Chest-puffing assholes on the 49 01.16.09
OK, Roguish Passengers on the 49. We need to talk.
Just when I was having polite, inane conversation with the slightly off-kilter woman next to me, you two up the ante and start bickering like kids in a sandbox. After she fled from the bus like it was on fire (thanks to you two), all I had left to do was watch you assholes fight over who stole whose shovel from the pail.
All I can gather is that Roguish Passenger 1 touched RP2 wrong. RP1 kept insisting he didn’t mean to, but for some reason, chests were puffed, voices were raised and everyone in the back of the pee-pee smelling bus (evening commute bonus!) looked around hopelessly for a flak jacket.
Props to the big guy with a briefcase who suggested the homies (his word, not mine) calm their asses down and stop starting shit. You’re far braver than I, Briefcase Man.
another angry rider 01.15.09
Submitted by Muni rider Mike
I try to ride the L to work downtown but three out of five times Muni has a meltdown. Sometimes it’s minor but very often I have to walk home to 27th and Taraval because there’s no L comin’ or I have to drive to work ’cause the L’s aren’t runnin’. Muni’s run by incopotent morons who should all be fired and replaced by people with experience and ability only. Until then nothin’ will and we’ll just have to live with a dysfunctional transit system.
Driver Cellphone Ban 01.15.09
On my way to class Tuesday night on the 43 outbound, my Muni driver inexplicably hopped off the bus at the Laguna Honda stop. At first I thought the bus had a mechanical problem, but the driver was acting a bit erratically — stepping on and off the fully powered bus while talking on his cellphone. Each time he stepped back on, we riders cocked our heads expectantly his way, hoping for some sort of announcement about why a perfectly functional bus wasn’t approaching our destination.
After about 13 minutes of idling (I was astutely watching the scrolling clock tick away on the digital placard), the driver reclaimed his seat at the wheel and resumed our route.
Blind to Blinds on BART 01.14.09
Submitted by Muni rider CAK
Was riding an 8:45 Richmond BART train this morning with my partner, who is disabled. He is a white cane user (read: blind) and it’s pretty obvious that he can’t see. This morning in particular, the train was crowded and a gentleman carrying a large boombox cut in front of us in line (at 24th Street) and then decided to stop right in the middle of the door pathway. While it was standing room only, there was still plenty of room to fill in between aisles. I said, “excuse me, sir,” to which he retorted, “excuse you, it’s crowded” and i proceeded to guide my boyfriend around him and his boombox without remark. This was annoying. What was more annoying that my boyfriend, whose commute goes through the East Bay while mine ends in the FiDi, was not offered a seat by any of the young and able bodied kids sitting in the senior/disabled seating. Eventually, after Civic Center, an elderly woman gave up her seat for him.
I am just curious, do people particularly not give up their seat for him because they see that he has a companion? If so, I think this is strange. People pretend not to see him. It’s awkward, really. Once he told me that he was taking BART alone (which he does daily) and he heard someone say–as if he cannot hear–”…such a shame. they really shouldn’t let people like him ride alone”.
Lessons learned? Well, you tell me.
What should Muni’s slogan be? 01.14.09
A friend of mine who grew up in Pennsylvania came to visit recently, and she told me about how sad the Philadelphia transit system, SEPTA, is — and how their slogan is “We’re getting there!”
That got me thinking: How many transit systems have slogans? And why doesn’t Muni have one? And if it did, what would it be?
After doing a little research, what surprised me is that some major systems, such as the London Underground, don’t have official slogans (“Mind the gap” is as close as it gets). Others rotate through them; New York City’s MTA is currently using “Going Your Way.” The Toronto Transit Commission is on board with several slogans, including “Ride the Rocket,” which got made fun of so much it was swapped out for boring old “The Better Way.” Apparently, Chicago Transit Authority was using “Take It” for a while.
Other, lesser-known systems have some funny ones: For example, Sonoma County Transit’s motto is “Try transit!” — inspiring an almost immediate “I will when YOU do!” Atlanta’s MARTA was using “It’s MARTA” — meant to sound like “It’s smarta!” when spoken in a Southern drawl. Groan.
I’m sure there are plenty of unofficial slogans out there, but none could be better than “Ride the SLUT,” referring to Seattle’s South Lake Union Trolley.
Yes, there are plenty of unfortunate slogans to give Muni, but let’s get a little more creative here. Think of something that could actually work in an ad campaign. You know: catchy, memorable, salesy but also slightly unfortunate. Have at it.
– Beth W.
Rude and careless on the 49 01.14.09
Submitted by Muni rider Whole Wheat Toast
Well, first a little intro of what routes I usually take. I would usually take some route on Van Ness to go somewhere but can take various routes back to my place. This morning, I decided to take the 49 to the DOMA rally, which was in the Castro.
The driver of the bus I was on, which was a 49, didn’t stop at Grove Street even though some people wanted out. Even though people told her to stop, one saying, “You’re gonna stop now?” she kept going. When we got to Market, i saw this old guy, I think that’s the exact same guy who started the now-defunct Muni Outrage, talked to her. She replied, “Well how the hell was I supposed to know?” He responded, “Well why didn’t you look?” As he got off, she said, “I didn’t see it, now good bye.”
God dang that was rude. I would have taken her picture, but, the doors were closed and I didn’t have my camera ready.
Faster Munis Make Zoooooom!!! 01.13.09
Well, if only it were so cut-and-dried. The Examiner‘s Mike Aldax has more on the proposal for Muni to run its trains at speeds up to 50 mph in certain stretches of the underground.
My first Muni crash 01.13.09
I was taking the J outbound from downtown to the outer reaches of Church Street a little after 6 p.m. for a class. The ride through the tunnels was mellow, the train was a little crowded, but everything seemed to be going OK. Then we came out of the tunnel, turned onto Church and got about halfway down the block toward Market Street when the driver slammed on her brakes and a bunch of people standing lurched forward.
I pulled off my iPod to see what would happen next.
“We’re gonna be here awhile,” the driver said. She did a few more things behind the wheel, then got out — and let us off the trolley if we wanted to get going.
I stepped down and only then did I see what had happened — the trolley had hit a van that looked like it had just pulled out from Safeway Mecca. The entire front of the train was implanted in the side of the van, which seemed to only have one occupant, the driver, who looked relatively uninjured.
I debated sticking around, but I really needed to get to my class. Passengers poured down to Market Street and made their way onward, talking on cellphones and telling other people about the event they’d just lived through. I hopped on the underground to Castro and took the 35 the rest of the way.
The odd thing is, after covering lots of Muni crashes, it was almost a non-event being in one (especially since nobody was hurt). It took me about two or three hours to realize, hey, I was just in a train accident.
I really hope that van driver is OK.
– Beth W.
Oh, the Legs of No Pants 01.13.09
Mac Watters, brave rider of the 8th annual pantless subway day, shares his pictures, including a scantily clad photo of himself:
(more photos after the jump)
Muni bus pictures with a different perspective 01.12.09
Muni rider Bhautik Joshi submitted these awesome photos he took at the Muni depot at Bryant street. Bhautik said he used “tilt shift” lenses for these pictures – these are lenses that let the photographer control the perspective in the photos. I love the effect. Thank you, Bhautik!
See more of Bhautik’s Muni pictures after the jump.
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