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Photos by
Melania Mahoney
Before anybody under the age of 35 even had a footprint, let alone one of carbon, the Valley of the Moon Commute Club (VOMCC) offered workday bus service to downtown San Francisco. Sure it saved gas, but mainly it saved the hassle, and the expense of driving and parking in the city. The monthly pass was a deal, and those were the days of $1 bridge tolls.
Figuring today’s bridge toll, gas and parking lot fees, the VOMCC’s $300 monthly fee is a good a bargain as ever. Although commute times are up since the 1970s, the bus gives back a rare commodity that wasn’t in such short supply back when Jimmy Carter and dinosaurs roamed the earth: free time.
Imagine, a few precious hours to yourself. Without the spilled coffee, spikes in blood pressure and exchange of elaborate hand gestures that come with changing lanes on Highway 101.
While a solo driver is experiencing road rage, the bank official on the VOMCC bus reads a book. When another driver’s temper gets as hot as summertime asphalt, the bank administrator checks his e-mail. The government workers, finance gurus and administration types are relaxing, diamond-lane style, on the bus; the rest of the world, crawling through San Rafael, might as well be under it.
“We take the bus because it is less stressful than driving,” said rider Don Bandur. “We arrive at work and return home more relaxed than if we drove.”
(Full disclosure: the writer of this piece rode the bus for seven years; I was the one all the way in the back, asleep under the sports page.)
Private space is respected and etiquette prevails. Most riders have a preferred seat. Conversation is minimal and hushed, particularly in the morning when a sense of communal denial – let’s pretend we’re not in the dark with 40 people we’re not related to – prevails.
Then again, two people met on the bus and later married. (Full disclosure, continued: maybe I should have stayed awake more.)
The VOMCC began in the mid 1970s as a not-for-profit commute club for workers who required reliable and economical transportation from Sonoma to San Francisco, Monday through Friday.
“The money we would have spent on parking fees and gas compensates the cost for the bus ride,” Bandur explained.
The morning commute begins at 5:37 a.m. with the first stop in El Verano. The bus works down West Napa Street, swings by the Plaza, then heads south on Broadway. It hits the last of its eight stops, the deli at Highways 116 and 121, at about 6 a.m.
The bus, usually about three-quarters full, crosses the Golden Gate Bridge at about 6:45 a.m. A few riders get off on Lombard, but most – after a brief yawn-and-stretch ritual – access stops in the financial district, along Battery, and up Mission.
The route is reversed on the way home, with benchmark stops at the Broadway Market – at 5:54 p.m, Maxwell Village – at 6:05 p.m, and El Verano – at 6:15 p.m. Don’t miss it – alternatives are few, and they include a cab or a night at the Mark Hopkins. Golden Gate Transit offers no direct service to Sonoma from downtown San Francisco.
Per-ride tickets are also available. Detailed information about the time and bus stops on the VOMCC Web site at: newwestmedia.com/VOMCC/
