Where’s Gavin? 05.13.09
Good question, indeed. More broadly, where’s the leadership on Muni, outside of Supervisor Chiu and a few others?
This nugget arrived in our inbox today. It’s basically a contest for any of us to enter. Snap a photo of Gavin Newsom riding a non-cable-car Muni vehicle, and this group, Where’s Gavin, will buy your next (and the last $45) Fast Pass:
Dear Sir or Madam,
As riders of the San Francisco Municipal Railway (buses and trains), we were very disappointed that Mayor Newsom decided to push through a Muni budget that will cut routes and balance the budget on the backs of transit riders instead of making everyone share the burden. We don’t think that Gavin actually gets it on transit or gets on transit, contrary to the comment in the Chronicle that said he goes incognito. We’d like him to ride more, perhaps to get a feeling for what riders go through even on days when the budget hasn’t been cut. As kind of a push to get him to take more transit, incognito or otherwise we started this page. It’s basically a contest: be the first to get a picture of Mayor Newsom on Muni incognito (other than a cable car) and we’ll buy that person’s fast pass for the month after they win. We think its a pretty good incentive, especially in these tough economic times. We’re also going to buy some beers for everyone else that brings in a photo at the end of the run. We hope you can help us in our quest.
Where’s Gavin?
http://wheresgavin.comPS: We wish to remain anonymous as long as Gavin remains incognito on Muni vehicles
So dust off your cellphone’s lens and keep your eyes peeled. This type of mysterious-beast sighting could net you a sweet prize. We’ll keep our ears to the ground and report back when there’s a winner.
Muni Diaries iPhone App Review: iCommute 05.11.09
The way I see it, there are two basic methods of attacking the problem of getting around San Francisco on public transit: chance and control. Chance, I believe, speaks for itself. Control is what the rest of us attempt in neurotic fashion, day in, day out. We use NextBus, iPhones, BlackBerrys, crystal balls, bat droppings … whatever it will take to inform us when the freakin’ bus will be there.
It’s a crowded field, to be sure. But what if, just what if, some augur of reliability emerged from the crop to solve [most of] your woes? Here’s a first look at a series of apps that we’ll review here at Muni Diaries. Today, we’ll look at iCommute.
The first thing I noticed about iCommute was its groupings of routes (1-10, 11-20, etc.) on the right side of a list of all the routes, much the way iPhone apps like Contacts and iPod use “index-scrolling” (my term) for quick access to far-off parts of your list. It was then that I realized iCommute might just turn out to be a must-have app.
Like many GPS-enabled apps, iCommute asks your permission to use your location. Yes, please. Every subsequent use sensibly uses your location without being prompted. After you drill down to the route you want, it automatically highlights the nearest stop on that line, and tells you how far away it is.
A Brief Remark on Muni’s Bay to Breakers Service 05.10.09
Has anyone noticed for the past two years, Muni hasn’t even bothered to update its Bay to Breakers page? Do note that the 15-Third has been replaced by T-Third for TWO YEARS NOW! Where are our taxpayer dollars going to?
If you have keen observations or mass-transit anecdotes, send them to us. Um, please?
What are your feelings about the Central Subway project? 05.09.09
Maybe you live along the existing T-Third route and would like to see the line extended farther north. Maybe you live in Chinatown, and would love an easier way than the 30 or 45 to hop over to SOMA or Mission Bay. Maybe you don’t live in either area, and are concerned about the costs and/or environmental impacts inherent in this estimated $1.57 billion, massive-construction project. Or maybe you’re just a transit geek, like us, and love all things rail.
Give Rachel Gordon’s post on the City Insider a quick read, and let us know your thoughts about the Central Subway project.
Weekend Photo Diary: Big, Empty Bus 05.08.09
Should be another doozy this weekend. Don’t ruin it by staying indoors, unless you’re a vampire. Then, by all means …
If you’ve got great photos of Muni or BART, inside or out, join our Flickr group and your photo could get plugged on the site.
xoxo Muni Diaries
Photo by Whole Wheat Toast from Muni Photos Flickr group
Bronstein looks into cable car bell-ringing boycott 05.08.09
This just arrived in our inbox from Zoe Stagg:
Good morning,
Phil Bronstein just put up a new story today with an exclusive video [above] and story on Muni operators skipping out on the annual bell ringing competition
after what they think is shoddy treatment of a retiring operator by Muni higher-ups. The story is here in case you’re interested.
Thanks for the tip, Zoe!
If you’ve got Muni or BART news tips, stories, photos, or videos, please email us or use our Diary Submission form.
Muni Mind Reader: The Teenager 05.08.09
Either you are one now, you were one once upon a time (cringe), or you’re way too young to be reading this. Whatever the case may be, we all know this specimen, and we all have our opinions of it. This week, Tiffany Maleshefski, aka Muni Mind Reader, explores the oscillating, erratic mind of The Teenager.
WUUUUUUUUUUUUUUUT!!!!
HELL YEAH I’M EXCITED!! SCHOOL IS OOOOOOUT!!! Another day, another bell that releases us from the jail cell we call school. More like ewwwwwwwwwww. WHEEEEEEEEEEEE!!!!!!! I just get so happy when the school day is over, I WANT THE WHOLE WORLD TO KNOW!!!
CAN YOU HEAR ME? SCHOOL IS OUT AND OH MY GOD WAS IT A CR-AAAAZY DAY.
WHAT DO YOU MEAN USE MY INDOOR VOICE? F*CK YOU!!!
Yeah, you sit there in your stuffy work clothes glaring at me and my friends. I can hear you judging me and wishing I’d go away or be truant or maybe just get hit by the bus one morning. You’re just jealous your life isn’t as fun as mine. My life is fun, fun, fun! It’s too long ago for you to remember, but when you are between the ages of say 14 and 17, holy shit. It is just bananas the kinds of things we get into.
Photo Diary: Early Morning Brewski (w/update) 05.07.09
From Muni rider Blake:
So I’ve seen cans, tall boys, 40′s, and even handles of booze on the bus before… but you hafta hand it to this guy for really steppin’ up the game. Yes, that’s two kegs, and yes, this was at 7 a.m. this morning. God bless San Francisco.
UPDATE: This came in from Blake later in the day Thursday:
I would have followed him off had his terrible stench not deterred me! This occurred on the 43 — outbound this morning. He was just hanging casually in the back when I got on at California and Presidio. I snapped the pic, sat down and was promptly drawn into my book. A few stops down the line a nasty funk crept up my nostrils and almost pushed my Clif bar back out the wrong way. I looked up and watched him lumber towards me, and then out the door at Haight and Masonic. Looks like the bum/punks had a great day!
What did you see on Muni today? Send us your pics at muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com.
Regarding Photography on Muni 05.07.09
Photo by Plug1 of WhatImSeeing.com
As you guys all know, Plug 1 of Whatimseeing.com was recently involved in an altercation with a fare inspector. After the altercation, the fare inspector snapped a photo of Plug1 using an iPhone. After that, Plug1 went home and googled for photography rules on Muni and called 311 (Muni, expect your bill in the morning). Anyway, here’s some closure for this fiasco.
This exact same bullshit happened to me once. I took a picture of some fare inspectors and one of them told me to delete the picture I took of her. I did. Why? Because I didn’t know any of the photography rights back then. Shortly after I deleted the picture I took of her, she lectured me on how taking pictures on Muni is prohibited. I was so terrified I didn’t even bother to question her.
Later that night, I wrote a complaint to Muni (I used a standard Muni operator complaint form, just use their badge number in place of the 4-digit number). It will take awhile for them to respond, or if they don’t respond, just keep spamming them every now and then. Finally, Michelle Brewster, the head of security, sent an email back to me saying:
“This reply is in regard to a PSR you initiated relating to your ability to take pictures in the subway and the interference of such by Fare Inspector #13 and her partner. Videotaping/photography are not specifically addressed in any policy; the activity of such in ‘paid’ areas is permitted as long as it does not interfere with the safe ingress and egress of Muni passengers. This platform access policy will be reiterated to the staff.
Looks like Number 32 either didn’t listen or Michelle Brewster didn’t do her job.
Hate on the 71-Haight 05.06.09
I was in a crappy mood last night after synthesizing 0% product yield in my chemistry lab. And the 71-Haight just exacerbated my foulness. First of all, it was one of the newer, boxier buses. Which I’m not a fan of because the bus becomes crowded more easily than on the taller, single-decker buses. And on a 71-Haight, filled with more street kids and drunks than normal, it’s no fun being jammed together on a drizzly night.
The drunk guy belching Israeli rap lyrics, teenagers quipping nonchalantly about clothes, and the driver sloshing us back and forth like a washing machine added to the funky mojo. It was just one of those rides where you can’t sink into your book because you feel the negative energy pooling around you.
Appropriately, the sour ride ended in big crash.
Ride Muni like a boss. Our Fast Pass Clipper card holders and Muni Diaries T-shirts are all on sale 
