As an almost perfect followup to last week’s post about riding an entire system in a day, I was alerted to a recent attempt by two San Francisco Chronicle writers, Peter Hartlaub and Heather Knight, who set out on what they called “Total MUNI 2018.”  Spurred by Knight’s 4 year old son’s interest in buses, she and Hartlaub set out to ride every MUNI line in a single day.  They were not the first to attempt the feat.  Larry Baer, who is now the CEO of the San Francisco Giants, and his friend Andrew Coblentz rode every route on a bit of a lark back in 1980, and both Total MUNI veterans provided guidance and support to Hartlaub and Knight.  Baer (and Giants’ mascot Lou Seal) even joined Hartlaub and Knight on a historic F Line streetcar. 

As is often the case with these sorts of adventures, there is a certain amount of controversy vis a vis the methodology by which one is deemed to have been on an entire system.  For example, I have a friend who says my claim to have been to have been to every DC Metrorail station isn’t really credible since I have not paid a fare at each and every station (I disagree with her). When Baer and Coblentz were planning their adventure in 1980, they decided that one had to ride on a vehicle for at least three stops in order for it to count as riding a route.  In one of the podcasts Hartlaub and Knight did prior to Total MUNI, Baer explained that three stops felt like a good minimum since it felt like you were actually going somewhere.  I agree with that standard.  However, Hartlaub and Knight (with Baer’s endorsement) decided they could use other modes of transit besides walking to get from route to route if necessary, including Uber, Lyft, rides from friends, and even a rickshaw, and I have to raise issue with this.  While I certainly won’t take away from their achievement, I think it would be more remarkable to ride every MUNI route in a day AND not use any other modes of transit to do so.

If you’re interested in learning more about Total MUNI 2018, you can read a recap on the San Francisco Chronicle website (a search of “Total MUNI” on the Chronicle website turns up other articles about the quest to ride each MUNI route in a day.  You can also listen to Hartlaub and Knight discussing their preparations for Total MUNI 2018 and recapping after the fact on “The Big Event” podcast, available through iTunes.

Have you ever done an adventure like this?  What do you think of the criteria that Hartlaub and Knight used to achieve Total MUNI 2018?  Post an answer to either question in the comments below.

Oren’s Reading List is an occasional feature on The Travelogue in which I share articles that I’ve read that might also be of interest to the readers of this website.