I was attacked by a pair of 22 Fillmores last night.

The BBQ Pit
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These, for those non-San Franciscans, are 22 Fillmores.

So I was driving back from Fort Mason last night, taking Fillmore up and over to the Castro (or “the 'Stro,” as I would call it if I were a cheesedick). I ended up getting stuck behind two 22s, which are on the overhead lines, so they can’t pass each other. I was about a mile away from home, so I wanted to pass at least the rear bus, so I’d be able to pass the next one when it pulled into a bus stop.

At about McAllister, the rear bus was stopped at the beginning of the block, with me still in the intersection. I pulled to the left a bit, and saw that there was no oncoming traffic, and that the front bus was at the end of the block, with nothing between it and the rear bus. So I accelerated past the rear bus, which started moving forward as I passed it. No big deal, buses are like that here.

But it started accelerating way faster than it needed to be, and it was clear that it was trying to box me out, and I really didn’t have anywhere to go. I managed to speed up and pass it, with a dozen feet to spare, between the two buses. Then the rear bus gets right up about four feet from ass and flips on its brights. I’m just sitting there going, “Buh?” I passed it with plenty of room, over a dashed yellow line, so it was perfectly legal and not even particularly aggressive.

But whatever, not my problem if the driver’s a psycho. I grew up driving here, I can handle it. So the rear bus tails me for a block, brights still on, until about Haight, where the front bus pulls into the bus stop, and I pull up to its left, like always. I guess there were no people waiting, and the bus suddenly pulls even with me and is inching forward at the red, like it’s going to try to pass me in the curb lane/intersection. And sure enough as soon as the light turns green, it speeds up and tries to shove back into the lane. I pretty much had to beat it, because even if I stopped, I probably would’ve been hit by the back left side of the bus, and I sure as hell didn’t want to be between those two buses again. So I accelerated again, barely squeezing through (think the Falcon at the end of Jedi) and left those psychos in the dust.

I really have no idea what the hell they were so pissy about, and I don’t particularly care. Just one more reason to bitch about MUNI.

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Never been to SF, but I’m assuming that these are Trolley Buses?

We had some of those back in the late 50’s when I lived in Queens, NYC. They ran for a while on Junction Blvd. Never had the chance to ride one though.

Glad you didn’t get squashed.

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I assumed from the picture that it was the hat.

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Yes, sorry… they’re trolley buses. I suppose that wasn’t the most informative picture I could have used.

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The N Judah has no regard whatsoever for pedestrians that are trying to walk southbound on 9th ave at Irving. If the light turns green and people start walking, (legally so), the MUNI drivers blare that outrageously loud gas horn and turn right, forcing everyone to get out of the way. They they ring that little bell afterwards. Like I didn’t hear that equilibrium-shattering gas horn.

I can outrun it up Irving to 5th ave and the same train will wait for me to cross in front of him in the crosswalk. But 9th and Irving? The same guy will run you over. I’ve never understood it.

Another common spot is 7th ave southbound just past Forest Hill. The 43 and 44 both have to get into the left lane, and most of the time they’re going to speed up and cut you off. Probably left over anger from having to use both lanes to turn the corner onto 7th from Laguna Honda and nobody letting them.

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Troy: Are you sure one of the lunatics who rides the 22 didn’t hijack it? I used to have to take that bus to tutor a kid on 14th & Mission & was constantly regaled with stories of Playstation theft, stabbings, and gang warfare. Also: usually some dude rolling a blunt in the back seat. Take Divisidero next time.

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When I was a kid… a hat killed my dad.

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Muni drivers are psychotic. I used to take the 54 Felton as the first leg in a long, crosstown journey to get to school. (My neighborhood high school was Balboa; you locals will understand why I didn’t go there.) The 54 was supposed to run every 20 minutes, but the drivers were frequently late and drove aggressively to make up for it. One time the bus turned the corner so sharply that an old woman who was standing in the aisle lost her grip and fell over. She wasn’t seriously hurt, but the driver got an earful from just about everybody that saw it.

One time I was at a bus stop that served several routes. There were plenty of people waiting and hardly anyone on the trolley bus that came by, but the driver didn’t stop. She tore around the corner way too fast, the power poles came loose and caught in the junction thingy where multiple lines converge, and a whole bunch of power lines came down.

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Apparently this shows another difference in terminology between Northern and Southern California. I don’t think anyone down here ever says “the 2 Wilshire” or “the 1 Santa Monica”. We’d just say “the number 2 bus”, maybe throwing in a “Big Blue” before the word bus to make it clear we mean the City of Santa Monica bus and not the L.A. Metro bus.

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So cheesedicks say “'stro,” but people who say “'Frisco” in their flickr page are A-OK? :smiley:

And yes, Muni drivers are crazy, although I’d imagine its a hazard of the job.

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It’s specifically a San Francisco thing. People in other cities usually just refer to the bus by number. Part of the reason for the number + name method in SF may be because buses from several different counties enter the city: Golden Gate Transit from Marin, AC Transit from the East Bay, and SamTrans from the Peninsula. Then again, maybe San Franciscans are just crazy.

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Actually, what threw me off was your that link word was “these”. I kept looking for at least two of something in the picture.

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Small highjack here: I think trolleybuses are a wonderful invention. I first rode on one in London about 45 years ago (they’ve gone from London now), and I’ve ridden them in Wellington, NZ, and San Francisco. They are wonderfully quiet and environmentally friendly – though their chief drawback is being tied to the overhead wires.

I once saw a trolley bus in SF make a 90 degree turn – by manually transferring the poles from one set of wires to the other at what was already a very tight intersection. It was wonderful to see that it could be done, but it took a long time to do.

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The newer ones here have some kind of battery, so if they get disconnected from the overhead lines, they can still turn the corner or pull into the bus stop, instead of just getting stuck wherever the lines happened to fall off. Very nice.

Hell no. That ain’t my Flickr. :smiley:

I dunno, in normal conversation, we’d probably say “Get the 22 and transfer to the Judah, then take the 28 at 19th to Stonestown.” We’d say “22 Fillmore” or “N Judah” just to establish that we’re talking about public transit. I don’t expect anyone to know what a 22 or a Fillmore is here, hence my use of it here.