Pulling Out

There are certain key points around the system where operators begin and end their shift not at the bus barn. Eleventh and Mission is a relief point. It is a place where drivers take over the seat and relieve another operator per the run schedule. And at this corner, it is also where defective coaches can pull-in along Eleventh Street to Bryant and park the coach. Its also where buses from five lines pull-in from revenue service to the bus barn.

Because 11th and Mission is a pull-in / pull-out location and relief point, it is somewhat of a congregation point for bus drivers waiting to make relief. Coaches get new operators in staggered time slots, where successive buses on line get relieved. This occurs mid- morning around 10 a.m. And later around 2 p.m. Knowing what peak periods are, when buses are entering and exiting the line, helps with understanding about why headway between buses increases and decreases. Most people don’t seem to understand headway changes every four hours. There are also runs between those getting relieved so that if a bus arrives without a relief operator, hopefully, the driver who passes through without relief will stay in service. And these relief times, controlled by scheduling, can become a factor in spacing and wait time between buses. It can also cause gaps and overcrowding if there is not an operator or a coach to make relief.

One key point about relief points and pull-out wires is the awareness of where they are. Early morning commuters, and those trying to get home after a long day, would do well to understand where these key points are for the transit system in their city. When the time interval is decreasing between buses as morning peak begins, it pays to know where to stand.

Sometimes a few blocks makes a big difference in how long you have to wait. If you are getting off of BART at 24th Street and going outbound to Geneva and Mission or to a stop on the way to Daly City, then it pays (in time, and time is money), to know that just one outbound stop away at Cesar Chavez, all the morning pull- outs to Daly City, make their first stop after they turn off of 26th Street. Someone passing up the 49 at the 24th Street BART Station, is missing the chance to get on any number of 14 Daly City coaches pulling out and making their first stop at 26th and Chavez.

There sometimes is a shadow period of very few buses in the morning as owl coaches pull in, and fresh buses pull out. If you are aware of where these morning buses are coming from and where they enter the line, you can save yourself a lot of time in getting home or getting to work, if you know where to stand. The number of people waiting can also tell you how long it’s been since the last bus passed. The average trolley wait can be determined by the number of people standing. Twelve people waiting means twelve minutes have passed. This is one of those cases where it pays to get on the “wrong” bus to transfer later on down the line. The important thing is to get past the pull-out wires on 26th, where plenty of empty buses are heading outbound to the Excelsior and Daly City.

If you want to go cross town on the 22 Fillmore and were waiting at Harrison inbound, you would find a nice empty 22 going your way. But if you were waiting at Potrero, you might end up being late, and become angry as you saw a 22 turning off route before your stop and going home to the bus barn. In this case, just three blocks determine the difference between getting on a fresh empty bus, or seeing a bus turn off right before your stop. And this can have a big impression on how one views service. There is much knowledge about riding Muni, once understood, reduces the wait time to get somewhere and adds to being in the Zen as a rider.