San Francisco Forum: Muni pass

The Muni Visitor Passports are good for all Muni-operated buses (diesel and electric), streetcars (modern and the historic F-line), and cablecars, which operate within the City and County of San Francisco (plus over to the Marin Headlands in the case of the Muni 76 line, and the Daly City BART Station in the case 14 line). They aren't good for riding BART, which is the regional light rail system which amongst other things provides transportation between SFO and the City, nor other bus systems like Golden Gate Transit, AC Transit, and SamTrans who's systems include service between San Francisco and nearby cities and counties.

Full information on the Muni Visitor Passports including links to buying information at http://www.sfmta.com/cms/mfares/passports.htm . Note that effective July 1, 2011 there's an across the board $1 hike in the price of the passports, with the 1 Day Passport going to $14, the 3-Day the OP wrote about to $21, and the 7-Day to $27.

For anyone reading this: PLEASE buy Muni passes, even if you think you won't get 100% of its value. It makes boarding the buses SO much easier and faster. Locals for the most part, all have Clipper cards now which have money or passes loaded electronically.

I was on the bus yesterday and at a couple of stops families of visitors got on. It took FOREVER for them to figure out the fare and then feed the bills into the fare box. (And feed, and feed, and feed.)

And it's only April. When July and August come and there are more and more visitors it makes the trip move along so much faster with Passport in hand.

San Franciscans are generally a very friendly bunch and if you need help with where to get off etc., I can almost assure you that someone (if not more than one) person on the bus will be happy to help you. In fact, look at your map and look a little lost and likely someone will ask if you need help. I do it ALL the time. HOWEVER, take 5 minutes getting on the bus and I assure you I will have my nose in a book and my iPod lodged in my ears.

RamblinSal writes>>....HOWEVER, take 5 minutes getting on the bus and I assure you I will have my nose in a book and my iPod lodged in my ears.<<

That's some serious Tourist/Muni rage going -- hopefully it's a Nano or a Shuffle `cause as small as they are these days, a Touch or a Classic will still really really hurt when you jam it into your ear.

PoisonedIvy, neighborhoods in San Francisco are eminently walkable, although some will give you a pretty good aerobic workout because of the hills. Intrepid visitors also come back to this forum and report walking all over the City, with some of their footwork approaching heroic or otherwise generally pretty impressive distances. However jumping from neighborhood to neighborhood, or trying to hit some of the popular locations such as the Golden Gate Bridge, Fisherman's Wharf, the Embarcadero in the vicinity of the Ferry Building, Union Square, and Golden Gate Park (separate from the GG Bridge, much to the surprise of some visitors) particularly during a visit of a few days requires some pretty fancy and fast footwork, making public transportation a good option. This is even more the case because I see from another post you're staying somewhere on Fillmore Street. Finally the famous and popular cable cars cost $5/ride with no off-on or transfer privileges, which can add up pretty fast.

Tee Hee, yes caffiend, I meant I would have the ear buds (or whatever they're called) lodged in my ears. And I'll listen to all 80 gigs before looking up when someone takes forever and a day to get on the bus!!

OTOH, I have used my iPhone to look up Alcatraz availability for a family of 5 who hadn't booked ahead while trundling down Chestnut. After figuring they weren't going to go to Alcatraz that day, I mapped out some alternatives for them, got off the 30 with them showed them the F line and pointed them in the direction of the Hyde Street Pier.

If we are arriving around noon on Wednesday and leaving Sunday at 4pm (Saturday we'll be out of the city at a wedding), which Muni pass should we get?

If you think you'll use it all 5 days you're there, I'd probably just get the 7-day pass since it's only $6 more than the 3-day pass.

If there are some days you're not using it much (or at all) you could just pay cash fares (if any) on those days and get a 3-day pass for the busiest days.

Honestly, a pass is nice for convenience, though, so you don't have to constantly worry about having singles to pay your $2 fare each time (though transfers are good for about 2 hours with $2 fare). And as mentioned the cable cars are more expensive.

holodan writes>>....If there are some days you're not using it much (or at all) you could just pay cash fares (if any) on those days and get a 3-day pass for the busiest days.....<<

Just to clarify, the Muni Visitor Passports are good for three or seven consecutive days, not any random three or seven days that you choose.

Bucket, only you know how much you plan to use Muni, particularly on Wednesday and Sunday. From there you can do the math (adult fares are $2/ride with a transfer good for additional rides for a 90 minute plus period), figure in what the hassle factor of having dollar bills handy and decide what kind of pass to buy.

I think the San Francisco MUNI Visitor passports are the greatest public transportation deals I have ever seen. San Francisco has a great public transportation system and those passes are an incredible value. I always get one when I visit.

Thanks! We'll keep all this in mind as we plan.....