Many students at San Francisco State University rely on public transportation to get to and from campus. You might not have a car or maybe you don’t want to spend $30 on an Uber that’s only going to take you across a few neighborhoods in the city. Regardless of the reason, the San Francisco Municipal Transportation Agency is a great resource for San Francisco residents.
However, this resource has its fair share of positives and negatives. College students love to complain, so you may have heard rants about how they had to wait 30 minutes just for the 57-Parkmerced bus to show up or the M-Ocean View train line being down and under maintenance for a week.
That being said, buses and trains like these are the reason that students can get from campus all the way to Fisherman’s Wharf in approximately an hour. It’s also free for students during the academic year because of Gator Pass, which is attached to our student ID cards.
Whether you like it or not, Muni is extremely convenient and a lot of times reliable. I will be talking about the best Muni bus and train lines, as well as the worst. The factors that will be considered are reliability, convenience and how enjoyable a ride on each line is.
The worst Muni lines
5. K-Ingleside:
A knockoff of the infamous M-Ocean View train line. Maybe I live under a rock, but I haven’t met an SFSU student who takes the K-Ingleside train. It simply goes off on a side route just to end up at the same terminus where the M train finishes its route, Balboa Park Station. At the end of the day, you can always just take the 29-Sunset bus to view the beautiful scenery of San Francisco’s central and south neighborhoods. The K-Ingleside is just forgettable.
4. T-Third Street:
If you’re ever taking this train line to a Golden State Warriors game on a busy San Francisco night, good luck to you. Due to the heavy amount of traffic in the highly-populated Mission Bay neighborhood, you will be ripping your hair out with the suspense of wanting to get to the beautiful Chase Center. Just leave earlier next time and take the 15-Bayview/Hunters Point Express bus instead. I can assure you it’s worth it. If you’re taking the T-train during the middle of the day, there’s nothing truly wrong with it but due to the lack of scenery and forgettable route, the T-Third Street is just an uninteresting experience.
3. 8-Bayshore:
If you’re at Fisherman’s Wharf late at night and you need to get back to the campus at a somewhat decent hour, this is not the bus you want to take. Although it can bring you to a point in the Ingleside neighborhood that is very close to campus, you will be bored out of your mind riding through the most uninteresting areas of south San Francisco and riding a bus along the freeway. It also goes through some of the areas of San Francisco that people scapegoat when they talk bad about the city. Its reliability is the only good quality of this bus. Just take the 28-19th Avenue or literally anything else if you want a quick commute.
2. 22-Fillmore:
WHY ARE THERE ALWAYS 100+ PEOPLE ON THIS BUS LINE? Being pushed into a door while having adults yelling at you is not a fun experience. What more can be said about this bus? The route is nice and somewhat convenient but you can’t even see anything over the crowd of people. Nothing will distract you from the insufferable smell of so many people packed into one place. Avoid the 22 bus at all costs.
1. 57-Parkmerced:
This is the one and only bus line that goes through the SFSU campus. If you don’t need it, it’s there every 10-15 minutes. If you do need it, you’ll be waiting for more than half an hour. Have you ever checked Google Maps to see when the bus is arriving and it says it departed one minute ago? Me too. Every single day.
I don’t like to complain much, but that was a lot of fun. Talking about the best bus lines in this beautiful city will be even more fun, so we won’t waste any more time being negative.
The best Muni lines
5. M-Ocean View:
I almost didn’t put this here because of its unreliability. The M is often late and not the most frequent. However, it’s just so convenient and the route is perfectly constructed that leaving it off this list wouldn’t be right. The route of this train line goes right in front of SFSU, Stonestown Galleria and diagonally through the city all the way to Embarcadero. If you get your timing right, which many students unfortunately don’t, this train will be your best friend.
4. 28-19th Avenue:
With the same level of convenience as the M train, this bus line is much more reliable and runs through Golden Gate Park all the way toward the Golden Gate Bridge and it ends near Fisherman’s Wharf. This bus has everything you can ask for, including a scenic route and a level of reliability that many other bus lines lack.
3. 48-Quintara/24th Street:
This incredible bus line runs horizontally through central San Francisco and stops by many significant spots on its route. It runs from Ocean Beach all the way to the Dogpatch neighborhood, stopping by Mount Davidson, Twin Peaks, Glen Canyon Park and certain spots in the Mission District. The scenery of San Francisco’s beautiful residential neighborhoods on this bus ride are mind-blowing too.
2. 1-California:
If we’re talking about the best view, don’t forget about this bus line. This bus goes through the steep hills of Chinatown, Nob Hill and Pacific Heights before ending up in the Richmond District. The most reliable bus line in the city has also, arguably, the most beautiful route. It can also get you all the way across the north side of San Francisco.
1. 24-Divisadero:
A bus line dedicated to one of the best streets in terms of entertainment in San Francisco. The 24-Divisadero bus has all the ingredients needed for a fun commute, including reliability, convenience and some breathtaking scenery. It can take you through the fun neighborhood of the Castro and to Alamo Square, where you can visit the Painted Ladies and see the beautiful skyline of San Francisco. This one is easily the best.
“It’s in such a convenient location, I love seeing the diversity of neighborhoods that it goes through,” said San Francisco resident Bleu Di. “It’s very efficient for commuters, I also love how on time it always is.”
Despite all the criticism SFMTA gets from college students, a commute on Muni can be very fun, especially if you know which lines to use.
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