MUNI – 9 San Bruno

Just gross. Not for the weak hearted. Nasty and full of nasty people. It stops by the general hospital, so plenty of people who are not completely sane.
Too crowded almost all day.

I had a really pleasant ride after work last Wednesday. I caught the bus at Stockton and Market a little after 5:30p and took it to Bar Agricole on 11^th and Folsom. There were hardly any people on the bus and I got a seat right away! I’m used to taking the 5 Fulton after work and that can get super packed! I’m not sure if this was a fluke, but if I’ll take it!

This is by far the worst bus in the entire city of San Francisco.
The #9 and 9L serve the poor and the sick who travel to SFGH; however, this bus route is the most neglected route in the city. There are never enough buses and when they do come, people are packed in like sardines.
Today (8÷31÷2012), an African American male passager (wearing glasses and a suite, who was somewhat out of shape) kicked an elderly Chinese man off the bus. When the poor Chinese man tried to defend himself, the younger male lifted his leg in a manner that he would kick again b/​c he was in the position of power. The African American male was extremely rude and threatened a nearby woman who protested with foul language (stating that as long as she was unharmed, she should shut up and not interfere) and verbally threatened her in front of her two sons (he stated that he would beat her up if he were a woman). Two other women who seemed to be friends with the man also starting yelling at her and using extremely rude language.
These behaviors need to stop and one way is to increase the frequency and number of buses so that people are not so frustrated and so that the bus driver (who did nothing in this case) can have a better control over the bus.
The bus drivers of this line and all other lines need to be have more courage to kick people who are so rude and inconsiderate of other people’s pain off the bus.
This bus a public health hazard and I will be reporting it to the publich health authorities. Given the exteremly close proximty of people, there is a much higher chance for the spread of tuberculosis and other airborne illnesses.
This needs to stop immediately!

1 Star for the driver of the outbound route on Wed March 7 2012 at 6pm.
I did my research on TripPlanner and arrived early to Main & Mission to catch this. As it was the first stop, the bus was waiting, darkened and not yet ready for passengers. Then the driver entered, the lights went on, and I eagerly approached the bus. She proceeded to move it to the exact point of entry. I waited at the doors, Clipper card in hand.
Then she proceeded to ignore me and depart, leaving me humiliated and crestfallen.
I mean, I know your job sucks, but shouldn’t you at least try doing it?
Two days later the driver atoned for this: unlike his predecessor on Wed March 7, he actually stopped and picked up the passengers. Even better, as the driver of the Express line, he confirmed that he could stop close to where I needed to go. And in addition to being helpful, he was friendly, thereby placing him in the 1% percentile of MUNI drivers.
So 1 more star for him. And only him.

It’s quick and easy and always gets me to my doctor appointments on time… love, too that the stop is just down the street from my home.

Buses on this route are frequent and some of the drivers are very friendly. I do like how sometimes I am able to immediately get a seat upon getting on. Frequency on this route has improved over the years which is a good thing.

The 9 bus line has been the bus that connected me to, well basically the rest of the world when I was a little girl. There weren’t many buses that ran where I used to live but the 9 was one of them. However, that doesn’t mean that I liked taking it. Well I guess it wasn’t so bad when I was a little little kid since we mostly rode the bus during the day and my mom likes to stay to the front of the bus. But as I got older, I realized that the 9 was not fun. In addition to my hatred of buses as a pre-​teen, teenager, I especially hated the 9. Not only was it crowded most of the time, there were lots of bums… it didn’t smell too good. If that wasn’t enough, I remember the other kids on the bus didn’t look too nice either (lots of bullies).
I remember hearing a gun being fired right outside while I was on the bus. I also remember a drunk man trying to pick a fight with another man… with his little son around. No, the 9 San Bruno really isn’t very fun.
This bus has helped me get around quite a bit. But the inconsistencies in their schedule and the not so nice environments makes it an unpleasant ride most of the time.
Oh Muni, please improve!

This bus has several stops along the east side of SF and thats extremely convenient whether you want to go to downtown and back to Daly City or back again. Drivers are usually nice and pay good attention to the disabled and seniors. A clean bus, have not seen more than a recent issue of the SF Chronicle under the seats.

Unsafe. Unsanitary. Unkept. Un-​cool. Unorganized. Underwhelmed. Under-​dressed passengers. Underwear on the floor.

This bus is the one bus I felt connected me to «downtown.» from my far-​out neighborhood.
I’ve used it to get to school, and to get to appointments. and to get to work!
Once.there was a regular «slow» passenger who always rode in the front. and it was crowded one morning, and this teenager was sitting in the handicap/​senior seats right in front of this rider. (Now. he didn’t look like he _​needed_​to sit down, but these seats are supposed to be for «them» anyways. Get up, child!!)
So. bus is rolling along. and reg. rider yawns. and this looooooooong solid line of slobber slowly rolled from his lip down.
down. down. _​onto_​the binder that was on the kid’s lap _​and_​his shoe! HAH!

Wow. This route is tied for the lowest-​rated MUNI line in S.F. I agree.
All these reviews about smells and stabbing — correct. I got my palm sliced by another MUNI passenger — in my dreams. (There are real-​life stabbings, too.) Basically, this bus line is so bad, I had a nightmare centered around it. The passengers on the dream bus were just as non-​committant as the real thing. No one came to my rescue; I just had to wake up on my own. In real life, I had to shout from the middle of the car for someone to help the man/​woman open the back door, even as I got up and walked over to do it myself; I think there really is a protectionist attitude of minding your own business on this route.
Anyway, hold your breath if you need to and allow 45 minutes to travel from the south end of Potrero to Market Street, in case of missing buses, full buses that stop at every stop, and wheelchair users who need extra loading/​unloading time. (It does service a major hospital.)

Had the pleasure of riding the #9 bus yesterday while weed was being smoked OPENLY in the back of the bus… meanwhile babies and children were on board AND the bus driver said/​did nothing… Despicable!

I have been riding the number 9 muni for my entire life. Well, only until I was able to drive (best day ever). So let’s say 16 years I have been riding the 9 muni.
With 16 years of experience here some tips and guidelines for my fellow Unilocalers.
–the «9» is the GHETTO. With that said… do not bring/​wear expensive merchandise on the bus. Do NOT pull out your iPhone/​iPod. You WILL be mugged.
–Watch out for pick pocketers. Keep your bags/​purses/​wallets in sight at all times.
–DO NOT sit in the back. Stay within the front half of the bus.
–Fights break out all the time.
–Occasional XXX and R rated material.
–Provide no eye contact.
–Hand sanitizer is a must.
–Practice holding your breath at home. You will thank me later.
–Be prepared to meet the crackheads and mentals of SF as it passes through SF General.
–Watch your back as you get off the bus. Never know who is stalking you.
–Get off at a popular/​lit bus stop.
–Do not sleep
–Can cause road sickness.
–Carry mase (females)
With so much negatives here is a small list of postives to the 9.
–Stops at almost every intersection en route.
–Plenty of seats. Although, somedays I rather stand depending on who or what I am sitting next to.
–Cheap
–Volume
–Some of the characters that ride are entertaining. Well, to me.
–My house (Portero District) to Downtown in 30.
This line of the muni is not for the weak hearted. Be warned.

GHETTO!
Make sure you bring your Vicks vapor rub. This bus stinks (literally), especially on rainy days.
And it’s always late. Service on this line is so sporadic and is very prone to «Next vehicle in: 49 min, 50 min, 51 min.» Half an hour will go by without seeing a single #9 bus, and then you’ll see three in a row holding up traffic. What a joke.

9. You know what, you’re OK. You took me to summer school when I was a kid and now to work cuz I’m all grown up; I’m even using the same two stops. For some reason though, I don’t remember all the crackheads and pee that traveled with you when I was young.
I know I haven’t ridden you in a while. Not since I saw that lady take her pants off on you that one time after she was raving about how that crack makes her go crazy. I just finally realized (after 10+ years) that walking to BART was way faster and did not smell quite as offensive as you, dearest 9. I’ll return some day, when BART has stopped running and I have latex gloves and pepper spray.

There are a lot of bus routes I hate in San Francisco, but the 9-​San Bruno is definitely not one of them. When I need to get from the Financial District to Potrero Hill, I mean seriously — not even a taxi could get me there a whole lot faster. Where am I? First and Market — cool. Where am I now? 18^th and Potrero? Shit man — stop this bus! I gotta get off!
BACK DOOR! BACK DOOR!
Man, that was quick.

This is one of the most dangerous bus lines in the city.
I ride the 9 every once in a while to work and about a third of the time home from work. Most of the time, I don’t have a problem. My main issue with it, in fact, has nothing to do with safety and everything to do with frequency. I must say, though, that since they put some of the hybrid buses on this line, I haven’t had to wait for more than twenty minutes at night, which is a huge plus.
I’ve been directly threatened three times on this bus, and one of those times, I was threatened *after* the perp had already unzipped my backpack and looked for something to steal. I feared for my personal safety, and even after this guy and his friend had gotten off the bus, I waited a couple more stops before I got off.
This bus can be crowded during the day, especially inbound. Clients from the methadone clinic at SF General usually ride the 9 from 21^st Street to downtown, so you can hear a bunch of interesting stories. Most of the problems I’ve had have been in the morning inbound. When the bus is the most crowded, usually at night when it’s going outbound to Sunnydale, it can get very loud, but in general, I’ve never felt unsafe on here at night.
If you do ride this bus, avoid the very back, especially on the accordion buses. I’ve also seen a lot of in-​your-​face African-​American/​Asian racial tension on this bus. That excludes me from the mix, but it’s disturbing to witness nonetheless.

Now this is what public transportation is ALL about.
Normally I’d nail the 9 for being filled with the worst mix of transport riders. 75% of the ridership are headed to or from SF General with any number of problems (both medical and social) that they’re all too willing to share. Sure, the 9 is the ONLY bus that I’ve ever been verbally abused on (oddly by one of the least fucked up people I’ve ever seen on the 9). And maybe you’re just not in the mood to talk with a recovering heroin addict who’s scaffolding her recovery with the occasional meth binge…
But ya know what? The 9 gets ya there. It gets ya there in one piece and on time. It is crowded, but it NEVER drives by without picking you up.
And the stories are great, almost as great as the people telling them. I gotta take some of these people out for a beer sometime. I smell a potential Unilocal event here. We could call it Hipster Outreach 2008. Everyone find a MUNI rider and take em out for a beer!

Besides, as the previous reviewer mentioned, the SF General bypass, and the consequent disease-​ridden-​blanket-​covered sadsacks that are going to have to wait for 12 years to receive any medical attention whatsoever, I was, last week, physically threatened by a drunkfuck on this bus.
So, here’s the deal. I’m comin’ home from the office on a Saturday afternoon, cause I’m workin’ on a deadline man, and I’m readin’ my commie-​pinko political theory book, mindin’ my own beezwax, when some ASS gets on the bus, with like, these weird fake teeth in his mouth. They were all spread out worse than Red Dwarf’s Dwayne Dibbley (
), and they had FLASHING LIGHTS IN THEM, and I remember thinking I was glad I had my shades on, and a hat, cause then the dude couldn’t see me snake a glance at him anyways. I looked at him only twice. Once enough to see the lights in his «teeth,» and twice to quickly acsertain that I had, in fact, seen lights in his «teeth.»
So of course, the dude sits two seats in front of me and smells like 3-​day old Miller High Life sweat, which, if you are familiar with High Life, you know sweating it out has this sickly sweet smell, as if you are actually a junkie and only ever eat Ho-ho’s.
And of course, the dude turns towards and starts talking to me. With his fucked up teeth. With his FLASHING fucked up teeth. I try not to look at him but he keeps like, making weird faces at me and finally I say «Do you think that’s sexy?» and of course, he can’t hear so he tries to move to the seat in front of me and I’m like, «DO NOT come any closer» holding up my hand and so then he does and so now, I’m forced to freakin’ move. Otherwise I will hit him.
So anyways, me moving made him REALLY FRIKKIN’ MAD. He started yelling about my white ass, saying he would rip my heart out and stab me in the kidneys and that he didn’t mind going back to prison.
I know, from expensive personal experience, that talking smack like that is illegal. It’s called «threat crime with intent to terrorize» and it can be a felony. This, I’m thinking to myself, is why you need a cell phone. Barring that, some mace. This dude was having trouble standing up by himself and it would have been fun to spray the guy and then take him down.
Oh well. He stood right next to me screaming and spitting and then I finally told the bus driver, who apparently doesn’t like to pay attention to anything that’s going on on his bus, that he needed to kick this asshole off, because he’d physically threatened me. The bus driver slowed down, as if threatening to let the dude off the bus, but then LET THE DUDE STAY ON when dude said he was only on til the next stop.
OF COURSE the dude came back to freakin’ threaten me again (he was working himself up into a fine lather) and so I had to request ONCE AGAIN that drunk ass fuck with the stupid teeth and the illegal mouth get kicked off the bus. At which point, the driver seemed to rouse from his stupor and stop, and wait til the dude got off. But we had to hear him screaming the whole way off (cause of course he went to the front door) about how he was going to kill me and shit first.
Sheesh.

The beauty of this line, which runs right by San Francisco General, is that you get such a happy smattering of all sorts of health issues. Seriously, this bus is an AMA researcher’s wet dream. There are people with open, festering sores. There are people who are twitching. There are people who are wearing nothing but hospital gowns with their asses hanging out. There is drool and blood and urine. There are people who are just plain batshit crazy.
There are also toothless hillbillies and gangbangers. It makes for an interesting commute home. To wit: yesterday a fight broke out on the 9 between a mildly retarded transsexual and one angry-​ass black woman. Shit got ugly. The driver pulled the bus over and called the police. I stood up and yelled «Take this shit off the bus and out onto the street like civilized people and let us get on with our day!»
I *never* talk to people on MUNI. When I ride the bus, I have my headphones fastened securely over my ears and my magazine safely serving as a barrier between me and humanity. I like to call it «my freak-​free zone.» I was pretty excited that this bus line inspired me to get involved. Unfortunately, my gentle advice went unheeded, and there we all sat until the po-​po arrived and told us we all had to vacate the bus so they could pull the camera.
The good news is that you can always score some medical marijuana on this bus.