Yesterday (July 25) was an action-packed day on the waterfront, and included an opportunity seized, and one missed. Here’s what went down.
E-and F-line service north of the Ferry Building was disrupted by a power problem at the Wharf and a couple of streetcar breakdowns (not sure if they were related). This occurred around the time EuroPCC 737 arrived at Don Chee Way to go into service. Inspectors sent several cars south on the E-line to get out of the way. This coincided with the crowds headed to the Giants-Cubs game, which 37,000 attended. The crew of at least one of those southbound cars, 737, took the opportunity to pick up intending ballpark passengers — a full load on that car, we’re told.
After the game, we spotted Birmingham PCC 1077 coming back from MME, marked “F-Market/”NOT IN SERVICE”. It was piloted by a regular operator (not a shopman). It dwelled at the ballpark E-line stop, but didn’t open its doors, even when an intending rider knocked. It would have been so great if that car had done what the 737 did pre-game and emptied the E-line platform, because it was a long time (surprise, surprise) before a regular E-line car came along. According to our live streetcar map, 1077 went back into service on the F and stayed out late into the evening, so the car itself was operational.
As our members and friends know, Market Street Railway supports Muni, serving as its nonprofit preservation partner. But we are also an independent advocacy group, which concentrates on pushing for the best possible service to riders. This blog and our other publications are heavily read by rail fans, not just locally, but worldwide. That’s great; their support has always been very important to us . But we also constantly think about the San Franciscans and visitors who don’t closely follow the individual streetcars or cable cars; they just want an efficient ride on these unique vehicles.
That’s why we mention this busy day on the waterfront. It shows that unexpected events (the power problem) can disrupt regular service, but it may also provide unexpected opportunities. The crew of 737 took the opportunity to go above and beyond in moving people during a peak period, even though off its regular route; the 1077 did not. We hope the next time something like this happens, putting passengers first will be top of mind for everyone involved with the vintage operation.
We also hope that every operator on E- and F-line pull-in trips will carry passengers all the way to Balboa Park on the J-line, instead of going out of service at 17th & Noe on their pull-in trips, which some still do. (The rules call for rail vehicles to be in-service on all trips between the car barn and their assigned route.) Passing up passengers does not make friends for the streetcars, or for Muni.
We’ll reiterate these observations to SFMTA management.
