How to Muni

If you're new to San Francisco Muni, using it can feel overwhelming at first. Well, don't worry. Whether you've just moved to the city, are planning to visit and don't want to rent a car or have lived here for some time but haven't taken advantage of all Muni has to offer, we at Taken with Transportation have your back.

In this episode, we offer a practical how-to guide for getting around on Muni. Host Melissa Culross speaks with SFMTA Senior Manager of Revenue Collection and Sales Diana Hammons, operators Lynnette Richie and Arnold Gray, station agent Rigo Ortega and Deputy Chief Security Officer Teresa Scism to go over all the ins and outs of the system from how to pay your fare to how to be a courteous passenger. A couple of regular riders even share their experience on Muni and offer a bit of advice.

Transcript

MELISSA CULROSS, HOST: If you don’t ride Muni much or have never used the system at all, it might seem a little intimidating. However, it actually is pretty easy, and once you learn, it becomes second nature...leaving you with just one thing to do.

LYNNETTE RICHIE: Sit back and enjoy the ride! (laughter)

MELISSA: Welcome to Taken with Transportation, the SFMTA’s official podcast. I’m your host, Melissa Culross, and in this episode, we’ll learn how to get around San Francisco on Muni, the city’s public transit system. No one is born knowing how to use Muni, of course. Some people learn by riding with their parents when they’re kids, while others, like Adam Shearer, figure it out as adults. He began taking Muni when he moved to San Francisco in 2007.

ADAM SHEARER: I lived in the Upper Haight. Um, I was 22. Didn’t have a car. Uh, I had a bike, and that was back when you bought the Fast Passes, the physical Fast Passes. So, every month I’d go to the corner store, buy a Fast Pass and then just take Muni downtown, take it to the Mission, if I wasn’t biking. 

MELISSA:  All these years later, Adam continues to be a regular N Judah and 33 Ashbury rider.

ADAM: I mean, I still, I bike sometimes, but also, you know, if you have the hills, you can’t, you can’t use your bike everywhere. And so, using Muni, I think is, for me, some of the most convenient way to get places, especially if I have a book I wanna read. I don’t wanna, you know, hassle with a car. I know it’s gonna, you know, it’s gonna come at this time I can see on the, on the screen, and then it takes me to where I need to go, and it’s a relaxing way to get there. One of the great things about Muni is that there’s lines everywhere for people to use, which I think is great. 

MELISSA: We’ve met Adam at Dolores Park, which is where we also find Charvi Shah. She moved to the city for work two years ago and of course remembers learning how to navigate Muni.

CHARVI SHAH: It was a little confusing because BART and Muni are, like, in the same stops at some locations, and as a new person in the city, it was like, “Oh, okay These are actually two different transit systems.” I have gotten lost a couple times (laughs). But yeah, I think I only got, like, lost a couple times in the beginning. I would just kinda go in the opposite direction than I thought I was going in. But yeah, it was easy to kind of ramp up and catch on to how it works. 

MELISSA: And Charvi also still uses transit.

CHARVI: I like the stations. They seem well built out and pretty safe, as, like, a girl who rides Muni at night and stuff.

MELISSA: So now that we’ve heard from Adam and Charvi about their experiences, let’s talk specifically about how to use Muni to get where you’re going. Any trip starts with paying to ride, and SFMTA Senior Manager of Revenue Collection and Sales Diana Hammons is here to help us out with that.

DIANA HAMMONS: There’s three different ways to pay your fare on Muni. The largest program that we have is the Clipper program serving 27 different transit agencies in the Bay Area. It’s best suited for people who are regular riders of our transit system, and it’s also the only method where you can purchase our monthly passes. And the cards are available either at our ticket vending machines, at a number of third-party retail vendors, um, but you can also now register for a virtual card and use your phone to tap and pay. Muni Mobile is also a option for our customers. It is a Muni-only app. So, you can only use it, um, for our system, and it has been very popular with our visitors purchasing cable car tickets and multi-day passes because you can use them for groups and buy four or five cable car tickets and use it for your entire family. Simply download it, create an account, purchase whatever tickets you need. They get stored on your phone, and then when you’re ready to ride, you just load and activate the ticket. You just need to have it available, um, to show as proof of payment. And then also, of course, you can pay at the fare box. You can board at the front door, pay your fare, and you’ll receive a receipt that is valid for two hours of travel. So, it’s really important that you keep that receipt and have it on you. And also at the fare box we provide for a one-day Muni pass. So, if you want, for the cost of two trips you can buy an all-day ticket and ride for one day.

MELISSA: When you catch a Muni vehicle on the street, you pay as you board. That’s not the case in the metro or subway.

DIANA: So, if you’re paying your cash fare within a Muni Metro station, it is a little bit different. You can use one of our ticket vending machines. They’re located in all of the stations, and you simply insert your fare or your cash into the machine and choose which fare that you wanna purchase, and you will get a limited use ticket that then you can use to tap and enter the fair gates.

MELISSA: After that, you head to the boarding platform and are good to go. We should note that there are some people who don’t have to pay to ride Muni and others who may appear not to be paying because they aren’t tagging a Clipper card at a reader or putting cash into the fare box when they board. But that doesn’t mean they haven’t paid or are doing anything wrong.

DIANA: If you use Muni Mobile, you do not have to tag. Our free Muni for youth, anyone 18 and under, does not have to tag. We don’t issue a pass. We just, if you’re, if you’re at that age, get on board and ride for free. In addition, we have a few other passes. We have a pass for people experiencing homelessness where we provide free transit in addition to our Lifeline pass. So, they get a physical pass, and again, do not have to tag that when you board. Really, anyone who is not using Clipper for their method of fare payment, which is about 20-percent of our customers, there is not a requirement to tag or show their pass to a operator when they board. 

MELISSA: Okay, now you’ve paid your fare. What’s next? To answer that question, we turn to a couple of our Muni operators. Arnold Gray has been an operator for 13 years and currently works on the 38 Geary line. We’re chatting with him at the intersection of Geary Boulevard and Masonic Avenue, and he says it’s good to be ready to go when you board.

ARNOLD GRAY: In a perfect world, have whichever payment method you’re gonna have. Have that ready. There are people who do not do that. I assume they don’t wanna sit out in public fumbling with their purse or wallet. I understand that. When you get on, do whatever payment method you need to do, and go ahead and find a seat, if possible. If it’s crowded, grab a pole, make it seen that you are clearly ready to go so that the operator feels comfortable, uh, moving the vehicle.

MELISSA: And you always want to be a good passenger.

ARNOLD: If you’ve got debris, take it with you. Don’t leave it for everyone else. It isn’t a moving trash bin. We, we’d prefer it not to be that. Loud music. If you’ve got music, use headphones. Just having it on loud, it might be something that we like and people like, but maybe others don’t like it, and it actually distracts operators. It distracts me, personally, and I need to hear things that are going on. So, keeping the music down or off is preferable.

MELISSA: It’s also important not to distract the operators with unnecessary conversation but know that they are available to help you.

ARNOLD: Don’t be afraid to ask an operator where they go. If they go to the place you’re wanting to go. Avoid using addresses. We tend to not know addresses, but if you can get a cross street, the street you’re trying to be on and the nearest cross street, that’s very helpful. 

MELISSA: And speaking of being helpful, operator Lynnette Richie has been driving for Muni for 22 years and works on the 22 Fillmore and 30 Stockton lines these days. She’ll offer directions even if riders don’t ask right away.

LYNNETTE RICHIE: If I pull up to a stop, and I see someone, and they’re looking at their phones, I’ll ask them. I’ll say, “Hey, you know, where are you trying to go?” And they say, “Oh, we’re trying to go,” and then they’ll look up say, “Oh, we wanna go to this street here,” which may be the Palace of Fine Arts. And I’ll say, “Oh, my bus is the 30 Stockton. You can ride with me, and I will, um, point you in the direction of where to go. You’ll get off at this street, and you’ll walk down.” Or if the 28’s behind me, I’ll say, “If…” You know, some people, they want to go to the Palace of Fine Arts, as well as the Golden Gate Bridge. So, I say, “The 28 I your better option. It’s right behind me, directly behind me. You know, get off here and then transfer to the bus behind me, and it will take you to both places.”

MELISSA: It’s not just people waiting at stops. Richie regularly helps riders who already are on board without necessarily being asked.

LYNNETTE: I call out all the stops, transfer points. I’ll tell you, like, “It’s 16th and Bryant. If you’re going to 24-Hour Fitness…” I’ll name every place in there. So, so you’ll know where you’re going. Like, “They have a Ross in there? They have a Jamba Juice?” I’m like, “Yes.”

MELISSA: She does this because of how she feels about her work.

LYNNETTE: I get so much joy…I love driving the bus. I try to be so happy and just, like, helpful to people that, like older ladies that, with bags and help ‘em carry their bags or make sure they always have a seat in the front. Like, “Get up, get off that seat (laughs). It’s for the elderly people (laughs).” Or a disabled person. But yes, I love driving the bus, and I’ll try to be helpful, and a lot of people know me as Alecia. So, they’re like, “Good morning, Alecia!” 

MELISSA: Now, if you’re catching a light rail vehicle from a Muni metro station and have questions, station agents are there to help. Rigo Ortega has been a station agent for 11 years, and we’ve caught up with him at the Castro Street station.

RIGO ORTEGA: If you already have a Clipper card or fare, a ticket, existing ticket or Clipper card on your phone, one of the many ways of paying for Muni, then I would show you how to get in, which way you’re going. We’d find out whether you’re going downtown, so you go east, or inbound, as we used to call it. I still say “inbound” because I can’t get it out of my head. Or outbound, west.

MELISSA: Ortega’s biggest piece of advice for new riders…and all riders, really…is, again, to be courteous while on Muni.

RIGO: There’s a lot to be said for someone that just is polite to other people and, and so on and so forth, right? The Golden Rule applies. That’s what I’d like to see. In a perfect world, everyone’s riding, not bothering anyone. The bad behavior. Because we get a little bit of everything, unfortunately. But that’s, that’s my number one. As long as everyone can just leave each other alone and get to and from in a safe, in the safest way possible, we’re having a great day.

MELISSA: Let’s talk about safety. It’s a top priority at the SFMTA, and Deputy Chief Security Officer Teresa Scism tells us that Muni is indeed safe.

TERESA SCISM: With any city, things do happen, right? So, at Muni we do take measures to assist our passengers. On our coaches we have cameras that record video and audio. So that should provide some comfort for folks that are riding the system. Um, we train our operators on de-escalation techniques. If you report something that happens on our coach through our 3-1-1 system, we investigate every single report that comes in. For any unfortunate things that happen on our coaches that do involve the police, we work very closely with them, and we do prosecute.

MELISSA: Know that harassment of passengers or SFMTA employees on Muni is illegal and is not tolerated. All of that said, Scism does have some pointers to offer new riders.

TERESA: Know your route, know your line, know where you’re getting on, know where you’re getting off. Just being aware of what your transit will be for that day is step number one. Don’t wear two headphones. Only wear one so you can keep your other ear open to listen to what’s going on around you. Keep your eyes up and your phone down. It’s really important that you pay attention to your surroundings and just be mindful. 

MELISSA: You can learn more about Muni security at SFMTA.com-slash-Muni Safe. There you’ll find information about our safety equity initiative, expanded harassment reporting options in our feedback form and the passenger code of conduct. That includes some of the behavior we’ve talked about in this podcast and other riding etiquette such as…if you’re wearing a backpack…taking that backpack off while on board and holding it out of the way of other riders. We’ve gotten some great instruction and advice from our staff, and now back at Dolores Park, we ask Adam Shearer whether he, as a rider for more than 15 years, has any tips for people who are new to San Francisco or simply new to Muni.

ADAM: Carve out a little time to take your bus, you know, the train, whatever is the, the route you would take to normally get somewhere, and just carve out a little time, you know, when you’re not in a rush, to go do it. And then go explore a bit, get used to how the route works, you know, where the stops are. And that way, it’s sort of like, just a nice, you know, usually relaxing way to spend a chunk of time, and then when you need to use it, you’ll kind of be used to it more, and it won’t seem like this thing where you need to take your car because you’re like, “Oh, I did this the other day, and, like, I explored over here, and I took it back.” And once you do that, I think you’ll be really comfortable with the process.

MELISSA: 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 or wherever you listen. In addition to this podcast episode, you can find a quick start guide to riding Muni at SFMTA.com-slash-how to ride. I’m Melissa Culross. Be well and travel well.