Photo Diary: 71-Haight: 77 Minutes 08.18.09
Photo by Flickr user andy54321
There’s something about the number 7 that I’ve always liked. Maybe NextBus likes it, too. The photog notes:
Probably a NextBus error, the 77-minute wait soon shifted to 12-minutes. But the ad, which I think was for something Muni-related*, promises “extra time in your day.” Haight & Fillmore outbound.
* the ad is actually for 511.org
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Summer Ballet Season on Muni 08.17.09
Photo by Flickr user aussiegall
San Francisco is lucky to have two great ballet companies right here in the city: The San Francisco Ballet and Alonzo King’s Lines Ballet. However, along with these formidable dance institutions comes summer dance camp. You know it’s summer in the city when the teeny tiny little 14 year olds arrive on the #5 Fulton.
Every summer they arrive after the 4th of July and stay for a few weeks. The girls (and occasional boy) all stay at the vacant dorms at USF, but the ballet companies are all near the Civic Center. So every morning they all get on the bus in the middle of rush hour traffic. The #5 doesn’t get a lot of school kids in the morning so the ballerinas are an unwelcome gaggle of chatterboxes for the morning commuters.
Announcing BART Diaries — Proud Spawn of Muni Diaries! 08.17.09
Photo by Flickr user thebrandbuilder
You thought you wouldn’t be able to take BART today, but woke up to find some good news — the threatened BART strike was called off. Well, we’ve got even better BART news for you today.
After two years in the womb, the Muni Diaries crew is welcoming our proud little spawn, BART Diaries! Many of you have shared BART tales here, and we figured our speedy little subway deserves its own storytelling space. After all, where else (okay, besides Muni) can you see grown men fight like school girls, erotic magazine on full display, and hear a hot operator’s voice for free?
So if you’re a BART rider, stop by BART Diaries and start sharing your strange and wonderful BART tales. Send us your stories, pictures, videos, and anything else BART-related to bartdiaries@gmail.com. You can also follow BART happenings on Twitter @bartdiaries.
Muni Video: 1980 Rollsign 08.17.09
Octoferret‘s is my favorite Flickr account lately. His photoset of outdated and inaccurate Muni signage was featured here on Muni Diaries last week. And last weekend, while searching Flickr for a photo to embed with another post, I stumbled across the video above. The best part — Octoferret claims to own these Muni relics. Talk about Geek Envy!
I might be a bigger Muni buff than the average Muni Diaries reader. But perhaps you, too, can find a nostalgic, quiet beauty in the video. Either way, enjoy. Parts 2 and 3 are after the jump.
BART strike averted (updates) 08.16.09
Photo by Flickr user David July
Update (6:43 p.m.): Now SFGate concurs — the strike has been called off.
Original post: It was the Muni Diaries Twitter feed that first predicted it: It appears, though no formal announcement has been made yet, that the two sides have avoided a strike that was set to begin tonight at midnight. The Examiner has more. We’re waiting for further details, sources before we remove that question from the post title.
Weekend Photo Diary: There Goes One Last Empty Culture Bus 08.14.09
Photo by Troy Holden
What a week it’s been! Foremost on just about everyone’s mind, we’re sure (though try to forget it over the weekend), is the imminent BART strike, set for Monday. This week, the Muni Mind Reader spilled forth the inner-machinations of what’s in store when BART commuters hop over to Muni.
Billie Jean, not my lover either 08.14.09
A mild flurry of tweets came across the wire yesterday from @anthologie detailing a seemingly spontaneous dance-a-thon at the 24th St. BART station. Here’s a recap of the action:
approx. 3 p.m. 2 men dancing to Around The World on the platform at 24th. Man playing violin concertos upstairs.
approx. 4 p.m. 24th st guys still here. Now dancing to PYT.
approx 4:15 p.m. Billie Jean (@ 24th St)
Awesome. What else can we say, really? The only way this would’ve been better is if the tiles on the platform had lit up.
Muni Mind Reader: When f*&king BART goes on strike! 08.14.09
It’s finally here. The long-threatened, much peanut-galleried BART strike is set to start Monday morning. Of course, for us Muni commuters, this really only means an influx of the unknowing, unaware, well-to-do BART commuter (stereotype much?). We’ll do well to welcome them with open arms. Well, maybe not. Just be nice. Don’t bite. Tiffany Maleshefski, aka Muni Mind Reader, homes in on what it must be like for this odd creature: the reluctant BART rider on Muni.
WTF? I wish when I decided to go on strike I had the ability to fuck with the lives of tens of thousands of people. But I don’t. And just because BART is finally going through on its threats to screw us all over for a couple of days, doesn’t mean I get to go on strike too. See, I’d just get fired, or my boss would tell me to get my ass on the closest Muni bus I can find…and fast.
Which is exactly what I’m doing. Finding the closest Muni bus. That’s a doable request. Can I find one fast? Probably not. Why? Because I’ve been waiting here for freakin’ 14 minutes, and every time the clock ticks down to 8 minutes, the goddamn NextBus sign bumps it back up to 10 or 12. PLUS, who the HELL schedules buses to come every 15 minutes at 8:30 a.m??? Hello Muni wunderkinds, this is peak commuting time. Hmmmph. BART would’ve had me to work by now.
BART strike most likely announced shortly (updates) 08.13.09
Photo by Flickr user troutfactory
Update (4:36 p.m.): Transbay Blog again, this time with TransLink tips during the strike.
Update (4:15 p.m.): Transbay Blog lists some ways to get across the Bay.
Update (4:12 p.m.): From StreetsblogSF: [ATU leader Jesse] Hunt announces strike effective Sunday evening at close of business. Also: Reporter asks: Will there be talks this weekend? Hunt: Clearly, they’ve decided they’re cutting off negotiations.
Original post: Too bad, so sad for riders and the two unions who voted in favor of the new contract. That’s not to say shame on ATU for what will most likely be a strike. Just too bad it didn’t all get worked out. We’ll do our best to keep you updated. Meantime, follow @streetsblogsf on Twitter for a probably kick-ass live tweeting of the press conference at 4 p.m. You can also try CBS 5′s live stream here.
74X-Culture Bus Funeral March This Saturday 08.13.09
Photo by Steve Rhodes
Eve and Matt over at SF Appeal reminded us of this Saturday’s somber-yet-timely death of the 74X-Culture Bus. So SF Appeal is proposing a ride on the Culture Bus on its last day of service to our fair tourists. Go show this waste of a Muni route your love, and show the world that San Francisco still has a lot of culture, just no need for an overpriced, redundant bus route with no riders.
Ride Muni like a boss. Our Fast Pass Clipper card holders and Muni Diaries T-shirts are all on sale 
