SF MUNI Pass Question
 

My husband and I will be in San Francisco this coming week, and I'm trying to figure out if we should each get a 3-day MUNI Passport or not.

It is $18 for the 3-day pass, which means $6/day. If we do not ride the cable cars, we'd need to ride the bus or subway at least 4x a day to make it even, right?

One thing I'm curious, is whether the pass covers any sort of "commuter ferry"? I looked around on MUNI website, and I think the answer is NO, but want to double-check with locals here.

And does "3 days" mean 3 calendar days, not 72 hours?

I'm pretty sure it's days not hours.

You activate the pass by scratching off the month and day (something like that), if you see what I mean.

The pass is probably good until time x of the following day (x could be 12 am midnight, but I'm not sure). The pass should say.

If no one here can answer your questions, there's a Muni service counter at the Powell St. station. It'll be very close to Westin and most likely you have to go there anyway.

We found the Muni Pass a great bargain. It does not cover ferries nor BART. It does cover bus, historic Market Trolley [F], light rail, trolley and cable cars.

The first time you use the pass, you scratch off the month. Next you scratch off the date and the next 2 dates, for a total of 3 scratched off dates. The pass is good until midnight of the third scratched date. So if you buy a pass tomorrow, you would scratch off MAY and then 18, 19 and 20. It would be good until midnight the 20th. It doesn't matter what time on May 18 you took your first ride. It could be 7 am or 7 pm; same results.

Having the pass allows you the freedom to take a bus [or other mode] whenever you are tired of walking, getting on and off and your leisure and yes, the ability to hop on and off the cable car at your desire.

The minute you go over the 4th ride on any given day, the pass has paid for itself.

We rode the cable cars 2x a day, it made it worthwhile.

Spring for the $18, and then you can use pub transit as you want and not have to say, well, only 4 rides a day.

Deb

<i>Spring for the $18, and then you can use pub transit as you want and not have to say, well, only 4 rides a day.</i>

This is what I do wherever I travel. I just don't want to have to think about it on a trip-by-trip basis, or to come up with exact change, etc.

We really will be using it for 2 days for the most part... on Day 3, we're picking up a rental car in the early afternoon.

It won't be cost-effective if we stick with buses and or metros only. So the only question is if we want to ride the Cable Cars or not.

Last time I was in town with my mom (Labor Day weekend 08), we only used buses and subways and street cars. It worked out just fine, and a great deal because my mom only paid $0.50 for senior fare.

I don't mind riding the Cable Car a few times on this trip, considering we're staying at Union Sq so we're close to the Powell/Sutter stop. HOWEVER, my question is, how crowded will it be, and will we even have a chance of getting on the cable cars?

I seem to recall the terminal always has a long line of people waiting... so if the cars will be always full when they get to the Powell/Sutter stop and we can't get on, it really defeats the purpose. (If we ride the CC, it'll be late afternoon/early evening, if that makes any difference.)

BTW, since the MUNI Pass doesn't cover any ferry service, are there any cheap commuter ferries you can recommend? My husband loves the water/ocean, so it doesn't matter where we're heading really. As long as we're floating in the water, he's happy.

Last time my mom and I went to Sausalito (from Ferry Bldg). I think it was $15 r/t for me, and half-price for mom. I'd prefer something cheaper if possible. Again, the destination is not important...

We liked the convenience of just hopping off and on the buses, etc. without having to have the correct change, worrying about getting transfers etc. Our first trip we came out even (only had a one day pass). Our second one we were there for a week and staying in North Beach right by both the bus and cable car stop and we got more than our money's worth. It was easy to just hop on a bus when we got tired of walking even if we didn't have far to go. Also did it with the cable car if it was going by and not full. We were able to use the cable car for transportation also this way (and with staying in Union Square you probably could also -- depending on where you are going). As far as being full -- there were times (mostly for us on the weekend) when we wouldn't even attempt to use it because of the lines. Since you are familiar with San Francisco it probably depends on what you are doing while you are there and how much you think you will be using public transportation.

Regarding Cable Cars, if we take it, it'll be on Thursday and Friday evenings.

1) Thursday night around 7:30'ish on the PM/PH routes from Powell/Sutter to Powell/California; then change for the California line to Drumm. Return trip after dinner, around 9:30pm?

2) Friday evening around 5:30pm on the PH route; from Powell/Sutter to Hyde/Union. Return trip around 9ish.

Regarding commuter ferry, I found info about the Alameda/Oakland ferry. R/t is $12.50. Does anyone have comments on this ferry route?

Are you getting the SF City Pass? It includes a ferry ride.

I didn't get it so I don't know.

Included in the City Pass is the new Cal Academy of Sciences, I think, and that's over $20. So if you're planning to go, you may break even fairly easily with the City Pass.

1. Yes, the lines at the Powell St. turnaround are always long and it's hard(er) to get on at Sutter and Powell. Probably why I haven't been on a cable car in years! (I used to <i>commute</i> on the cable car when I lived on California Street west of Van Ness Avenue!)

2. There's only one ferry service (not a bunch of competing companies) so the price is the price depending on where you want to go (I would go to Sausality particular if it's a nice day - fun to walk around then get back on the ferry and return to SF).

We may just do the Alameda ferry, since it's the cheapest. I read some reports here that it does give a good view of Bay Bridge, and of SF on the return leg. I enjoyed Sausalito, but I don't think we have enough time for it on this trip.

We may just go ahead and get the MUNI Pass. If the cable car is full, will it NOT stop at subsequent stops?

The City Pass is $59, vs $18 for the 3-day MUNI Pass. I don't think we'll be visiting enough places to get back the extra $41.

Well if you're not going to the Academy of Sciences, it will be hard to break even.

The admission is 24.95:

http://www.calacademy.org/visit/plan_a_visit/

But apparently the third Wed. of every month is free.

But it is a Renzo Piano building, so I think that you'd better go. :)

Oh re the cable car, you can tell the conductor you want to get off, I think. So it will have to stop.

It's always possible that it stops to let people off but not to let people get on.

Ferry is a system different from MUNI, it's Golden Gate transit, and no, not covered by MUNI pass. Also not covered is BART - if you are taking it to/from SFO or OAK.

With good legs, you don't need a pass. You pay $1.50 (I think it goes up in July) and get a transfer - this ticket is valid till time on the bottom, if you're lucky, you can ride for 6 hours! It depends on the driver where they cut it off.

I did not take all ferries, and the ones I know about are:
Sausalito
Alameda
Vallejo
Tiburon (with a stop at Angel Island, either to or from Tiburon - but double-check)

I only went to Sausalito and Angel Island, and would go to the Island again.

Dayenu - thanks for your additional information. We have good legs, and like I said, the only reason we would get a pass is IF we want to ride the Cable Cars. If we stick with regular MUNI buses etc, we will definitely spend much less than $18 per person for our stay.

Does anyone know if we can easily pick up one of these MUNI maps from any subway or BART station?
http://transit.511.org/static/provid...2200711012.pdf

I'm sure you can get one at the MUNI office in the Powell Street station (under San Francisco Centre, where Nordstrom/Bloomingdale's are)

The MUNI map in your link is sold in the kiosk at Powell Station (Powell @ Market) where they sell Cable Car tickets - you don't have to stand in that line to board a cable car :) there is a small line to the kiosk.

I bought the 3 day muni last summer at the airport. Because it was valid on the cable cars I found myself using them more often.I rode mostly for the fun of it. I could hop on and off for short trips without money worries.
Try and board at stops along the line rather than the terminus.

<i>The MUNI map in your link is sold in the kiosk at Powell Station (Powell @ Market) where they sell Cable Car tickets </i>

Oh, they are not free? :( Not even if I buy a 3-day pass? I would have printed it out at home if I had a color printer. The map would be impossible to read in b&w.

If you live here long enough it is possible to use b&w :) They are also posted on the bus stops that have a shelter roof (with 3 seats)

Last time I bought, I like to have one for myself, it was $3.

Sorry don't know much about the 3-day passes, only see people on buses using them. What I know is even if you buy a $45 monthly pass, the map is not free.

There are free maps at the visitor's center, in the streets in those boxes, maybe some of them have bus lines indicated?

There is a pretty decent color Muni map in the blue section of the Yellow pages phone book. (Or at least there used to be; my edition is a couple of years old.)

Muni has a customer service center at the intersection of Market and Van Ness which is likely to be less crowded than the Powell St. kiosk, if you happen to be in that area. Other locations/info: http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mfares/passports.htm

Oh, that's a great idea about Yellow pages!!

Last time we bought the passes and muni map ($3) at the airport in the baggage claim area (I bought it while DH was waiting for our luggage to come out) -- my first choice of where/when to get it if you are already there.

On our first visit we were in the city itself for 1 1/2 days and each got a one day pass and just paid cash for the 1/2 day. It was a couple of years ago and you could get the passes and map at the kiosk at Union Square or the turnaround at Powell and Market. There are other places listed but we weren't staying near any of them.

You said you have used the public transportation there before so are probably more familiar with the colors, etc. For us -- we had many different maps, but the easiest one to use was the muni one and well worth the three dollars. After using it for a week (actually had it down after a couple of days) we could probably follow any map, but at first it was extremely confusing with all the different colors, means of transportation etc.

Each time we've visited San Francisco, we've stayed in the Union Square area (mostly because of meetings in the area). We definitely save money with the pass, but even if it was slightly a bad deal, we'd buy it because of the money value of the convenience.

We do ride the cable cars more often with the pass. On our last visit, with our 9yo daughter, we were almost back to our hotel (walked to it) late one evening, and an almost-empty cablecar rattled by. We hopped on, and had a fantastic trip all the way to the end of the Powell line and back. Late at night, they can get going pretty fast (or they seem to be, at least). We never waited in line; if there was a cablecar nearby, and it wasn't full, we'd hop on. If we didn't see any, then we'd take the bus.