“I don’t have any more seats. I’m full.”
That was the explanation the operator of an AC Transit Line O Transbay bus gave to several waiting riders at Webster Street and Willie Stargell Avenue, the last bus stop leaving Alameda’s West End, before closing the doors and driving off just after 8 a.m. on a Thursday in mid-October.
As part of my occasional commute to downtown San Francisco, I was sitting in one of three flip-down seats in the lower-level vestibule by the back door of the commuter bus. It turned out that I would be the last person allowed on, having boarded several stops earlier at Webster Street and Santa Clara Avenue. The driver was able to find one last seat for me after determining that a local-bound passenger would be getting off soon at Buena Vista Avenue.
Nearly a dozen other riders waiting at stops along Webster Street and on Seventh Street in Oakland were not allowed onto the bus. The driver instructed them to wait for the Line W Transbay bus instead, which was scheduled to come 15 minutes later. By the time our Line O bus had exited the Posey Tube, we were running nearly 20 minutes late due to a mix of heavy traffic and the extra work the operator had to put in to find seats for multiple riders…