Head & Shoulders 03.10.09
Submitted by Muni rider Rachel
I was on a 19-Polk on Monday afternoon, heading toward Market to meet some friends, sitting in the back, kind of spacing out.
At the stop in front of the Hall of Justice, a guy in a wheelchair got on. There was nothing remarkable about him: just an average guy, from what I could tell.
After a couple of stops, I glanced over at him (mostly to see through the front window) and noticed that he was waving his arms around, holding two bottles of Head & Shoulders in each hand, trying to sell them.
I admired his entrepreneurial spirit, but still wonder how he got a hold of his product. Back of a truck, perhaps?
I don’t know what he was selling them for, but a woman with very short hair bought two bottles and worked her way to the back of the bus, clutching them in her arms.
Got your own tales of life on Muni or BART? Send us your diaries, photos, gripes … anything, we want to hear from you!
MD Exclusive: Q&A with Michael Smith of NextBus 03.06.09
We can all thank Alameda-based NextBus for those snazzy little marquees we can’t stop staring at in the bus shelters. Not only does it provide a flashing update about where our bus might be, it provides us, at the very least, with something blinky to hold our attention while we brave the chills (hey, lay off, it gets cold here, sometimes).
Turns out the technology is available in about 60 different areas of the country, though its hometown SF is still by far the largest user base. NextBus Director of Engineering Michael Smith chatted with Muni Diaries editor Tara Ramroop about the ins and outs of the system, why it’s not always 100-percent accurate, and what’s in store in the very near future.
Muni Diaries: Tell me how long NextBus has been around.
Michael Smith: NextBus actually started in 1997, so it’s been quite awhile now. It actually started in San Francisco, by someone who rides Muni. They were just frustrated waiting for the cable cars, actually. And thought, Gee with all this technology around, shouldn’t there be a better way to deal with this? So they came up with this idea of having something that tells you when the bus is going to arrive. But his friends said, “What’s an idea if you don’t actually implement it?” So he ended up starting this company, and now we have NextBus all over San Francisco.
For Your Weekend Viewing Pleasure … 03.06.09
Transit News Digest 3.6.09 03.06.09
The Examiner reports on Nathaniel Ford’s stating of the obvious: that service will suffer due to a deteriorating fleet of buses and trains if millions aren’t found in funding to shore up the vehicles. Millions as in more the $680 of them. $680 million. In this economy?
The non-Chronicle, soon-to-be biggest daily in town also reported on Muni’s hiring of a new safety head. As rnaglejr responded when we echoed the news over on our Twitter feed, “yeah, well, what about the reliability chief? Still waiting on that hire.” So are we, Rob.
ABC and others tell us that yesterday’s Fruit(less)vale BART station protest was largely uneventful. Oh well, we’re sure there will more attempt to make the innocent suffer with BART delays and station shutdowns to come.
And we leave you to the weekend with this week’s humorous and tragic monkey business, as an opossum apparently caused major BART fuckery on Tuesday. Ouch.
If you’ve got news tips for Muni Diaires, or, you know, Muni diaries, send them our way. Or follow our Twitter feed for more immediate BART and Muni news. Have a great weekend!
Monsters vs Aliens: Featuring the F Car 03.06.09
In case you haven’t seen the signs on the bus, the F trains are featured in the upcoming animated movie, “Monsters vs Aliens,” opening March 27. Other prominent San Francisco landmarks are also featured in the movie.
Watch the trailer here - especially if you have a pair of 3-D glasses handy.
Glitches on the NextBus 03.05.09
I know about the glitches on NextMuni about the timing, but has anyone noticed when waiting for the 47-Van Ness the NextMuni says it as the “47-Van?” Has that happened on other routes that have two words separated (like 9-San Bruno?)
91-Owl Crash Injures 3 03.05.09
Muni bus crashes into vehicle in Marina, The Examiner’s Will Reisman reports.
Passenger Quota on Muni? 03.05.09
This came from Muni rider Joey:
Tuesday evening on the 45 headed from Cal Train station. Apparently the bus driver thought the 45 was some sort of shuttle bus. I was a bit late for the 5:37 p.m. bus but at 5:43 p.m. it was still there and pretty full. I grabbed one of the handful of seats left and figured we would be moving momentarily. But we sat there for another 10 minutes, while the bus got fuller and fuller.
By the time we left people were already yelling to those in the back to “MOVE to the back of the bus.” Maybe the bus driver thought if she crammed as many people on the bus as she could that she wouldn’t have to make many stops for the rest of the route. I too hate the bus constantly stopping, but it’s public transportation not the Google shuttle, it can leave the terminal with seats available.
Anybody else encountered this? Seems like another big reason the buses aren’t on time — and as Jeff commented yesterday about the Muni Wish List, there are some definite improvements that won’t really cost us any of that stimulus money.
Ticket for Your Expired Transfer? 03.05.09
This is crazy. I got a ticket from a Muni cop because my transfer has expired while the bus I was in got stuck in the tunnel (in addition to being 10 minutes late). I protested the ticket by mail (even told them that one of the passangers near me was willing to be my witness that the bus was late and delayed). I will take my protest to the next level–administrative hearing. I hate this. If Muni asks for any additional funding, I will for sure vote against it.
Photo by Flickr user balmes.
A Timeline History of the F 03.04.09
Where would we be without the benefit of the tireless folks at What I’m Seeing? The other day, they graced their site with a remarkably thorough history of the F line, accompanied, of course, by really great photos.
What I’m Seeing is mostly a photo blog, but they provide background behind these types of themed posts. It’s becoming more and more an invaluable treasure for us SF-obsessed nuts.
Ride Muni like a boss. Our Fast Pass Clipper card holders and Muni Diaries T-shirts are all on sale 
