MUNI – 44 O’Shaughnessy

I find the 44 is fine to get me where I need to go. So why one star? Because it’s one, hot sweaty bus and it’s one very noisy bus.
The stupid morons who run MUNI have installed one of the newest model buses for this route. So this bus has a new, I guess, state-​of-​the-​art speaker system. That means every seat is ring-​side seat regarding all the many announcements MUNI foists on its riders. The 44 I was on today had its speaker system on HIGH — it was unbearable. Each time someone wanted off the bus the double bell sound was LOUD. Terribly annoying. Of course the recorded male voice told us (very loudly) us to «please exit from the rear door warning» — we are forced to hear this warning every time the double bell sounds. And the recorded female voice (equally loud) warns us to «please hold on» every single time the bus starts again.
Add to this riders are forced to hear every street stop spoken out loud and, of course, are a captive audience to the ridiculous series of warnings and public service announcements that run on a loop every four minutes (and in three different languages — English, Chinese, and Spanish). Every four minutes were are told to either pay our fare share while riding MUNI, leave the front seats for senior and cripples, or be safe while riding MUNI and always look up and never look at are smart phones (I guess we should also not read the paper or a book or see if we have a hangnail). Yes, we are actually told that the only way to be safe riding MUNI is to never look down. These announcements are, of course, also very loud and mind-​numbing in their uselessness and repetitiveness — something beyond water torture. As if this weren’t enough we are subjected to the noise of clipper cards, the horribly high-​pitched sound every time some uses their card to pay their fare. The clipper machines are often extraordinarily, unforgivably piercing.
As you can imagine, this all makes for a very «active» bus experience. I have felt forced to buy noise-​cancellation headphones which I wear when on MUNI — it blocks out most of all the noise I’ve written about (although today’s 44 bus, with its speaker system jumping down rider’s throats, even got though my headphones and bore into my brain).
The buses generally, and especially the new buses, are sweat boxes. The new buses have only small windows at top that open and they are not enough to give relief on hot days — and even on average days when the sun is shining the bus, loaded with people, resembles a greenhouse. Hot as hell. Is it possible that these «amazing» state-​of-​the-​art buses do not come equipped with air condition? I’m beginning to thing so as I have never, ever been on one that was air-​cooled. And there is also no air circulation system at all. And this is surprising, considering San Francisco is such a «nanny» city, going out of it’s way and looking out for every person to the point of annoyance. I’m surprised that this nanny city didn’t think that its MUNI riders would prefer having their eardrums blown out in air-​cooled comfort rather than sweating like a bunch of pigs.
Oh, one last thing: as I find each and every ride on MUNI such a horrible experience and since I’ve had to shell out big bucks to buy the headphones I mentioned earlier to combat the barrage of noise that accosts me with each ride, it is my unending pleasure to NOT pay my MUNI fare as frequently as possible. I am proud to be freeloader for a system that has gone out of its way to cause me so many headaches for so very long.

I sometimes ride this bus when I go to GGP and I must declare this route is awesome because it is very local unlike some routes which gets overcrowded and noisy. The passengers that ride this bus are normally locals from SF rather than tourists and laborers that pack the bus up. One star down because if you miss the bus it will not come for a long time.

I use this bus more than any other in the city, it has gotten me from point A to point B for many years. It’s also a good line because it goes from one end of the city all the way to the other and connects to quite a few bus lines and Bart on its route.
Just like any muni bus it has it’s trouble but its dependable for the most part.

The 44 certainly tops MUNI’s list of busiest routes. Next Bus predictions aren’t very reliable sources. Sometimes they are reliable and other times, just don’t bother looking at these estimated arrival times.
One of the features that make this route interesting is how it goes up and down O’SHAUGHNESSY BLVD. I like that this route takes me to Glen Park BART Station and Forest Hill MUNI Metro Station.
Here are some of the reasons for my rating:
— Frequency (–1)
— Crowding (–1)
Frequencies and crowding of this route has brought the rating for this route to 3 stars. Overall, this route is okay but it can still be better.
One of the best times to take the 44 is 5 am — 7 am, 9 am — 2 pm and 6 pm. Getting on the 44 during these times are the best since you’ll be able to get a seat upon getting on the bus. I do like that this route stops right in front of California Academy of Sciences and de Young Museum.

If it’s not the N I won’t miss the most now that I don’t commute to the Inner Sunset, it’s the 44.
Mostly unreliable with a Nextbus that changes sporadically the 44 was horrendous while the N was down. Wait times of a half hour or more and buses so crowded they didn’t stop so you’d wait another half hour for the next one.
It’s a great way to get from Glen park or the southbay to the Inner Sunset but generally is one of the most regularly crowded buses I’ve ever seen with the smallest amounts of seating a Muni bus can have.
Ugh. Will not miss. Good riddance.

I take this bus to Thurgood. So I get to the bus stop at 7 and it comes in 7:09 AM on weekdays at 6 and balboa. i hope on and there are seat so I hit the back as usual once in a while there would be some fuss but just listen to your music and your fine. I hate it when the bus as to stop every stop and REMEMBER this bu WILL NEVER Wait for you! If your late then your late.

This line is OK. I love that this bus goes all the way to the Academy of Science in Golden Gate Park. I don’t like it when I am on the 44 bus trying to get out of the Inner Sunset and it seems like the bus will never leave the Inner Sunset.

I take this one everyday pretty much. When it’s going, it’s great because it cuts through lots of terrain and doesn’t stop so much. The problem? It is infrequent. AGH.

I live exactly where this bus line ends and takes its brakes. In the morning, the early hours when you may be sleeping, the drivers can be insanely loud yelling conversations at each other or into cell phones.
It runs until late, around 2 am, and those drivers are often quiet as a pin even if the chugging motors or computerized bleeps and announcements aren’t.
If it’s some idea of a joke or getting back at the world because you have to be up early, or simple thoughtlessness — I beg you to stop.
That being said, there are some very kind drivers on this line. It moves slowly. Stops often. Frequently with older folks and tourists. The colder the night, the longer you may wait.

The drivers are usually nice on this line. Cuts through GG park where acad science is. I dont like the new electric buses though which you have to press awkwardly at the back door to try to get out [before the bus takes offffffff and misses your stop!!].

This and the 43 are the only Muni Lines in which i can say i enjoy taking. I always get off at Forest hill and take the 44 to either the richmond or inner sunset. Our of the various times I’ve taken it, I’ve never had to wait more than seven minutes for either bus. It takes you where you need to go and usually isn’t too crowded.
This line doesn’t make me want to take a sledgehammer and smash the bus and the driver.
Good show.

I usually take this bus to get from the Inner Richmond to a buddys place in the Sunset district if I dont feel like walking. I do take it for the trip all the way to the ‘almost-​dogpatch’ stop too. The Forest Hill Station stop is also nice.

now ive experienced quite a bit on the 44 over the years. everything from fights to robberies to it being 45 minutes late to them having 3 buses back to back back etc. but today was just too much.
the moment i walk the bus the fumes of something very similar to nail polish remover became very apparent. a bit too apparent. its as if the entire bus had been soaked in it (and no, im not the type of person that generally complains about smells). the ceiling and back advertisement panels looked like they had just been painted within the last 20 minutes. not to mention some sort of white dust all over every seat and the windows. so anyone wearing dark colors (yes me) had dust all over em. now granted the bus did look somewhat clean considering had no graffiti on the panels or ceiling, but when you get off the bus feeling dizzy and having every passenger pulling their shirt over their noses to avoid the fumes its just too much. now how they let this bus run the lines in that condition blows me away. this was an example of muni at their worst.
and of course i just so happened to catch the exact same bus hours later when returning to go back home.
2 stars simply for old times sake. but really between the sometimes 25 minute waits to the nearly always crowded to the brim (on both ends of the line), to this im really getting tired of the 44.

This bus take you from Silver
Richmond. Need I say more? There are also convenient stops like the Forest Hill Station and the 8x stop on San Bruno. Oh! And the Glen Park BART station! Soo convenient!
So clean! It comes wihin every 10 minutes durin hours of operation which is fabulous! :)

This bus kicks ass. I love it when it tries to run me over when I’m crossing the street near GP BART. Sometimes when I’m trying to get my car across Bosworth at Arlington onto 280, the 44 takes direct aim at me. I think it likes me. 44 is also my old baseball uniform # so that’s pretty cool too. Oh yeah, and Obama is the 44^th president, so this bus drives with extra urgency and the drivers wear slick suits and ties. The 44 stops for no man!

What’s worse than getting bumped from your direct flight from Honolulu to San Francisco, being forced to take an earlier layover through LAX, and THAT plane getting delayed by an hour?
Oh, just trying to catch BART back to the city as a track between Daly City and Balboa Park stations simultaneously decides to malfunction and cause another hour and fifteen minute delay.
Up at 6:00 AM +
7 hours of total flight time +
1 hour stuck in LAX +
1.25 hours stuck on a train =
LIFE KIND OF SUCKS.
Ok ok, before you tell me to shut my trap because I was in Hawaii while you were trying hard just to keep dry in the Bay all week, I do have a nice little tip for you :). If you live in the Inner Richmond or Laurel Heights and are coming from SFO, the 44 drops and picks you up right in front of Glen Park BART station, the earliest SF stop, and heads straight through Golden Gate Park to your home. And though the 44 may not come AS often as the 38 (I’ve actually found its frequency to be tolerable), after a day like mine it beats having to deal with the creepers who get on in cold downtown. The ride is also about the same amount of time, if not shorter, and there’s a nice little dry spot in front of a doctor’s office for me to stand under as I waited in the rain for the bus to come :).
And I guess I do have a tan at the tail-​end of winter. FINE. Life ain’t so bad.
The 44 helps.

This bus goes from one end of the city to the other. From the Bayview, to Golden Gate Park, to the estates of Forest Hill, and ending at 6^th Avenue.
This was really a FUN bus when MacAteer was still open. Always late, and packed to the gills. I used to take this bus from Silver and Mission all the way to Fulton Street to go to USF, and I’ve seen just about everything. Police storming a bus to arrest some punk, fights … you name it.
But it gets me to BART quicker than walking, if I check
!

If you don’t mind being a sitting duck on cold, creepy corners of the Bayview District for what seems like hours on end, counting the cars with bullet holes driving by and wondering if that red-​soaked tissue in the street is actually covered in blood, this line can’t be beat!

The person below me is right. The 44 does bring people together. Unfortunately, sometimes they are quite the unsavory bunch. I’m talkin’ ’bout the people who scream ‘vajayjay!!’ over and over (which IS hilarious under most circumstances, but not at seven a.m. when I need to get to work).
Going toward Forest Hill, you usually get more complacent folk. Toward Evans and 3^rd … not so much. I have the distinct pleasure of passing by three diffrerent schools. I usually try to take the later bus to avoid the students.
But I must say that the bus driver is tough, but fair. She’ll scream right back at you if you sass her, and even kick people off the bus. But she hits all her stops and I get to the T-​Line on time every day, so I can’t complain.

I love this bus.
It rolls along, starting off Clement street in the Richmond, where Asian-​food mart shoppers can hop on and cut through the park into the Sunset. (Any bus that travels toward the Sunset is rife for beautiful metaphor).
Sit tight though because after passing LAGUNA HONDA (the bus lady proclaims) you chug through Portola, down a circuitous hill that spits you out by Balboa park.
You’re not there yet, you still have to meander through the outer mission, speed by Portola and the Silver Terrace soccer fields before hitting 3^rd Street in the Bayview. But wait, there’s more! You finally get off in Hunter’s view, having successfully sat in the same seat for an hour plus.
I think I am the only person (who’s not a bus driver) who has taken this bus more than 8 stops. I am perhaps also the only person to have been hit on on this bus by a strange (yet strapping) young man amid the throng of Asian ladies with carts, white ladies with pearls, and Latin men with chains.
The 44 brings people together: Homos, Asians, Latinos, Whites, and all combinations thereof together. What more could you ask for?