Do you sleep on Muni? 01.14.10
Flickr contributor DavidTakesPics sent the photo above to our Muni Photos Flickr group. It’s not the first photo we’ve seen of someone asleep on Muni; it is, perhaps, the first we’ve seen of someone so camped out as to be totally obscured, under the tent, as it were. Kinda reminds us of a sweet and tender Muni moment from last September, in which two dudes were caught catching their Zs on an unwitting passenger. Hey, sometimes, nature calls.
But we wonder: Do you ever accidentally fall asleep on Muni? Lord knows sometimes your commute is longer than you planned. And sometimes, even the most upsetting ruckus can evolve into white noise, and lull us to sleep. Snoozing on BART is a well-established art, it’s true. Still, BART is no Muni. Is it safe or advisable to get shuteye on Muni?
Also, if you fall asleep on Muni, you’re going to miss all the great stuff that should be on this site. Instead, you might become that stuff.
Sweet dreams …
Metallica Sing-Along on Muni 01.13.10
Hey metal heads, rider Steve L. sent us this video clip of two teenagers singing enthusiastically to Metallica’s Master of Puppets on the bus. Turn up the volume and watch the above video…
From Steve:
My bf and I were on the bus the other night and the two teenagers next to us, who seemingly just got off work from Popeye’s maybe, were loudly singing along to Metallica’s “Master of Puppets.” It was amazing. Apologies for shitty sound quality.
Steve, we’re glad to have the video nonetheless! In case you’re not familiar with the awesomeness that is Metallica, here they are performing the song live:
All together now: “Come crawling faster…obey your master…” <hair thrashing optional>
Photo diary: Just a disco rat on Muni 01.12.10
POP Cops on the 22 01.12.10
Photo by Flickr user Transit Nerds
Ed. note: We received the following diary from Mike of Epic Road Trips, a recent regular contributor. Thanks, Mike. We want to point out that while we generally support the work of Muni fare inspectors, we realize there are bad apples in every bunch, as this story suggests. Mike’s story happened last October, and soon after that, we’ve had some lively discussion about this issue. Has your experience with fare inspectors changed in the last few months? Let us know in the comments section.
After a trek from downtown, over the hill through Chinatown, North Beach and up to Coit Tower I then made my way back down the Filbert Steps for the 2 mile walk past Washington Square then Filbert Street up and over the hill to Fillmore and Lombard, a now familiar bus stop to me. I boarded the next 22 and nearly dozed off a coupla times.
When the bus stopped at Market and Church Streets two uniformed officers boarded. One in green – a MUNI ” Proof of Payment” (POP) COP, and one in black – SFPD. The MUNI cop positioned herself in front of the back door, the SFPDer at the front. The POP cop whipped out her citation book and said she was here to check to make sure everyone had a pass or a transfer and to please have then out and ready for inspection.
The very first person she checked was an older lady. She presented the POP cop with a Senior pass. The POP cop asked the lady how old she was and she mumbled something I could not hear, but the POP cop obviously did.
The POP cop then went on to check every passenger and finding no violators went back to the old lady. She said that since she was not old enough to be using Senior pass three things were going to happen: She was going to confiscate the pass, which she did, she was going to issue the lady two citations, one for improper use of a Senior pass and one for non payment of fair. She spoke loudly so everyone on the bus could hear her.
The old lady looked up at the POP cop and said something I could not make out. The POP cop then said loudly and sarcastically: “Oh, now you don’t speak any English”.
She then asked the woman for some sort of ID as proof of her age. The old lady seemed to not understand and the POP cop said she did not speak Spanish. She then told the women if she produced ID, she would write the citation and then everyone could go on their way. If she didn’t, then the SFPD would search her purse for her ID.
About then the old lady got up to get off the bus. She did and the POP cop followed here. The POP cop stuck by her side and SFPD cop went out the front of the bus. As the bus pulled out of the stop I could see the little old lady standing there in middle of the sidewalk flanked on either side by the two cops. Then, they were gone.
How this all ended we will never know, but I thought it a rather pathetic use of public resources.
2010 No Pants Subway Ride 01.11.10
Photo by @DavidWilton
No Pants seems to have come and gone without much hoo-ha. There was talk in the days leading up to the annual public prank of authorities citing and even arresting participants. We’re glad no one was left to dry … especially without their pants to keep them warm in the slammer.
Photo by @craigmd
Weekend Photos — First Week of the New Decade on Muni 01.08.10
Photo by Flickr user brandi666
Before we get into this week’s happenings, I have to point your attention to the above photo of a young, impossibly cool Muni rider. God, I couldn’t dream to be that cool at that age. Or now, actually.
We started off the first week of the year, unfortunately, with a Muni crash of the 19-Polk, when both the bus and the truck driver ran the stop sign, as shown in a video released by the SFMTA. Another piece of disturbing news: The SFAppeal reports an assault and robbery on Muni when a person who was texting on the bus was punched and had his/her phone stolen. Hey, can’t we all get along?
In better news, I hope you’re ready rock 2010 on Muni this Sunday at the No Pants ride! Last year we spotted a gentleman wearing no pants and carrying a pineapple for inexplicable reasons. I can’t wait to see who will top that this year.
Enjoy these photos and don’t forget to add your own pics of Muni at our Muni photo pool.
Have a great weekend, everyone.
Photo by Flickr user Daniell Lefebvre
Photo by Flicker user Noodles and Beef
Photo by Flickr user andy54321
The Blind Couple and the Boy 01.08.10
Photo by Flickr user kevindooley
It was a crowded 5-Fulton outbound on a Tuesday commute. Somewhere near the Civic Center, a blind man and his girlfriend (also partially blind) got on the bus and were given seats near the front but not next to one another. Closer to City Hall, a boy around the ages of 7-9 got on the bus with his mother and stood near the front of the bus.
The boy had noticed the blind man’s walking cane and began to talk with him.
Boy: “Sir, what’s that stick for?”
Blind man: “Oh, it’s to help me find my way around because I cannot see.”
Boy: “You can’t see? What do you mean? Can you see me?”
Blind man: “Unfortunately, no, I cannot see you, at least not in this dim light [on the bus].”
Boy: “I wish you could see me. I would give you my eyes so you can see.”
Blind man: “You are so very sweet, thank you.”
The boy’s mother, meanwhile, seemed uncomfortable with her son being overly inquisitive with a stranger. She continued to hush and scold him for asking too many questions throughout the conversation.
Boy: “Do you cook?”
Blind man: “Oh, no way, I don’t. But my girlfriend cooks for me.”
The blind man motions to his girlfriend in the general direction of her voice.
Boy: “Oh, you are his girlfriend?”
Girlfriend: “Yes, I am.”
Boy: “Can you see me?”
Girlfriend: “I also cannot see, but I can see better than my boyfriend.”
Boy: “Why can you both not see? I wish I could give both of you my eyes so you can see me and everyone else here.”
Girlfriend: “That’s so very kind of you, thank you.”
The boy and his mother had to get off the bus around Fillmore. Before he got off the bus, he bid his farewell to the couple.
Boy: “It was nice meeting you, Sir.” He takes the blind man’s hand into his own and shakes it.
Blind man: “It was very nice meeting you, too. Thank you.”
Boy: “It was nice meeting you, Miss.” He hugs the girlfriend.
Girlfriend: “You are so sweet, thank you. You take care of yourself and your mother now.”
The boy and his mother exited, and enough seats freed up between the couple so they could find one another again by the sound of each other’s voices.
A call for no pants 01.07.10
Photo by Flickr user nelz9999
It’s that time of year: Time to ride BART and Muni with no pants on and freak out all the grannies and grampses riding on a Sunday afternoon.
What follows is organizers’ Improve Everywhere’s Facebook page devoted to this Sunday’s event. Rather than linking to FB and making many of you sign in or sign up, we’ve gone ahead and pasted it all here. Remember: the organizers do not want those participating in the ride to do anything conspicuous like take photos. We’re honoring that request, and not asking you for any. Instead, we’ll do our best to round some up early next week. SFW, natch.
All are invited to participate in the 9th Annual No Pants! Subway Ride. The event will take place starting 1:30 PM on Sunday January 10.
REQUIREMENTS FOR PARTICIPATION:
1) Willing to take pants off on subway
2) Able to keep a straight face about it
3) At least $5 for the BART/MUNI rides and some extra for bar/etc.
(or a fast past)If you are unfamiliar with the No Pants Subway Ride, read the history at Improve Everywhere.
THE PLAN:
Pittsburg/Bay Point train, times below.
Go to the station of your choice, before the scheduled train arrives. If you can, arrive with no pants (if you are bringing pants for later, have them in a bag or otherwise concealed; if you need to, discreetly take your pants off in the station before getting on the train). Then get on the train when it arrives. Act casual. Don’t take pictures, if you can help it. Try not to notice the other pantsless people, unless someone points them out to you. If asked, pretend you have no idea why everyone else has no pants. See the improv everywhere page if you need ideas on why /you’re/ not wearing pants.
This is the new revised schedule; if you can plan on boarding from the other stations that are suggested, PLEASE DO. The more spread out we are the better.
1:47 San Bruno
1:51 SSF
1:54 Colma
1:58 Daly City
2:01 Balboa Park<-Last names that start with A-H
2:04 Glen Park
2:07 24th & mission<-Last names that start with I-P
2:09 16th & mission
2:11 Civic Center<-last names that start with Q-Z
2:13 Powell
2:14 Montgomery
2:16 Embarcadero <—we all exitAfter we exit on embarcadero, we will proceed to MUNI and go from there. Our goal is to be by MUNI by 2:30 After this our new adventure will begin!!!
Let the search for the pants lead you! Wear comfortable shoes and bring some extra cash. Once again try and refrain from taking pictures, the more it looks that we just forgot pants the better. There will be plenty of photographers that are spectating for us. I know its going to be hard not to take pictures, but at least tone it down :)
———————————————————————————-
The last year event page and all the details/pictures we posted:http://www.facebook.com/event.php?eid=41689368279&index=1
———————————————————————————
The main stop everyone boarded on was @ 16th and mission but I’d like to have it more spread out this year so everyone isn’t getting on at the same stop. If some could disperse to 24th and mission that would be great. (the more spread out we are the better)Remember that you might want to bring pants for later in case it does get cold. The forecast is a high of 58 so we are looking good so far.
I’ll update this more this week. Thanks and hope to see everyone in their best attire.
—————————————————————————————
THESE INSTRUCTION ARE FOR EAST BAY ONLY DO NOT READ IF YOU ARE ON THE SF BAY SIDE
*EAST BAYERS*
You are very important too, so make sure you come. It would be great if you would arrive on this train or around 2:16 so the confusion of both trains in the station emptying out with pants-less passengers.1:27 Concord
1:32 Pleasant Hill
1:35 Walnut Creek
1:39 Layafette
1:44 Orinda
1:50 Rockridge
1:55 McAuthur
1:58 19th & Oakland
1:59 12th & Oakland
2:03 West Oakland
2:11 Embarcadero< exit here
Our train will arrive a couple minutes later so just wait for us.Vivek-
SFMTA releases video of 19-Polk crash 01.07.10
Update: Above, video of the crash (thx @ActionNewsSF):
Original post: The following is a press release from MTA spokesperson Judson True. It shows both the 19-Polk and the truck running their respective stop signs moments before slamming into each other.
The SFMTA today released video from the 19 Polk vehicle’s DriveCam system and its onboard video surveillance system. At approximately 12:05 a.m. on Tuesday, Jan. 5, this 19 Polk Muni bus traveling northbound on De Haro Street was involved in an accident with a truck traveling westbound on 18th Street.
The DriveCam video is provided as an attachment to the e-mail.
The onboard video can be downloaded at http://bit.ly/6Giiyi. The 164- megabyte file may take a few minutes to download. This video is also available on DVD; e-mail judson.true@sfmta.com to obtain a copy of it.
The video appears to show that the Muni bus rolled through its STOP sign on De Haro Street and the truck ran its STOP sign.
“Video is a tremendous help in our investigation of accidents like this one,” said Nathaniel P. Ford Sr., SFMTA Executive Director/CEO. “It is a vital tool that helps us improve Muni safety.”
The Muni Operator involved in the accident remains on non-driving status pending the outcome of the investigation.
DriveCam is a driver risk mitigation system that the SFMTA has installed in all of its trolley, biodiesel and biodiesel-electric hybrid buses, to help improve safety on the transit system. The DriveCam system records inside and outside the front of the bus to capture collisions or other driving behaviors. The cameras record and download a few seconds of footage before and after an incident when the vehicle experiences an exceptional force, such as hard braking or swerving. These recordings will be used for safety investigations and Operator instruction.
Because the files involved do not run on Macs, we’re providing the .wmv version of the video here. If anyone can convert this to .mov or upload to YouTube, let us know and we’ll embed it here. We watched it, and it’s clear that both vehicles are at fault.
10-Townsend Blacking Out 01.07.10
Photo by Flickr user SlinkyDragon
Rush hour. Everyone’s tired. Everyone. Including the driver. But not the passengers.
I was on the 10-Townsend the other day coming home from Chinatown. Did the same ritual, boarded the bus, flashed my pass, found a seat, and we headed up the hill. At the same time, the back door was having a problem of closing and reopening itself.
At the same time, a couple more people got on at Stockton, and the bus started to get pretty noisy when it came to the mob of passengers mingling. Then, when the bus got to Mason, the back door started to open and close repeatedly without anyone stepping on it. Then, all of a sudden—–
Everything was dark and silent.
I looked around. Everyone seemed surprised and quiet as if someone had taken over the bus in a somewhat-deserted street with something that looked like a bus being the only thing visible. Fortunately, the bus I was on started up again and up Nob Hill the bus negotiated, and I got to my destination safely with a 12-Folsom bus following us!
Ride Muni like a boss. Our Fast Pass Clipper card holders and Muni Diaries T-shirts are all on sale 
