Wednesday, September 26, 2007

an open letter to MUNI...

i meant to write about this yesterday but got distracted by my cooking class (!!!) & a few glasses of wine...which meant i went to bed immediately upon arriving home last night.

anyway, so i am really impressed/excited about SF MUNI deciding to incorporate new electric hybrid buses into the lines that don't run solely on electricity - including the 27, which is what i take to and from work every day. the buses are nicer, cleaner (at least for now), and generally the ride is smoother which is great for me & my crossword puzzle-doing ways. NERD.

oh, and they're like, better for the environment and all that jazz. hippies unite! haha.

i do, however, have two complaints about these new buses:

1) the top part of the windows that actually opens up & allows air in is way too high to do any good. the interior of the bus is slightly different on these hybrid buses in that the front part is lower than the standard MUNI bus, and then there is a second tier that sits higher - so only the back of the bus gets good ventilation. this is lame. and slightly claustrophobic. (or as paris says "causterphobic". heh.)

2) the exit door system is whack. there are apparently sensors in the door that you just have to touch to get it to open, but they don't seem to work very well. (for the non-SF, non-MUNI riders out there, on the other buses you either step down on a sensor to get the door to open or push one of the metal poles affixed to the doors.) i have seen, more often than not, people push the door - as directed on a sticker in both english and espaƱol right on the door - and then nothing happens. and then they holler at the driver "back door!" and then the driver yells back "push the door!" and of course they're all "i did!" and disgruntled mumbling/swearing/chaos ensues. bah! this seems to be way too much trouble just to exit the bus. and trust me, this has also happened to me and i think i am a fairly intelligent person who knows how to operate things like a car and a computer and am also able to post things on the internets. i'm no dummy!

anyway, that is my review/rant about the new buses. i can't believe that the manufacturer of these motorized public transport vehicles did not notice that these would be issues. but who i am to judge, i listen to music all day and order tee shirts and troll the internets for a living. heh heh.

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