Lost with the dogs 09.10.09
All photos by Flickr user/post author tdogpics
Muni rider Axel sees hella dogs:
I’ve noticed a lot of dogs riding Muni lately. The 43-Masonic seems especially popular with them. Last Saturday afternoon I got on a 43 with a guy who had 2 dogs, then a blind woman got on with her guide dog. This ride was also notable for the fact that the driver got lost going through the Presidio, & we ended up exiting out on Arguello instead of Presidio Avenue. I guess the driver had never driven the route before. An old man seated near the front tried to direct her back to the route.
I think I could start a blog just about dogs on Muni. Here’s a few from other rides I happened to capture with my cell phone:
Seen any animals on the bus lately? Let us know: muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com.
Why Some Muni Drivers Refuse to Do Anything When Something Bad Happens 09.09.09
Photo by Flickr user Jeremy Brooks
The stabbing of an 11-year-old boy on the 49 prompted Muni rider Whole Wheat Toast to send us the following letter.
We’ve all been there before when someone was being assaulted or robbed on Muni. But remember when the kid was stabbed on his very first solo Muni ride? What did the driver do? It doesn’t say in the article. When a middle-aged couple were robbed by a group of sketchy people on the 47, did the driver intervene? Well, it’s possible we all know why the driver doesn’t intervene, but if you do, I’m going to rant about it anyway.
Anyway, I’ve personally known some Muni drivers. But those that I don’t, I’ve seen them get assaulted if they intervened. For example, I was on the 19 just last week heading to the Bayview Pot Fire, when some guy by the Potrero Hill Projects wanted to board the 19. The driver said “This is not a stop” and kept driving. The guy followed the bus. When the driver finally let him on at Wisconsin and 26th, the guy yelled in front of the driver’s face as if he was spitting at him, saying, “You don’t be fucking with me”, or something like that, I couldn’t hear what he was saying. I think he made a death threat to the driver, I don’t remember. But all I remembered was he just stepped on, and went to the back, yelling incoherently, making death threats to the driver, etc. But, the driver just brushed it off.
However, this would be a different case. I knew this driver who used to work at Woods Division, on the 44, at night. When he saw a person run for the bus, he would stop for them whether or not it would be a bus stop. Otherwise he thought he was going to endure retaliation next time around. As soon as he got seniority, he took the first available opportunity to transfer to another division. I won’t reveal what division he works at now.
The same applies to fare-evading. Just last Saturday when I was heading home on the 19, some kids got on at 23rd and De Haro and just went by. And they were under 12. And the driver didn’t do anything about it. Why? Obviously because they’re afraid of being assaulted by some lowlifes who refuse to play by the rules!
So, to wrap things up, most Muni drivers probably don’t want to do anything - not because they don’t care, but probably because they’re afraid of being assaulted if they intervened themselves. Not only that, if they were assaulted, there would be paid sick days, but most can’t afford paid sick days because most have to work to make ends meet.
T-Whiz: Pee on the T 09.09.09
Photo by Flickr user MarkPritchard
This tweetable diary arrived in our inbox last week:
Just had a guy take a leak next to me on the T @ 4th and King. He got off at the next stop. Must have been urgent.
Everyone knows in this town, when you gotta go, you gotta go.
Commuter Nation at Embarcadero tomorrow morning 09.08.09
Just got this press-releasey bit from Commuter Nation, announcing a thingymabob they’re doing tomorrow morning at Embarcadero. This could benefit you if you commute on a regular basis and are lucky enough to have a jobby-job:
San Franciscans can cut commuting costs by 40% with Commuter Nation
What: Commuter Nation campaign to educate commuters in the greater San Francisco metropolitan area about commuter benefits. Street teams will hand out educational and engaging tools that commuters can share with their employer. Additionally, commuters will be directed to visit http://www.commuternation.com, a high-impact online experience allowing commuters to entertainingly spread the word to their employers, coworkers, friends, and family through a personalized tour of Commuter Nation (think “Elf Yourself!”).
Who: Commuter Nation is an initiative to bring awareness and encourage commuting employees to learn about and participate in commuter benefits through their employer. Commuter Nation is an initiative by Commuter Check the leading provider of commuter benefits solutions designed to accommodate employers of all sizes and their employees’ commuting preferences.
When: Wednesday, September 9th Commuter Nation Street Teams in Embarcadero Station from 7 a.m. – 10:30 a.m. & 4 p.m. – 7:30 p.m.
Where: Street Teams will be in Embarcadero Station, San Francisco.
Why: Amidst recession panic and the recent Muni & BART fare increases, your readers are most certainly unhappy about paying more money each month to commute. Yet, most are unaware that they could decrease the burden of commuting costs and mitigate the impact of the fare hike by participating in commuter benefits through their employer. Commuter Nation gives them the tools they need to understand and effectively communicate the relevance and timeliness of providing commuter benefits in the workplace.
Theft on the 47 09.08.09
Photo by Flickr user exuberance //
A couple of days ago I was riding the 47 to work. I work at a busy pier 39 restaurant, so I ride the 47 about five days a week. While I was waiting for the bus to come at O’Farrell, five or six sketchy looking guys walked up. Instinctively, I put my iPhone away because I’ve heard the stories of people getting their iPhone’s stolen and lets face it, we all know a group of sketchy looking guys when we see them.
I took my normal seat on the back row of the bus and watched as the bus driver did nothing as these guys held the back door open and climbed on. They all stood near the back except for one, who took a seat across from me, we’ll call him Fred. Sitting by the back door was a middle aged couple, and as the back door opened at Geary, I heard a scream, caught a glimpse of a brief scuffle, and saw the group of guys jump off the bus and take off down the street with the middle aged chasing behind.
I’m not sure what the guys stole, whether it be an iPhone, or a purse or whatnot, but obviously something of value was taken straight from the hands of this couple. Now, here is where it gets really interesting. the guy (Fred) who was sitting across from me either did not know what was happening, or was simply that dumb, because he did not get off the bus! Fred seemed as shocked as everyone else. So after his friends leave, he gets up trying to get out as well.
Now I’m not sure what the bus drivers protocol is here, but if it were me, I would hold this guy until his friends were caught. Or as the driver I would at least call the police, or something! What does this driver do? He stops the bus in the middle of the block and lets the Fred out the back as if nothing had happened, and keeps on driving! As those of us left on the bus discussed the situation, I couldn’t help but wonder how the bus driver could have acted better in the situation.
After reading this story, I can’t help but wonder how Muni should be doing in these situations, or what they are teaching their drivers to do when situations like this arise. It seems that they could, and should be doing more to make Muni a safer place.
Acid flashbacks on the 23 09.08.09
Photo by Flickr user PatMinNYC
I hopped on the 23-Monterey last week and grabbed a seat near the middle of the bus, where two young surfer-looking guys were standing. One was holding on to the bar. The other, who had curly long dark hair and was shirtless, wasn’t holding on to anything.
“I like to just stand,” he explained to his friend. “It helps me keep my balance. It’s a whole yin and yang thing.”
He started exclaiming to his friend that they were about to come upon the place where he used to live, just off Monterey Boulevard. Then he pulled out a kaleidoscope and offered it — first to my baby, then to the woman sitting next to me. She finally took it and looked through it at the guy.
“I see you. A lot of yous,” she said, mostly humoring him.
“Yeah, that’s like, all my personalities,” he said. Then he shouted to the driver, “I want to get off at the next stop. No, not this one, the one after this one!”
The bus stopped, and he and his friend gathered their things, which included a box of clothing and shoes.
As they exited, he said, “Thanks Mr. Bus Driver! Have a nice day everybody!”
There were titters of laughter throughout the bus.
“They may be drugs, but they’re GOOD drugs,” said the woman next to me.
“It’s amazing what LSD can do,” said the girl on the other side of me.
The Joy of Reading on Transit 09.07.09
Photo by Flickr user Heather
The New York Times had a great story yesterday on the joy of reading in the subway. The story details the reading habits of New Yorkers on the subway, from students studying the Talmud to an aspiring actor reading Arthur Miller. The Times also took a poll of what people are reading on the subway – so far the most popular magazines are The New Yorker, New York Magazine, and The Economist; the top novels are The Girl with the Dragon Tattoo, Infinite Jest, and The Brief and Wondrous Life of Oscar Wao (See more poll results here).
A few weeks ago we ran a photo gallery of people reading on Muni and got some pretty interesting responses — Twilight, How To Be Useful, and the Examiner were some items we spotted in the mix. What are YOU reading on the bus?
Boy Stabbed on His First Solo Muni Ride 09.05.09
Photo by Flickr user transguyjay
An 11-year-old boy was stabbed on his first solo Muni ride on Tuesday evening ”by an apparently homeless man in an unprovoked attack while riding home from school,” Matier and Ross reports in SFGate. This story stopped me in my tracks – I’m sure this is every parent’s nightmare, and it happened on the 49, which I take more than any other line.
The boy had been in the intensive care unit at SF General for stabbing wounds to his liver and stomach, but he’s since been listed in good condition, SFGate reports.
More from Bay City News via SFAppeal:
The boy was riding home alone from baseball practice after school at the time, police spokeswoman Sgt. Lyn Tomioka said.
At about 6 p.m., as the bus neared 19th and Mission streets, a man described as “scruffy-looking” and possibly homeless attacked him at the back of the bus, stabbing him once, according to Tomioka.
She said the boy was sitting with a balloon on his lap at the time.
“It was an unprovoked attack on an innocent child,” she said, adding that there had been no conversation between the boy and the suspect, and no altercation between the suspect and anyone else on the bus, leading up to the attack.
Surveillance video on this particular bus was not functioning at the time of the attack, according to media reports.
The boy’s mother told Matier and Ross that “Muni is very dangerous.” I hate thinking that our daily transportation – the only transit option for many of us – is an unsafe place to be. But the horror that happened to this boy and the violent stories that we’ve received in the past leave me feeling that maybe our buses aren’t as safe as they should be.
Back in March, we learned that SFPD billed Muni a cool $12 million to “provide police services” and fund traffic enforcement. Eve Batey at the SFAppeal published an excellent report detailing what the SFPD is supposed to be doing on Muni. Would it have helped if we really saw cops regularly on the bus? Has it really come to this?
The police are working on a composite sketch of the attacker. Meanwhile, witnesses are asked to call police at (415) 575-4444 or text 84741, then typing “SFPD” and the tip.
(Long) Weekend Photos 09.04.09
Photo by echoes71
Happy Labor Day, everyone! Remember to thank those damned Socialists for this holiday …
Photo by napolifd
Photo by adotjdotsmith
All photos above come from the Muni Photos Flickr group pool. Join and contribute your photos today!
Photo Diary: Muni Love 09.04.09
Photo by @reidreid46
No, not that kind of Muni love, you perverts. Just a couple of sleepy dudes, and a very awake, not-looking-happy-about-it third guy.
Ride Muni like a boss. Our Fast Pass Clipper card holders and Muni Diaries T-shirts are all on sale 
