Summer in the City by the Bay

Summer is in full swing, and there is no lack of things to do in San Francisco. In this episode, we get out for some summer fun and describe how you can get to your favorite events and activities on Muni. If you drive, walk or bike, we’ve got you covered with event traffic management courtesy of our parking control officers. And our accessibility team makes sure everyone can get around and enjoy the season.

This episode features Transit Special Operations Manager Leslie Bienenfeld, Parking Control Officers Terry Wong and Andy Zhu, Principal Access and Mobility Planner Maddy Ruvolo, Cable Car Operator Singh Balraj Rai and some San Francisco residents and visitors enjoying everything the city has to offer. 

Transcript

MELISSA CULROSS, HOST: It’s summer in San Francisco. There’s no shortage of things to do and see, and we are making it easier for you to get everywhere.

LESLIE BIENENFELD, SFMTA TRANSIT SPECIAL OPERATIONS MANGER: Muni is a great way to travel to special events around the city.

MELISSA: Welcome to Taken with Transportation, the San Franciso Municipal Transportation Agency’s official podcast. I’m your host Melissa Culross, and in this episode, we’re getting out and enjoying summer … from the night markets and street fairs to the concerts, ball games and everything else our little city by the Bay has to offer. We begin … in the Van Ness Muni Metro station talking to Giants fans headed to Oracle Park. For Amy, Muni is the way to go when she wants to cheer on the boys of summer.

GIANTS FAN AMY: I live in Noe Valley right by the J. And then I get down and transfer to a bus going right down to the park. So, that’s either the N or sometimes the S. Because of my proximity to these Muni routes, um, no, I’ve never driven to a game (laughter). Never (more laughter). 

MELISSA: Caroline, meanwhile, has been a baseball fan her whole life and goes to games all the time.

GIANTS FAN CAROLINE: It’s just super fun to go down there and hang out. And I just love it. I’ve always loved it.

MELISSA: So, we’re getting on here at Van Ness station to head over to Oracle Park for the game. Why, or what made you choose to take Muni as opposed to some other way of getting there?

CAROLINE: Well, first of all, it avoids traffic, and my house is right off the train. So, I just take the train, and it only takes, like, 30 minutes, compared to an hour and a half, plus looking for parking. So, it’s best of both worlds.

MELISSA: And we’re actually … we’re on the train with a whole bunch of other Giants fans, which is kind of fun. Do you ever, sort of, feel any camaraderie as you’re on your way.

CAROLINE: Yes. A lot of the times, I bump into people I know, and it’s just super fun getting to meet up with people you haven’t seen in a long time. There’s always people I’m gonna see there. I love it.

MELISSA: Caroline’s mother Lisa is headed to the park with her daughter and has a bit of a confession for us.

GIANTS FAN LISA: Well, actually, this is my first time taking Muni in quite a while. But I’m, like, “Why don’t I do it more often?” I love the vibe, all the people going to the game. It’s so much fun. 

MELISSA: Just a few miles away from Oracle Park is Valencia Street in the Mission. We have stopped by the Valencia LIVE! night market, and the street has, indeed, come alive. This party also is easy to get to, including on Muni. But you don’t have to take our word for it. Just ask around.

VALENCIA LIVE ATTENDEES: We are actually right next to the 22 line and the 33 and the 55 line, which is right there on 16th … Yeah, I rode my bike from home. I live, uh, in the Mission, actually, on the other side of the Mission. But, uh, right now, we’re on the Valencia side … I took the 22, then I drop at, uh, 16th and Valencia … Love using the Muni ‘cause it, just, hop on, don’t worry about it. Play games on your phone or, you know, answer texts, catch up on whatever.

MELISSA: There really are so many ways to get to summer fun in San Francisco. You can walk. You can bike or roll. You can drive. Or you can take Muni. Now, Muni is a particularly good way to go, as SFMTA Transit Special Operations Manager Leslie Bienenfeld explains.

LESLIE BIENENFELD: It’s often the fastest and least expensive way because you don’t need to, either, pay for a rideshare or deal with parking your car in a neighborhood that’s attracting extra people, and it might be a little more time consuming to park. 

MELISSA: We’ve met Bienenfeld at an F Market stop along the Embarcadero. 

STREETCAR ANNOUNCEMENT: Please hold on.

MELISSA: We’re talking to her about how we adjust Muni service to accommodate events during the summer … and all year, for that matter.

LESLIE: So, Muni supports two main kinds of special event changes. One is when there’s a large crowd coming to an existing venue. And we need to both get people there and get people home. And it is part of a whole transportation plan that also includes other modes of transportation to get tens of thousands of people to and from a place all at once. And then the other types of special event support that we do is for street closures. And this would be to support a night market, a block party or an art walk, or maybe even a parade or a protest downtown.

MELISSA: Events that attract large crowds would, of course, include baseball and basketball games, as well as concerts and music festivals in the park, such as Outside Lands and the Dead and Company Grateful Dead anniversary show coming up or Hardly Strictly Bluegrass later this year. We often add extra service for those kinds of events. And for events that close streets, we might have to reroute Muni service, like we did for the Fillmore Jazz Festival a few weeks ago.

LESLIE: The Fillmore Jazz Festival is a great event. It closes eight to ten blocks, um, of Fillmore Street. So, it is disruptive to the 22. Muni’s role is to assess what is an appropriate re-route for the bus. What is appropriate locations for customers to board instead of their regular locations that are inaccessible due to the street closure. And then we will communicate to operators, dispatchers, as well as customers, what is the plan, where will we be operating.

MELISSA: And as it turns out, the 22 was running just a block over on Steiner Street.

BUS ANNOUNCEMENT: 22 Fillmore to Bay Street.

MELISSA: Okay, so not only do we adjust Muni service to help you get to events, but sometimes your Muni fare is included when you go. 

LESLIE: San Francisco places a really high priority on bundling tickets for large events with an all-day Muni pass. And this is a program that started when Chase stadium opened. And so, your Chase ticket, whether you’re going for a Valkyries game, a Warriors game, or a concert or another type of small event, your Chase ticket is also an all-day Muni pass. And you can ride wherever you want in the city just by having that ticket on you. And now, increasingly as events start to happen in larger sizes elsewhere around the city, we have conversations with event producers to talk about including the Muni pass with those tickets, as well.

MELISSA: This is all really good stuff, but we also know that sometimes you might just be trying to get home or to the grocery store on a game day or when a big concert is happening. Bienenfeld says you don’t need to worry. We don’t take anything away from your regular ride when we offer extra event service.

LESLIE: Muni’s done an incredible job of leading the country in terms of having a healthy operator pool where we’re looking ahead for hiring and training. Um, and making sure that we have enough extra operators and operators who have capacity to drive overtime to support these events. And we also have a really healthy vehicle fleet right now, which is credit given to our vehicle maintenance department. ‘Cuz I think in, in years past or in other cities, sometimes they really struggle with not having enough operators or with having vehicles that are… that break down a lot or are in poor condition. And when those things happen, you can’t as effectively support a special event.

MELISSA: Finally, we ask Bienenfeld if she has any travel advice. And indeed, she does.

LESLIE: We live in an incredibly, um, beautiful and vibrant city. So, when you are taking Muni to a special event, give yourself the gift of a little extra time to be in our city. So, whether you’re going to a neighborhood night market or street fair, or if you’re going to an existing venue, um, show up early. Take a walk in the neighborhood. Experience the microclimate. Visit the local businesses. Have an extra meal. These events are fun, in and of themselves, and they’re also a reason to just get out, enjoy the beautiful place where we live and work.

MELISSA: How you choose to get to an event is really only part of the story. Getting there safely is another, really important part. And that’s where our parking control officers come in. They direct traffic … vehicle traffic and foot traffic …for events during the summer and throughout the year. Terry Wong is a parking control officer or PCO.

TERRY WONG, PARKING CONTROL OFFICER: Big events like, um, during Giants games, Chase games, parades, marathons, whatever is going on in the city, we’re out there in the streets, making sure pedestrians cross the road safely. Cars don’t hit anybody. And prevent traffic.

MELISSA: To say that there are more people around during an event is … well, quite the understatement.

TERRY: Normally, on a regular day, non-commuter hours, it’s pretty slow. Not that many people. During big events like Giants, you know, you’re about triple the cars ‘cause people are going to the games. Sometimes also during commute hours, you got those people coming, you know, driving just to get home. Just to cross a bridge. Pedestrian walking-wise, Giants normally, you’re in either 30,000 or 40,000 more people walking in the streets.

MELISSA: PCO Andy Zhu says without the work he and his colleagues do during events; the streets would be a mess.

ANDY ZHU, PARKING CONTOL OFFICER: Before we get there, we do see a lot of gridlock, you know. Cars in the middle of the intersection during red lights, preventing the, the other vehicles that have the green to go. You know, and everybody’s honking at each other. We, we try to, we try to just keep the peace. Keep the peace at the intersections and make sure nobody gets hurt.

MELISSA: Do you find that people respect what you’re doing there and that they heed your directions?

ANDY: 99% of them do, but, uh, there are a few that think that we’re, we’re in the way. But with that saying, you know, at the end of the day, when we come back and nobody’s hurt, no incidents happen, we’re happy. 

MELISSA: We ask Zhu the same question we asked Leslie Bienenfeld, our transit special operations manager: If he has any advice for people heading to an event this season. 

ANDY: Try your best to take public transportation. That’d be the best. It’d be the easiest to get in and out of any special event. But if you do need to drive, you know, find parking a little ways away and, and walk in. It’s a lot easier. It’s gonna save you time and the trouble and the headache.

MELISSA: And Wong chimes in with another tip.

TERRY: Please just listen to us. We do want to get you to your destination as quick as possible, but safely.

MELISSA: We also want to remember that there are people who need extra help getting to events. So, we have left our PCOs and now are chatting with Maddy Ruvolo. She’s a principal access and mobility planner in the agency’s Taxis, Access and Mobility Services division. 

MADDY RUVOLO, SFMTA PRINCIPAL ACCESS AND MOBILITY PLANNER: We work to make sure all of our transportations options in the city are accessible to people with disabilities and older adults. You know, most people with disabilities take Muni. And so, we do a lot of work to make sure that Muni is accessible. That people can get to where they’re going on transit. We also, of course, have a paratransit program. And as part of that program, we have paratransit taxi service. We also have taxis that members of the general public ride, including ramp taxis. So, these are wheelchair accessible taxis. We have accessible parking around the city. And, in fact, recently, we updated our map of where accessible parking spaces are located.

MELISSA: In addition to the concerts, ball games and night markets we’ve been talking about, one of the best things about summer is that the days are longer … giving us more time to get outside and enjoy the city’s parks, promenades and other open spaces. And the Adaptive Cycling Program helps everyone have an opportunity to do just that. Ruvolo explains that we work with the city’s Recreation and Parks Department and the Metropolitan Transportation Commission on the program, as well as a sports and activity non-profit.

MADDY: Bay Area Outreach and Recreation, more commonly just known as BORP or BORP Adaptive Sports, they have been doing adaptive recreation programs in the Bay Area for decades. And their staff are out there every Saturday from 10-2 in Golden Gate Park behind the bandshell. And they can help people figure out which bike, which adaptive cycle would work for them. They have hand cycles. They have recumbent bikes. They have trikes, tandem bikes, electric bikes. So, you know, if you don’t have use of your legs, you could use a hand cycle. If you need some additional balance support, maybe you wanna use a trike. If you want to cycle with a friend or family member, there are tandem options. And it’s really great to see how many different people are able to use the program and have a chance to get outside and have fun and enjoy Golden Gate Park.

MELISSA: And she adds that this is a really inclusive project.

MADDY: The Adaptive Cycling Program is designed for people with all different types of mobility needs and disabilities to have an option to ride a bike. I know sometimes when there are programs that are designed for people with disabilities and older adults, sometimes people feel like they’re not – quote, unquote – disabled enough. And so, we just wanna say, if you’re interested in checking out this program; if you think you might benefit from using a handcycle, using a recumbent bike; if you want that additional balance support; if you want, sort of, a new option for cycling, then this program is for you.

MELISSA: Finally, San Francisco wouldn’t be San Francisco without our historic cable cars. While they’re party of our everyday, year-round Muni service and not a summer event, per se, cable cars still are a big attraction at this time of year. That’s certainly what we hear from people waiting in line at Powell and Market Streets to ride them. Like Tess from Holland…

TESS, SF VISITOR: I’m really excited. I’ve never done this before, and the Uber said, like, it’s a really, like, special thing here. So, I got really excited, and I really wanted to do it. 

MELISSA: Faisal from Cairo…

FAISAL, SF VISITOR: It’s a very old vintage things. We have seen in old, you know, 60s and 70s movies. We saw on the Instagram and other postings. So, that’s what… we just wanted to see how this be like. 
 
 MELISSA: And Amy from West Virgina … who used to live in Northern California.

AMY, SF VISITOR: We already rode it down here and had a great time. So, we’re taking it back. It’s still so fun. Super fun.

MELISSA: So, what’s it like to be at the helm of this world famous attraction? We ask Singh Balraj Rai, who has worked as a cable car conductor and grip for more than a quarter century. He says the riders’ joy is contagious.

SINGH BALRAJ RAI, CABLE CAR OPERATOR: It’s summer vacation. They see the Golden Gate Bridge and Alcatraz. Sometimes they see the nice view, beautiful view. And they excited. And they’re taking the video, taking the pictures.

MELISSA: So, we’re talking about summer, but of course you operate even in the wintertime when we might have some rain. Are people still excited to ride even if it’s raining?

SINGH: Yes, they do. Wintertime, some have a conference, some, like, a Christmas holiday with children. They come in families. All the time busy here; they’re riding the cable car. They like it. Even cold weather, it’s, uh, Hyde Street always famous.

MELISSA: And look at that. We’ve got a car coming right now.

SINGH: Yeah, it’s a Hyde car. It’s busy. It’s very crowded.

CABLE CAR OPERATOR CALLING OUT TO SINGH: Hey!

SINGH: This is very nice. You know, we love it.

MELISSA: Just like we love summer in San Francisco. Thank you for joining us on Taken with Transportation. We’re a production of the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency, and you can find the latest episodes at SFMTA.com-slash-Podcast, as well as Apple, Spotify, our YouTube channel or wherever you listen. I’m Melissa Culross. Be well and travel well.