Oh, the irony!
Geary had fixed-guideway transit from 1880 until 1956 when it was replaced by buses [1][2].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geary_Street,_Park_and_Ocean_R...
Geary had fixed-guideway transit from 1880 until 1956 when it was replaced by buses [1][2].
[1] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Geary_Street,_Park_and_Ocean_R...
* if a bus ahead breaks down, the bus behind can still go around it, so the line's not totally clogged up
* busses are quieter going through neighborhoods (have a friend who lives by Duboce Park and it rumbles)
* you can share the road with regular automobiles, whereas rails depend on the implementation (yes most of the ones in SF do as well)
* easier to turn a bus around than a train at the terminus
An actual subway could be quicker, but again that requires money, cooperation from the neighborhood, and time.
This guarantees that transit will always be worse than driving oneself.
The way the current metro light-rail is laid out is a good idea on paper: underground for the dense urban areas, and above ground where you can have space for a dedicated lane. If a potential Geary Metro was underground from Embarcadero to Japantown (Laguna or Webster), then above ground the rest of the way, I can see see a light-rail system working. Now let's find a politician with the clout to have Geary under construction for 5-7 years (optimistically).
As others have pointed out, there is in fact a BRT project in progress to bring a separated, dedicated-lane busway to Geary [1].
[1] http://www.sfcta.org/geary-corridor-bus-rapid-transit-home
There is nothing worse than buses.
I, and many others, will do almost anything to avoid riding a bus.
There is very little I can think of in our built, urban environment that is more aesthetically terrible and ill mannered than big, dumb (and in most cities, black exhaust spewing) buses bonking their way around city streets.
Steve Jobs said it best:
"If you see a (bus), they blew it."[1]
[1] https://www.engadget.com/2010/04/08/jobs-if-you-see-a-stylus...
And which city does not utilize a bus system? Tokyo is the only one where the busses don't stand out in my memory, but I'm sure they still have busses. It's impossible for a city to be served completely by rail.
I agree that the bus experience in general is substandard to rail, but the reality is that when transit planners need to service a new area, they can just route a bus in a few months as opposed to building out a rail line.
Zurich comes to mind. While there are indeed buses in Zurich, they're somewhat superfluous and only used in (rare) edge cases. Contrary to your assumption, Zurich is almost entirely served by rail.
In the case of Zürich, how did they not fail your metric? If the busses are truly superfluous, then why doesn't the transit agency discontinue those lines? I'd like to think they're there for a reason other than paying bus drivers and lining some pockets.
The reality is that cities, because they're changing, will always need busses alongside rail. As new areas become popular and need access, it's far quicker and cheaper to route a new bus line there. Today's bus route might become tomorrow's rail.
Interestingly, it's not true of London, where just about anyone will get the bus, especially for journeys where the tube and rail connections are difficult. The buses are extraordinarily frequent in the centre, serve a wide network, and are full of a wide range of citizens.
For all I'm a big fan of rail, bus service can be both excellent and popular. It normally isn't, though.
Also, I believe SF buses are generally electric except to cover excess load.
In any case, how do you expect people in the suburbs to get to the light rail? It's just not realistic to entirely discard busses on aesthetic(!!) bases.
Also, I'm not sure why you're quoting Steve Jobs that way. I'm enjoying using a stylus with my iPad now. It is a perfect example of pragmatism clearly displacing... whatever it was that irked Jobs about a stylus.
Besides the noise right outside my window at midnight, from an empty bus, that regulations require to have the hydraulics to kneel and to pick up wheelchairs; I don’t like navigating around buses because they block the road with their bulk and their dangerous mass. I prefer to ride my bike to the train station.