This evening I was on my way home from an event at 4delite, and saw this corkboard on the street in front of my building, with an oddly relevant article from Sunset Magazine in 2004 extolling the virtues of the N, and recommending local places to enjoy on a Saturday.
What a difference a few years makes. The fares were lower, the service ran more often, and the N went to the ballpark on weekends. Weird to feel nostalgic for a time that really wasn’t that long ago.
And only a year before that, it was $1.00.
Sugar coated memory. I basically gave up on going out to the Sunset after a horrendous 45′ wait on the way back from dinner several years before 2004. And for “comic” relief some of this AMs stats.
Mission Street buses not out aggregate 14,X,L,49 both Fri AM and Thurs PM 10
LRVs fit for service(sic) Fri AM 106 (of 115 for the advertised)
Thurs PM 106 of 121.
Maybe Ford should be paid a mix of % runs on street, % LRV/buses in service, % on time, % net ridership. Of course if each were 100, his salary would be flat, but…
If you really want something to cry into your Old Harp Lager at the Blackthorn about, consider this: When I first started visiting MuniLand in the late 1960’s, Muni fare was 15 cents, cable cars included. On Sundays and holidays, one could buy an all-day pass (good until 5 AM the next morning) for $1.00. Even if the PCC’s were held together with duct tape and baling wire, it was a good deal.
And they often showed up.