MUNI – 38 Geary

I love the 38! My favorite part is how it is consistently late. I live for standing at bus stops in the tl when it is raining… And no other transportation leaves me feeling as hopeless as you do. Thanks 38! You’re the worst… Too bad I can’t afford a car :(

Even being a double bus, this is one of the most packed bus lines I’ve ever ridden. I don’t take the 38 often, but it’s convenient when I’m making a Target or Best Buy run. I can just hop off the bus at Masonic on the way home to Outer Richmond from Downtown. This was the case on Friday, December 18^th around 3:15pm.
Since I work in between bus stops, I tend to walk to the stop farther away from my destination as there’s more of a chance I’ll grab a seat. The closer the 38 gets to downtown, the more packed it becomes.
Depending on where you’re going, make sure you read the final destination of the 38 if you’re going to outer richmond. There’s one bus that turns onto 33^rd Ave and another that will go straight down Geary. I can’t recall which one is which since I haven’t taken the bus all the way out there in a while.
I believe this is the busiest muni line in SF. I prefer taking the 38R, but if the 38 comes first, I’ll gladly take this bus. $ 2.25 for a ride across town?! Yes please!

Apparently stopping for passengers is optional on this line. Especially rush hour on market. Nowhere else but SF have inexperienced this. Daily its a battle to get on board a bus from work to transbay.

Can’t Help but Unilocal 38R n 38. Waited for 30 mins for 1 bus to arrived. Of course, it’s a full bus. But below me down next bus comes after 16mins 4 buss all at the same time ?? The bus I rode there was a wheelchair passenger n the bus driver doesn’t even know how to hold lock the wheelchair tire ?? He ask the old lady to buckle up. That really Insulting funny Moved. How can a disable lady stand up and buckle up ??? Loved muni since it’s easy to travel around the city! Just hope they follow the bus intervals and not wait for people to pile up waiting for just one bus

Used to take this line a lot while still in school. 38 almost comes on time most of the times. However, the bus really smells lol I’m so glad I don’t have to take this line anymore that often. Maybe once in a year? Lol

I have taken public transportation in many cities — New York, Chicago, Boston, Los Angeles, Paris, Hong Kong, etc. — and when it comes to efficiency, Muni is the WORST, and for this reason, words cannot truly express how much I hate public transportation in San Francisco.
For starters, there is a bus stop every 1 – 2 blocks, maybe even 3, and city blocks in San Francisco are pretty small! I understand that accessibility is important, but people can walk one extra block if it means more efficient public transit!
Secondly, according to an article by SF Weekly, with an average speed of 8.1 mph, Muni is the slowest major urban transit agency in North America. Not in California, not in the West Coast, not in the nation, but in North America! That’s pathetic. I know fat kids who can run faster than Muni.
Third of all, why is it that Muni’s arrival times are so inconsistent? I’ll be looking at my Muni app and a train/​bus would be arriving in 3, 5 and then 27 minutes. Are you sh*tting me? There are other times when the arrival time would be stuck at like 5 minutes and then jump back up to 7 minutes. Then there are other times when there must have been an invisible bus because the screen will say the bus is arriving but nothing ever shows up!
It’s no wonder Über and Lyft are so successful in San Francisco: Muni’s inefficiency consistently screws up everyone’s schedule, so when people are late for work, school or an appointment, they have no choice but to catch Über or Lyft.
I wish I could go back in time and slap the person who told me that public transportation in San Francisco is amazing.
On a sidenote: I know this review applies to Muni as a whole, but I chose to post it on the 38’s Unilocal because the «dirty-​8» is one of the worst lines in this city.

This bus changed my life as I stared on my Twitter page. I was coming in from a club and this bus came just in time for me to return to my hotel. I must declare I have experience a life changing moment aboard a bus.

Highlights
— Thank you muni 38 and 38L for taking me from point A to B without me having to worry and deal with parking and crazy drivers, especially in the downtown area and even more so during the Christmas holiday season time.
— Wait times are about 5 – 15 minutes, which is not bad at all and considering the 38 runs ²⁴⁄₇ and at $ 2 one way, there really isn’t much to complain about.
— They frequent so many popular spots that it is usually never empty and you’ll probably run into your friend or whomever at one point or another, since everyone and their mama takes this bus line.
Improvements
— Since they make frequent and popular stops, these buses get packed. Even with the accordion addition to fit in double the amount of people, be prepared to be packed like a sardine.
— During off hours, these buses can get a bit ghetto, sometimes they are smelly, and trashy.
Tip
— You better think twice about not paying and strolling in! They have stops where Muni patrol actually comes on to the bus or wait at various spots to check if you have paid your fare either on your clipper card or with your transfer as proof.

This gem strolls through all the ghetto’s in town, picking up monsters, fairies, vampires, and what have you along the way. Great way to pick up a foreign language though! Sit in the mid back, bring some popcorn, and watch the show as crazies face off in the back seat «arena» for 30 mins.
But really, take the 38L and save yourself some stress, this bus is no good.

My friend just got mugged on it.
Wake up Ed Lee and fix the transportation system — a city can’t be first-​class when it’s got third-​world buses and trains.

If you’re poor, working class, or even lower middle class, and you want a preview of what life in San Francisco is going to be like for you before you move here, my best advice is to come here and ride the 38 Geary along its full length back and forth. It’s a true microcosm.
People jammed nuts to butts in too small of a space all day long. Mostly shit-​mouth hipsters, mentally ill homeless, gangbangers and pushy Chinese grandmas who will run right through you and give no fucks.
People in public service roles who make 100k+ a year yet still barely speak English or act like they’re in the ghetto. The simplest polite questions responded to with a hostile tone and yelling the same thing over and over until you give up. My favorite for this is the cave troll lady who drives at night and can’t be bothered to even give transfers or open the rear doors when people are stuck back there.
Graffiti out of control all over the back and the chance of getting mugged while the driver just continues on making their stops and giving no fucks.

Near gangfight on the bus. Homeless people abounds. Ride at your own risk. Eeh… me thinks not.

This rating goes to my friend who is currently in court because of trouble on Muni. Here is what happen.
We got off the 8x bus and waited for the 38 Geary to arrive and took a while, he scan his clipper card and it was still within 90 minutes so it did the transfer mode. When we go to Van Ness to get off, here are 3 fare inspectors with their ticket books out. The approach my friend and say his clipper card expired and fare inspector said not its past the time. My friend said well when I scan it showed green and cleared me and I saw it too and told the inspector it did clear him so what is the problem.
Fare inspector asked for ID and my friend said nope, why should I when its not my fault. So we began walking away, then fare inspector came up to my friend grab his shoulder and forced him to turn around. My friend said you better get my hand off me you greedy prick. He grab my friend arm really hard and demanded his ID card. So my friend took his fist and nailed him right in the center of his face, and boy he went down and stayed down. My friend said there you go that is my fucking payment for you.
Police came and said what happen and witness and me explained what happen. Lot of people said the fare inspector was being the aggressor which is correct. So now he is in court to get this fixed up.
38 Geary and other Muni buses, fix the clipper card system. It’s really a rigged system to give people tickets. This happen about 3 weeks from today.

Did anybody say ” Let’s take a bus? ” Wait wait wait!
If anyone asks me that question I usually answer with the question ” What about BART?”
As you can see, I don’t like buses here in San Francisco!
Let’s start with my first day in SF. I was already anxious getting used to life here. My friends who are from Columbia and Brasil wanted to show me some places. Unluckily I have encountered bus and its passengers inside on my very first day. It was like a theatre show and I was one of the audiences, surprised one!
Anyway, there was a crying baby with an uninterested mother and at the other side there were teenager girls whose styles were weird for me (like ripped stockings inspite of cold weather, thin blouses, exaggerated make ups and hairs) I think it was the funny part because they have their own styles which is good to have but it was just not good for me because I was with my wool cap and also leather gloves.)
Oops I almost forgot! One of the most important figure was a man who was really drunk although it was afternoon! He was yelling everybody in the bus and my poor English wasn’t good enough to understand him. He was commenting for everybody ! I hope he had not said so many bad things about us! I was so stressed. 5 min. later we just have gotten off and taken a breath!
That night when we were on the way to come home. We had to take a bus again!
That time it was dark outside and there were not so many people inside !
Next time I will write about this, too. But I gotta go now!

This bus is always super over crowed and is one of dirtiest buss es I’ve ever seen (the dirtiest being either the 49 or the 47)
There was one day (a Saturday) when I got on the bus at about 6p.m. and noticed that on this crowed bus was vomit all over the floor and seat towards the back of the bus. I told the bus driver what I found and he stopped the bus at the next bus stop. He walked over to see what I was talking about, waited a minute or two after getting back to his driver seat and asked everyone if «we can deal with it.» Most of the people that were on the bus were already drinking and hollered that they can deal with it. Nothing was put around the vomit to keep people from sitting/​getting near the vomit (which many people ended up sitting on it and didn’t notice til after they felt something wet.)
There was another day were there were a bunch of boys (must have hardly been 18) sitting in the back of the bus and with out shame started smoking pot like it was a normal thing to do.
It seems like every time I’m on the bus there is someone drinking/​eating on the bus and with out shame just throwing the left overs on the floor. My biggest hate is the freaking sunflower seeds that always seem to be on the floor with several people just spiting out sunflower seeds.
It’s just sad that this is the only bus that gets me to where I need to be.

My gf and I needed to take this bus on our route to the Golden Gate Bridge.
The bus driver was very friendly and informative when we ran our plan past her and she ensured us we’d make it to our destination.
The buses are clean for the most part but as with all public transportation, there’s always one patron who spoils it for the rest of us.

B.
R.
T.
All that needs to be said. Well, also what BRT actually is: Bus Rapid Transit, or commonly known as ‘the exact opposite of what the 38 is’. The line is the busiest in the City (50K boardings per day) and among the busiest bus lines in the nation, yet it run like some school bus to and/​or from hell. It is crowded beyond usable, the systems of stops make little to no sense at points, the drivers are often as frustrated as the passengers and the line does nothing to compensate (as it should) for the far distances many of the users travel. It is simply outdated and under capacity.
Pro tips: Take the Bx and Ax if you are going to the FIDI or SOMA, or take the L if at all possible, except between 8 AM and 9 AM. This is when I’m going to work and I don’t need any more competition. Loveyoumeanit.

WTF?!
I haven’t ridden Muni in ages and I needed to take the 38 from Market to Tommy’s Joynt on Van Ness to meet with friends and co-​workers. It’s about 12 blocks away, if my calculations are correct.
This has got to be one of the most horrible experiences I’ve ever had. The driver was annoyingly rude; the passengers were rude, funky, ugly, disgusting; and one crazy lady kept yelling obscenities like Roseanne Barr singing the national anthem while having too many shots of tequila. Passengers getting on and getting off on every stop rushed in and out, pushing and shoving everyone in their way like a stampede of Gnus escaping the jaws of an alligator.
As I was stuck inside the bus, I couldn’t help but think that I should have walked from Market St. all the way to Van Ness. It probably would have been faster too had I walked.
As I got off the bus (one stop earlier on purpose), I was glad I had a bottle of Purell in my backpack.

Dear Muni,
Stop this line. It’s not needed. People can walk/​crawl/​limp/​wheel the extra 3 blocks from a 38L stop. Then you can run 38L all the time and more frequently, make the drivers happier (because it’s less stop and go), and make the customers happier. It’s a domino effect. Falls either way, you choose.
Best,
S.D.

The 38 is fun because the crack heads keep me on my toes and the transvestite hookers trip out the tourist.
It runs ²⁴⁄₇