MUNI – 41 Union

Does anyone know why the accordion bus no longer runs in the morning?! This is blasphemy!

S U C K S!!! everyone speaks «vocal fry» on this bus. No one is cool on this bus. there is no way to be cool on this bus. I’m 99% sure the drivers try to make the standers fall, because they hate them, because they’re 0% cool.

The 41 is one of the best bus lines in the city. The bus is almost always on time and really is not very crowded for a commuter bus. Compared to the 30x, this is a far superior line !!

One time I got on this ridiculously good looking people bus and thought a bunch of FiDi dudes were checking me out. Turns out my headphones had come undone from my iPhone and I was boomboxin’ Carly Rae Jepsen’s «Call Me Maybe». This is why I take the 45.

I’m the chick on this bus withOUT the blond hair and diamond ring the size of Oklahoma.
But the 41, she doesn’t hate, she still takes me where I need to go pretty painlessly.

I would give this bus a 2.5 star if I were reviewing it for the afternoon service since the buses are almost always packed, service is erratic, and more than once I’ve been left standing like an idiot because the last couple of buses of the day simply didn’t show up. Nice.
However, I’m feeling generous today because it’s the first sunny San Francisco day in a long time. I’m going to forget about the afternoon and just review the morning service.
I live in an area where I could take either the 30x or the 41. Yes, the 30x would be faster, but even at 6:30AM there’s a chance that I won’t get a seat. I choose the 41 because the buses are now the extra long ones and I can *always* get a seat. The bus is almost always right on time and the drivers hardly ever call in sick (which means no missing buses).
I also love that with the opening of the Temporary Transbay terminal, they recently rerouted this bus to stop at Howard & Beale in the morning. That stop means a shorter walk to work for me when I’m running a little late, which is always a good thing earl in the morning.
The downside is that I have to take a later bus and be late to work in order to get that stop because none of the other drivers knows about it. The voice even announces the Howard/​Beale stop, but the drivers just bypass it and turn left.
I wonder if I should tell the drivers that they need to study the route?

ever since MUNI decided to cancel the direct bus lines that ran from my place in Fisherman’s Wharf to the FiDi, i’ve been having to deal with the hell that i call the 41.
a) i though we were paying MORE money to have the service on the 41 INCREASED? well… buses that come 10 minutes LATE don’t do me any good… especially since it means it’ll always be packed
b) what is it with the people that ride this bus? I guess since you live in the Marina, then you’re so self-​absorbed that you don’t know how to MOVE BACK to make space for the rest of us that are getting in North Beach?
I can’t wait until Spring/​Summer when the weather gets nicer and i’ll be able to walk to work. Muni SUCKS and Gavin Newsom SUCKS too.

This bus is fine by me. I only take it for about 6 or 7 stops to and form work. I’ll hop on thi sbad boy at Drumm and California and take it up to Kearny and Columbus. My bus ride is usually pretty effing great really, but I’m taking the bus against the main crowd of muni users at this time. I’m going from the middle on the financial to the outskirts, and not the other way around.
So needless to say when I jump on this mus to head back to the Embarc station, there are usually still very few people on it. As the masses who are also getting off work are heading out to the Marina (hahaha oh you Marina’s will you ever learn?)
Sometimes a gaggle of school children and their parents get on at Montgomery and Clay. Which is actually really annoying because the kids are just screaming and yelling at each other the parents do nthing to make them shut up or stay in line. Oh and they give their satan children awful smelly sandwiches as after school snacks to eat on the bus. WRON DO NOT EAT ON THE BUS YOU LARRY’S!
but all in all a very good bus line.

Its like the 30x but slower. It runs fairly frequently though, which is a plus.
Slightly less beautiful than the 30x, but a similar vibe during the morning rush hour.

The 41, how I hate you so
But off to work you help me go
You pick me up at 5 dark 30
And drop me off to get down and dirty
In finance that is…
The day comes and goes and there you are
Ready to take me off and afar
Over the hill to the Marina we ride
And say goodnight until the morning light

Considering I used to take the N and 30 at around 7.30−8am, I think the 41 is actually pretty darn amazing.
They’re so frequent when you need them the most (I think every 5 mins!) and missing the bus is not a problem (unlike the N which comes kinda sporadically). And from where I get on (somwhere in the middle), I always get a seat. Big thumbs up!
The busdrivers on this route are the best. They’re always in a rush so they’d rather let me get on the bus quickly than pay.

I’ve only ridden the 41-​Union a few times. Maybe six? It was useful for getting from North Beach to the Marina, but now that I’ve lived here longer, I realize that there’s not really a reason to go to the Marina.
It’s OK as far as bus lines go. It’s strangely dirty considering the neighborhoods it goes through. Actually, the reason it gets three stars instead of two is that most of my fellow riders did not seem like Marina people at all.

Ode to the boys on the 41, as reposted from my 8÷23÷07 MySpace blog:
You know, I’m all for the clean-​cut, freshly-​shaven, post-​collegiate, attractive boys who wanna be Gordon Gecko but could you PLEASE lay off the after-​shave? Yes, it is a bit much before 9 AM and yes, I’m probably only saying it because I’m sooo hungover that nothing is staying in stomach today, but the overpowering eau-​de-​douche commingled with your fierce Starbucks triple-​espresso shot breath is putting me over the edge… I think I just threw up in my mouth a little bit. No, really I did.
And while we’re on the topic, please stop clicking the scroll button on your crackberry. It’s more than slightly annoying and it’s too early Mr. Junior Assistant Vice President. I can assure you that you haven’t missed anything yet.
And, brody, could you please bring your voice down a few notches? No, I don’t want to hear your epic recount on how «killer» Vegas was for the bachelor party last weekend. We’ve all been there. Besides, Rehab @ the Hard Rock is soooo 2005.
Sequel, to the girls:
Dear Sorostitutes of the 41,
I understand your need to wear the most uninspired Marina-​lolli uniform as every other girl on the bus (and in Cow Hollow for that matter): the Rachel Pally tunic, the matte jersey leggings, the Tory Burch flats, the oversized Marc by Marc Jacobs handbag, your ProductRed iPod Nano, and big black Chanel sunglasses– really, I do. And I can understand why you think dabbing yourself with a little eau de toilette of your signature scent in your pulse points – the crook of your elbow and back of knees, wrist, neck and cleavage – completes the getting ready process. I know preening is important to us all, especially before the runway show every morning. But must you douse yourself in it? If perchance you should run into your Friday night Mr. Cal-​Beta-​bro-​from-​City-​Tavern or Saturday night Mr. older-Pac.-Heights-divorce-from-Balboa on the bus whilst engrossed in Eat, Pray, Love, I’m sure he won’t remember you by your scent because how can he tell any of you apart? It’s not really a signature scent when you’re ALL wearing Lovely by SJP! Don’t your corporate retail jobs have fragrance-​free office policies?!?
Sincerely,
A concerned fellow rider
In short, I ride it because it’s a necessary evil, or because I drank the Kool– Aid. It picks me up around the corner from my house and drops me off a block from work. To echo what other Unilocalers have said, (in addition to my own personal gripes above) the pitfalls of riding this bus are its unpredictability and irregularity, its crowdedness and the general rudeness of its snug and entitled patrons who don’t give up their seats for the elderly who ride. I once saw a geeky 20-​something guy on his laptop and playing his stupid techno music full blast on his oversized, ridiculous head-​phones flat out say «no» when and much older woman tapped him on the shoulder asking him for his seat. I wanted to ring the pale, pimply guy’s neck! ACK!

Every morning I stumble down Laguna in a barely sober high-​heeled steep-​hill gaunt, praying to Buddha that I will not see the 41 pass me by. I look up, arm stretched, hot beverage sturdy mug in hand, sunglasses falling off and my Michael Kors purse unzipped… and then it passes me by. Like there is a little Muni god that sits there and waits for me to approach Bus Stop (ha), to only pass by when I am thisclose to the corner. Not to mention the sheer mockery that Bus Stop (the skanky establishment I had crawled past the night before) actually appears like a phantom Muni in the reflection of Wells across the street, so much that I run down the street, believing I am catching a bus only to find myself out of breath and pink around suits looking bored and constipated. Dear Muni god, I need some retribution. Maybe a free Muni monthly pass…

Move to the BACK of the frigging bus! Who do you think you are, Rosa Parks? First off, if you’re on this bus, you’re white. Second off, get back!
Do you think that the bus intones «DING DING: please exit through the rear doors» for its health?! No! Move back! You don’t need three feet around you to listen to your iPod and periodically check your BlackBerry!
Two stars strictly because it’s the best eye candy on Muni.

This bus has made me broke. Not only do I pay for a monthly pass to ride it everyday but I also spend too much money on clothing to wear on it. When I need a reality check I transfer to the 15. Quicker ride to the BART anyways.

I hate this bus. It does, however, pick me up on my corner and drop me off half a block from work. I hate this bus for many reasons, but most recently because it made me self-​conscious about accidentally pairing a black purse with brown shoes/​pants one oh-my-god-if-I-don’t-run-I’ll-miss-the-last-stupid-41-at-9am morning.
I miss the 1, frankly. It’s a funny, mixed crowd that knows how to MOVE BACK.
Edit: Down to one star ’cause most of the buses on this route are not wheelchair accessible.

More iPods per square centimetre than anywhere in the city. There are also a lot of good looking people on this bus. This is a bus where you may run into that girl you had a one night stand with after downing martinis at Tonic. I’d also love to hear some success stories, because I am certain that it is possible to at least get a phone number. Seriously. It’s the safest, most fashionable bus in all of SF. I just wish it would run more frequently. I also wish that those who are not destined for a downtown/​FD stop please do us all a favour and ride the bloody 45. Only complaint is that no one knows how to MOVE BACK.

Commute time only — from Cow Hollow to the Financial District — taking the Banana Republic swathed masses to their places of employment. Also the site of my favorite MUNI moment ever — a driver (excuse me, «transit operator») was kind enough when ascending Union Street to not only ask the passengers to «hold on, please, we’re going uphill» but to also help an elderly woman and her groceries board the bus and disembark 3 stops later.