The N-Judah Chronicles

Today in Reader Mail, Loyal Reader Nicole writes in to ask what happened to the NX Buses on Monday. Apparently it was a tale of woe that involved ghost buses and a lot of confusion. Were you stuck in this mess too? Do you have an idea what happened? If so, post in the comments.

For now, here's her letter:

Hi,

I was wondering if you might be able enlighten me about something that happened on Monday with the N Judah Express Outbound. I only take it on Mondays, so this is the first time I've ever seen this happen, so perhaps it's normal?

I had been checking my muni predictor on my smart phone while walking to the bus stop and it said that a Nx would be leaving in like 5 minutes and 15 minutes and 25 minutes. I hurried there in less than 5. there was a pretty long line and no bus. the expected times on the app ticked down to 1 min, 11 min and 21 min. still no bus. and then the app suddenly predicted: 9min, 19min and 29 min. not a bus in sight. more and more people got in line behind me. Again it ticked down to 1min, but no bus. I went to the front of the line and asked the first person what time she got there, she said she had been there for the 6pm bus but it never came There also was no extra muni person with the clipboard and vest who always there keep track of everything in the evenings telling each of the Express drivers when to leave.

the line stretched all the way down the block. the times on my app kept changing as if Nx's were arriving and departing, but they were totally not there, they weren't idling anywhere like they normally were, they were nowhere. I was feeling like we were "the lost souls" of Sutter and Sansome.

Eventually the guy behind me checked and saw an NJudah LRV OB would be arriving at Montgomery in 3 minutes, so we decided to take our chances, leave the line and run for it. I got home, but it took me way way longer than it normally would with the Nx because i first wasted so much time in line for busses that never came, and then I had to take the much much slower and crowded LRV (I live at 40th, so it's a pretty long ride)

So, all that to ask, do you have any insight as to what on earth happened on Monday? have you heard about this from anyone at all? Does this happen often on other days of the week (I only take it on mondays, so I totally wouldn't know). Do they keep people waiting and then suddenly pull up with like 3 buses to make up for all the ones that were supposed to have come by in the past half hour? I'm wondering, should I have stuck it out? everyone I asked didn't seem to think it was normal, but very few of them seemed annoyed. (Perhaps after the shuttle fiasco that accompanied the shut down of the NJudah last month, everyone has built up a stronger tolerance)

Nicole

Posted by Greg Dewar at 2:05 PM | Permalink | Comments (4)

While I'm busy working on a number of upgrades to the site and looking for an artist to design the new logo, there's a few articles about Muni you should really be sure to take a look at if you haven't already done so.

First, of course, is last week's SF Weekly cover story on Muni's deplorable state of disrepair by friend and colleague Joe Eskenazi. Well researched and full of details, this is the kind of investigative reporting you will not find at other print publications in town. The next time you wonder why a bus is trailing parts along the road, well, now you'll know why.

Second is a follow up to Joe's excellent story by Rick Laubscher, president of Market Street Railway at their blog. He makes some additional points worth reading, not the least of which is how politicians who come up with ideas like "free Muni for the kids" or "Twitter buses" don't really seem to care how they're paid for or think Muni has money to spare. Instead, maintenance often takes the hit, and you the rider lose.

Regular posting will resume shortly - it seems we've killed the biggest problems moving over to a new platform, now we're just hammering out the details so when I relaunch the site will look like something more modern than a blog circa 2006. Thanks for your patience!

Posted by Greg Dewar at 4:33 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)

Posted by Greg Dewar at 2:42 AM | Permalink | Comments (5)

Greetings, Loyal Readers! Thanks to the hard work of one of the Loyal Readers, we have managed to clear out the nasty malware that was infecting the site. As such, you can visit the site without lots of warning messages and the like.

Our move to a new platform (WordPress) continues, and is on schedule. The blog should be joining the 2010s soon enough. Thank you for your patience, and thanks for reading the N Judah Chronicles!

PS: For those who asked: the damage was akin to The Hulk getting pissed off about Muni delays and ripping out the tracks from the ballpark to the beach, and smashing the subway tunnel too. It sucked! 

Posted by Greg Dewar at 11:19 PM | Permalink | Comments (0)