Van Ness Red Bus Lane Opens, Finally

"Notice anything new?" the signage asked, and I thought, "Yes, the construction equipment and potholes and broken sidewalks that have been part and parcel of this Van Ness public works project for what feels like decades is gone." Hurray.

As somebody who vowed never to get a driver's license as a teenager growing up in Southern California, and who has been depending on MUNI for close to 50 years for local transportation, I was completely ambivalent about this huge construction project.

The idea was to forge a middle lane for fast-moving buses in a large boulevard historically devoted to car culture. (It's still on maps as an extension of Highway 101 from the Golden Gate Bridge.) My ambivalence stems from watching the grotesquely overtime and overbudget project over the years where huge construction crews would arrive for two weeks of work, and then would disappear for months, leaving a different mess behind each time.

I love public transportation public works initiatives, but the smell of graft and incompetence has hung over this project for years as it kept extending its deadlines and destroying the entire small business corridor over a decade. The "It's A Small World" public art at some of the bus stops just adds insult to injury.

But that's enough whining. We took a 49 bus on Opening Day this afternoon, north on Van Ness Avenue from McAllister Street to Pacific Street and the smooth ride took about 7 minutes rather than the usual 10 to 20 minutes. "What do you think of it?" my partner Austin asked. "I like it," was the reply. Now bring back the 47 bus, MUNI, so the 49 is not the only line taking advantage of this snazzy new lane that cost way too much in time and money.