MUNI – L Taraval

I’m starting to wonder if all of these lines are consistently late to arrive and to depart, so the listed times are never helpful. I would highly recommend installing NextBus on your Smartphone, however, since these are accurate times of when the Muni lines are arriving at their stops.
The «L» services everyone living out in the Outer Sunset and along Taraval, which is one of the main corridors running straight through that neighborhood and out to Ocean Beach.
The plus is that this and the N are the fastest way out to the areas, the cons is that they are consistently late, packed with people, and during late night, have less trains out there. Beware of the short seniors that bum rush you at the entrance. Apparently they know that in order to get a seat, you have to fight for the seat.

Caught the L from the West Portal station going towards the zoo.
This train gets FREAKIN packed. I thought folks would unload at the West Portal Station but I was wrong
The ride towards the zoo was alright. Not a seat to sit in but I managed. In being tall I was able to grab hold of one of railing.
The issue that I have about this train is that the train times are a bit off in regards to arrival and departure times. That should be addressed.
Aside from the above mentioned issue the train fine. I had no issues with riders or ride itself. This was the first train that I have been on that does not smell like pee and feces which was a nice change. For some reason this train seems to get cleaned more frequently that others!
In going both to and from the zoo on the L train I was impressed. The drivers seem to stop at the indicated stop signs and don’t forget to open ALL the DOORS and the designated stops for the train.
#goodjobL

Unbelievable. The they are always late!!! This is horrible and completely unreliable. Should fire all those lazy drivers and hire new happy ones!
Now, the trains are super cool to ride. I just wish I stop getting late at my job due to late drivers, who keep waiting for other drivers to arrive and chat before leaving.

If I could give zero star, I would. I take it on a daily basis to commute to work. L’s inconsistency had never really bothered me at all, until what’s happened an hour ago. I was waiting for the inbound train from Taraval & Sunset blvd for almost 20 minutes (which is understanable, given that it was after 8pm) then finally it arrived around 8:31, and there were others waiting to hop on too. And low and behold, after the others got into the train, the driver (african american, looks like in his mid 30’s /​early 40s) told me to step back, not once but twice, so I did (I thought there were people/​disabled person coming out) but then he just closed the door and took off. What the f#ck?! I even flashed my clipper card earlier, what’s your problem?

It was raining early this morning. I know that because at 5:55AM I was standing in the rain at 46^th & Ulloa waiting for an L train that was scheduled to leave the first stop, 2 blocks away, at 6:02AM. It never came. So I stood there in the rain and the next scheduled train at 6:22AM did not come either. Finally the train scheduled for 6:42 arrived nearly 10 minutes late and I was downtown at Powell Street at 7:25AM when I had to be to work before 7AM. To make it worse, two buses which were not in service passed; the bus #29 parked at the Wawona stop for 5 minutes circa 6:20AM. They could easily have taken patrons to West Portal to catch a K or an M train.
I am a security guard so I need to be there to relieve the person who has been there all night and has to get his car out of the parking garage before 7 AM to avoid additional fees. So, because of the irresponsibility of MUNI it cost him extra money and it cost me half-​an-​hours pay, which comes out of my food budget. This is not an isolated case, either.
When is MUNI going to stop this failed experiment in affirmative action for the brain damaged, the nihilist and the rebounding thug and be a professional and reliable service?

–4 Stars for having seat reduced to make it unsafe to ride (Even when muni claims that reducing seats cause safety
1 Star for a direct line to west portal

I would like to write an update with my mom’s experience last week. My mom is a 60+ lady, working CT, riding L to work M-​F. She took the wrong J car after work going outbound last week because when she heard the announcement from Powell station, they announced the car was L Taraval. However, they turned the sign to J church without being announced. My mom was the type of passenger might space out or took a little nap on the bus. She realized that she took the wrong car until the car turned to church going outside the tunnel. Although, my mom wasn’t suppose to take nap on the bus, I can never understand why can’t they announce on the speaker?

From downtown, this train takes forever. From the Sunset, this train is moderately slow in the mornings too.

A moving vehicle is always better than on foot. Sure the train sometimes run late and even stops it’s service from time to time but that’s to be expected. It keeps thousands of people from having to drive into downtown or into SOMA all for a meezly $ 2. You can’t beat that.

This train is supposed to run with good frequency of service all day long, and at night every 30 minutes as an Owl Bus. And more than half the time, it does run and you get where you need to go. The problem is that when you are trying to meet a girl for your first date, or get to the airport, the train will go AWOL. See, I don’t mind late trains as long as the prediction system using GPS works, because in that case at least I know when the train is coming and I can work around that. But the
predictions for this train’s arrival cannot be trusted!
The other day, I was trying to get to SF via the express SamTrans bus. To reach this bus, I planned to take the L from Sunset Blvd and Taraval into Civic Center. Nextmuni predictions showed 5* and 6 minutes when I reached my stop. 20 minutes later I realized I would never make it in time for the SamTrans bus and crossed the street to catch the dreaded 29 bus to Balboa Park BART. I’m lucky I was at a place with an alternative bus route. Had I been out at 44^th Ave or something, I would have missed my flight.

This is the worst train, EVER. And yet, I take it because I have to. There have been times where I wait on the platform, and the trains show up, except they’re out of service. One Friday morning, not one, but TWO trains went by, both out of service, and I was late to work.
In the evenings, forget it. So packed, I had nowhere to sit or even stand once. The conductor slammed on the brakes and I went flying halfway across the train; consequently, there were medical emergencies due to the incompetence and all the trains were delayed by about 45 minutes. The poor guy in front of me was super late to a meeting.
Last Tuesday night, about 20 blocks from home, the driver inexplicably stopped and kicked us all off. It was drizzly and dark (around 9 pm), and I, carrying extremely heavy bag, started walking. Come to find out a service truck was stopped, just hanging out in front of the bus. When the truck moved, so did the bus — EMPTY. I had to call a lyft to get me home.
This train is a complete and utter disaster.

If you rely on muni to get things done. Better off staying home and not do anything since the train will never show up. My tax dollars hard at work.

Positives:
1) a little bit cheaper then parking downtown
Negatives:
1) I have caught 8 viruses on this train in the past 4 years. How about some windows that have a small opening for ventilation. We need alcohol wipes on these trains.
2) Gum on my shoes today.
3) Share the train with smelly homeless people once per week
4) prop 13ers who have to ride during rush hours so they can keep an eye on the youth.

We live almost at the end of the line, so being able to get all the way downtown in almost the same amount of time it would take to drive — and way less money than it would cost to park — is pretty awesome. Okay, yes, there’s sometimes a delay between reality and when it says it’s supposed to come. And the trains aren’t always exactly clean. But it’s public transit, what do you expect?
My biggest beef is when they have an out-​of-​service train sitting right behind the entire block of parked cars for no apparent reason, for at least half an hour. Not so much fun when you’re trying to get out and to work, but the operator is usually nice and tries to move out of the way if you go talk to him.

Why Muni? Why?
Oh the L. CAN SOMEONE PLEASE TELL ME WHY THESE TRAINS ARE ALWAYS SO COLD IN THE MORNING??? I mean it’s like 50 degrees outside and yet the AC is on. Like really? really? I purposely want to move from where I live to get away from this line. It would be nice if the train ran 24 hours but of course it doesn’t. It can get really crowded on the trains and the times are inconsistent but again, that’s more Muni’s fault. When I first moved to the Sunset, I never had a problem with the train but now I guess the honeymoon is over and it constantly lets me down. I also think that it’s more of the fact that I live in the Sunset that’s the problem too. There are very limited amount of public transportation that’s available in the Sunset and it seems a little unfair since the Sunset has the highest amount of residents by far than any other district in The City but oh well.
Use at your own discretion!

I’ve been living in the Sunset for quite some years now and it seems that every year the L gets worse and worse.
I live almost at the end of the line and work downtown, which was not an issue a few years back, but these days the L during rush hour either drops you off on 23^rd or on Sunset. This actually sometimes also happens at 9pm at night and at times there are not rains behind it for about oh 15 minutes or so. So you have to stand in the freezing cold waiting for another.
HORRID!

After living down near Irving Street for over a year, I dealt with my fair share of problems with the N line. I thought that it was as bad as it could get and that it simply could not get much worse. Boy was i wrong! The L line is consistently the most frustrating line I’ve dealt with it.
For starters, it never shows up on its scheduled time and basically just shows up whenever it feels like it. To make matters worse, when it does finally show up, it will usually show up with 3 separate cars all right behind each other so if you miss that wave, you will most likely be waiting anywhere from 40 minutes to an hour for the next L train.
On the off chance you finally get on a L line, sandwiched in between all the other L line goers, you’ll often find yourself only halfway through your trip when the conductor will announce that they’ve received orders to turn the train around. The stop that I most often find myself left at is the West Portal Station, where I see just about every other line go by except for the L line. And then when a L line finally shows up again (usually super crowded too), the train will often go just to 22^nd Ave only to receive orders yet again to turn around. At that point, I usually choose to get off and just walk the rest of the way out of pure frustration.
Looking at other cities public transit (specifically the East Coast), I often wonder why MUNI can’t have the same experience as that. It seems to run so much more efficiently out there and in general seems to be much more reliable. But alas, MUNI is not like that and being an SF resident, it’s just something you have to deal with. For now, all we can do is just keep telling ourselves that someday, MUNI will be better… someday…

Dear L Taraval,
After our two year long (tumultuous) relationship, I think its time we stop seeing each other. I would love to say that I will remember the good times, but to be totally frank, they have been quite rare. Despite the hard times in our relationship, you at least satisfied my basic transportation needs. However, lately, even my most basic transportation needs are no longer being satisfied. I can’t rely on you to get to work and I can’t rely on you to get home. I certainly cant rely on you to keep me warm and sheltered on a cool night, as you kick me off the train on 21^st and Taraval to wait 15 minutes for the next train that is «right behind» you.
Did I mention that you are a tease? You really are! As I stand and wait at the Montgomery Station, and you promise to arrive in 5 minutes. But 5 minutes passes, and you again promise to be there in 5 minutes. Over and over you fill my heart with hope, then crush it with your callousness. Is it possible that you are just a narcissist?
However, this week is the final straw. With great anticipation, I departed work early to see my son perform some songs at his pre-​school. I allowed plenty of time to get there, and added a little extra time for good measure. You tell me you will arrive in 7 minutes, and I get there in 3. Yet, you never arrive. 25 minutes passes… and you leave me standing. I end up fleeing your chambers to seek comfort with a taxi. The taxi driver is sympathetic to my situation, but questions my dedication to a train that so frequently toys with my emotions. I missed my son’s performance, then had to look into his sad eyes knowing that he spent the entire performance looking for his father. L, you have now caused a scar on my soul that will not soon heal.
I will now drive myself to work. I will pollute the environment, contribute to traffic, impact our beloved city’s infrastructure, and help fill the coffers of Bin Laden’s buddies. Yes, it will cost me more, and I will have to deal with horrible drivers every day. However, now I will reliably be able to get to work and return home. But mostly, I never have to look into tearful eyes because you have let me down.

This train is always full of people. During rush hours the trains are almost on time, but later in the afternoon or evenings trains are never there. When it finally does, there is another train following it a block behind.
At night is when this train is the worst. There could be 3 – 4 N, J or K, but not an L train for about an hour.

The Inbound Review:
You’ve heard no man is an island, yet that’s exactly what happens when you drive to work by yourself.
The pent up frustrations of traffic and deadlines and whatever else is going on in your life should not and cannot be contained in the confines of your car.
Besides, it’s not the right way to start the day.
What is needed is a more communal sharing of the experience.
A crowded train can shatter this isolation and forcible make you part of the human race once again — well, at least for the ride to work.
I find the train ride into the City strangely comforting.
Could it be misery loves company? Or do we all dislike Monday mornings?
Maybe we share a secret, if not unconscious, joy knowing others are similarly bound to be some place they rather not be?
The blank looks on people’s face speaks volumes. Then there are those hidden behind a book, newspaper or a magazines and those who try to drown out reality via headphones. Yet the fact still remains we are on this ride together.
Rejoice my fellow commuters for we are as one at this moment!
I revel in this short time before my stop inevitable arrives although I hide behind my stoic visage.
Overall, a little transcendental trip before work for $ 1.50 is a good deal any way you see it.