MUNI / BART Station – Montgomery

I love the hexagonal white tiles as you ride up the escalator from the underground part of the station. I also love the shiny brick floors in the underground part of the station. My beefs are that there are not wide wheelchair/​bike accessible ticket stations at all exits/​entrances of the station, the upper portion of the station near street level is gross. Like today there was a burrito that had been dropped in the rain that was getting mushy and stepped on, dragging it all over the escalator. I remember coming to this station as a 8 year-​old with my dad to run Bay to Breakers and I absentmindedly stepped in someone’s vomit. The elevators also smell like piss and are wet on the floor like it’s fresh piss. There is a flower vendor inside though, and with the local musicians playing, it makes this station bearable. That, and I’m too lazy to get off at another station and walk farther to my destination.

This station always has at least 1 escalator broken. Currently, there is one that has been broken for weeks and no date has been announced for its repair. Of course, they keep it closed so that you cannot even use it like stairs, thus creating congestion to exit the station. Bart increases its fares, but the trains seem more and more crowded, they seem to be constantly late (under various excuses: police activity, medical emergency, mechanical failure…), the AC is often broken, etc. I do not understand why the Bay Area, allegedly one of the most technologically advanced place in the world, has such a subpar public transportation system. I do not want to say that BART reminds me of public transportation in a third world country, because that would be an insult to some of these countries: the subway systems in, say, Mexico City or Delhi, are much more advanced, clean, and punctual than BART. Also, the BART conductors keep braking, accelerating, braking again, etc.: it is usually a very rough ride. And the fare keeps going up…

Can’t really give any bart station 5 stars, but can’t give any 1 either. The Montgomery stop is in the heart of SF’s financial district. It drops you off between 2^nd or 3^rd street on Market. As with most of the Bart stations, you’ll find the typical SF crowd. During the work week, you’ll see a ton of business people commuting into the city. Outside the station, there will be some people asking for money and inside you’ll see people sleeping.
I never really see any of the Bart police walking around, but I’m sure they are somewhere. There are usually a lot of delays going into the city.

This station was actually better than I expected. I was introduced to this form a friend and it’s so much more convenient than taking the bus. It’s clean (enough) and it’s not super crowded — at least from the times I’ve gone in and out here.
What I like about this is that it directly goes towards the Caltrain station and the stop is a 30 second walk across the street. It’s also a very short walk to my work so it’s perfect!

Ah, Montgomery Street BART station. Here are some highlights:
* At peak commuting time (9am), there can be thousands of people crowded on the platform
* The escalators are almost always broken
* There are homeless people sleeping & scattered throughout the hallways.
* Half of the ticket machines are broken or out of order
* Smells like pee
* No bathrooms available.

I recently visited San Francisco for a weekend and met up with some friends outside the Montgomery St BART station. I hadn’t ridden on BART in years and had a fairly decent experience. The stations (including this one) seemed a bit dirty and smelly (I’m used to the relatively clean DC metro system), but the trains came in time and the station led to a large shopping center. Not bad for my first BART experience in years.

Watch out for the tourist passport. It’s extremely fragile and it’s easy to rub off additional months or days and render the passport invalid. They should have a warning on the card. Worst system imaginable.

Muni need to put more patrol at this station. At times I see people harass other people. They do have cameras but the station agents are useless. They do not do anything for anybody. They just stay in their station and text or watch their phone. Muni need to improve their safety for the people.

Cons: Smells like pee, has scattered homelies (short for homeless people) which may be root cause of pee smell, booth agent is usually rude and I can’t hear them via dinky intercom on window, elevator smells like pee.
Pros: Has the biggest public bathroom in all of SF (meaning you can go anywhere you want), it’s better than Powell Station, it’s better than Fruitvale Station surroundings, it’s better than Sudan the country.
It’s as if SF is trying to turn me off, and it’s working. Single tear.

Actually pretty darn clean and people here were pretty nice with the exception of my roommate who took me to the far end of the tracks to try and Zoe Barnes me because apparently pretending to push the other half of your rent check onto the tracks as the train approaches is a pretty hilarious joke. Not today, Frank Underwood. Not today.
The station is very reminiscent of the old Disaster Ride at Universal Studio’s with that earthquake and then the flooding and fire… but before all the disaster stuff happens when it’s just a clean family friendly ride.
An older gentleman standing near us dropped his cane while we were waiting for MUNI so I went over to help pick it up for him and he was super thankful. So thankful, in fact, that a few moments later he came over, opened up a tin with 2 fatty blunts inside and offered me one with a big gracious smile on his face. Of course I declined because I’m a square and I’m pretty sure taking drugs from strangers when you’re sub-​street level is a thing you’re most definitely not supposed to do, but I did appreciate the general gesture of returning the favor, however unnecessary it was.

This station seems to be the one less traveled as compared to other stops along the yellow BART line. Always very clean (in bart standards) smells like they clean the station with urine. But this station lets me out right where I usually like to be at. Montgomery Bart the perfect station if you’re headed straight to Broadway and other areas of North Beach.
This station is usually kinda sketch at night because the homeless like to camp about in or around the station and some like to solicit or give you rude remarks if you don’t spare change. That’s the only thing I would say is a fault. I would especially recommend if you’re a women and have to leave from this station late, then have an entourage with you or some mase. As I have seen women getting harrased before by the homeless and or drunks.

Seems like an easy enough Bart/​Muni station. The staff at the information desk has helped me before and although the place is busy and rather dirty, it serves it’s purpose.

Smelt nicer today instead of usual stench!
There’s a cleaner cleaning it today! :D
THANK YOU.

Montgomery station can be flat out sketchy at times on both BART and MUNI. I never feel unsafe but there are definitely some suspicious looking characters that hang around here. I’m not referring to the homeless people. They tend to keep to themselves. I’m referring to the late night lingerers and drunks who have nothing else to do late at night.
That said, this station is like any other during rush hour, BUSY! I’m more worried about walking to slow or being in someone’s way than getting mugged or shaken down. I recommend being patient with the lost puppies, like myself, who have no idea where they’re going. Cheers and safe travels :)

I try to get as far away from Embarcadero as I can for the after work commute. The closer you get to Embarcadero, the more crowded the trains get after work hours. There are always interesting people at Embaradero, Montgomery, and Powell… I try not to go any further into the city if I don’t have to– they just get more interesting as you get deeper into the city.

Better than Powell… still a SF station though which means no bathrooms and just overall dirty. Also the escalators break a lot. I do appreciate the Peet’s in the station and the florist though.

better transportation than most cities in the U.S. and MUCH safer than the cities that have good similar transportation.
Can’t beat it — can’t beat the real thing.

I’m a lover of Bart. It’s underground and it’s public transportation so it’s gonna stink a little. Easy to navigate and the engineers (is that what you call the drivers) are super nice and answer questions. Try that on a bus.
I just wish we had Bart in San Diego. But it couldn’t be called Bart could it? Someone start building an underground rapid transit station for San Diego and let’s have a naming contest!

Brian and I are not city people. We like the simple life in the suburbs because all this BART mess makes us cranky. After taking the wrong line back home, we decided to wait at this station until the next BART comes by. The station itself is pretty hot and stuffy, but I guess it’s a pretty good stop because there are some pretty cool places to explore around the city.

The Montgomery BART station is one of the more crowded BART stations I’ve been in. Then again, I’ve only been in three (Montgomery, Powell, and Rockridge) and this was during evening rush hour on a Wednesday night.
It cost $ 3.55 for one person to board the Pittsburg/​Bay Point line to Rockridge station. I found that a little odd because, just a couple days earlier, it cost the exact same amount from Powell station, which is one stop south.
The train waiting/​boarding area reminded me of a nicer Atlanta MARTA train station with glossy brick flooring, concrete everywhere, and overall drab appearance. However, it was much cleaner and the patrons were less sketchy. Lots of professionals. Montgomery station is in the heart of the Financial District after all.
It took no more than 5 – 8 minutes for the Pittsburg/​Bay Point-​bound train to arrive and there were a lot of people already on-​board. Fortunately, we found seats. We must’ve boarded an old train because the carpet at our feet and the cloth at our seats and backs was worn out.
Regardless, BART did its job. It was safe, reliable, and economical.