awaiting more passengers before departed. Our guess is it wouldn’t depart until after 3:00 PM at the earliest.

Lucky for my friend, I was there at the station to pick her up. What the heck did people do before the invention of cellphones? The peace of mind afforded by modern communication is really appreciated in situations like this.