Muni rider “D” asks the pertinent question in the headline up there, and sends the photos above and below, along with this commentary:
I saw this while walking past the cable car turnaround at Bay and Taylor st. this morning.
Considering Muni has been saying they need to raise fairs and CUT service, *who* is paying for the Dish Network!!?? The transit employee was watching “Family Feud.”
This while they are cutting routes. This while they’re cutting service. This while their drivers are getting bonuses!!??
I for one want to see an audit as to just where THE HELL THE MONEY IS GOING!!!
To be clear: In the latest MTA budget proposal, no routes are being threatened with elimination. Service is being reduced on almost every line, though.
And we can’t help but imagine that installation of a Dish Network satellite isn’t all that expensive. Basic service plans run around $25/month. Wait, that’s cheaper than our cable! WTF?
But seriously, while legitimate and all, this argument strikes us as a little bit “prisoners get to watch cable TV all day long while I work hard and pay taxes.” A little bit. What do you think?
More photos below:
PS: RIP Ray Combs
If you liked this Muni diary, you might like:
Like Sex, Love, Lust … Muni? Click 
Ride Muni like a boss. Our Fast Pass Clipper card holders and Muni Diaries T-shirts are all on sale 
yeah, but if MUNI spends money on this it will spend money on other needless items and those items add up. this expenditure is wrong along with so many other things that are wrong with MUNI
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[Reply]
Relax Kevin! We don’t know if the SFMTA is paying for it, but this is basically a break room so I don’t see why having a mini-dish is an issue; just who is paying for the dish. The break room near Duboce/Church also has daytime TV running.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[Reply]
It’s a little bit galling considering they just recently closed the manned ticket booth on the other side of the cable car turnaround because of the budget cutbacks. Could they not find someone willing to watch TV and sell tickets and Fastpasses at the same time?
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[Reply]
I think there is a small probability that SFMTA is paying for this, a large probability that the workers are paying for it, and a greater probability that most people will ignore the large probability to complain about the small probability.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[Reply]
You know, I’ve been told that the reason Muni doesn’t issue timely alerts about delays is because they don’t have enough time or computers to do so. And yet they have a guy in a booth with a satellite dish and enough time on his hands to watch Family Feud.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[Reply]
WTF matty? It’s a break room. People get to take breaks! You must be salaried…
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[Reply]
I had a different reaction. To me this looks like a temporary set-up, which suggests that muni may be “borrowing” Dish from somebody. Gov’t/pseudo-gov’t offices should not have stolen cable.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[Reply]
This is an outrage. I’ll bet they have chairs in that breakroom. Who is paying for those chairs? I demand a satellite dish audit and a chair audit. They probably have employee toilets in there too. Why isn’t that being audited? What if they have separate men’s and women’s bathrooms? Who is responsible for that wastefulness? I demand another audit. I think that anyone with a job should have to stand there in the rain and piss their pants on their break. This is an outrage.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[Reply]
We pay for just about everything in that break room except the bathroom, and you can’t get angry at the City for paying for a place for their workers to pee, can you? If the cable car guys get together and come up with a few bucks from our own pockets to make their break room a bit nicer, well, that’s up to us. As for the ad-hoc look of the Dish, it’s because you can’t mount a satellite dish inside a room on the first floor of a four story building and expect it to work.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[Reply]
This doesn’t seem like a huge waste of money to me even if the SFMTA were covering the cost. I think that a little enjoyment is within the realm of reason for workers in a first world country.
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[Reply]
Well, Family Feud is actually a classic game that traces back wayback in the 80′s i guess. It is a nice game anyway.~’`
Like or Dislike:
0 
0
[Reply]