Photo diary: Jesus Christ, Muni! 03.31.10
Heh. Misleading title doesn’t imply anger at Muni, but simply refers to the following tweet by the wondrously named @iRideMuni:
Apparently, “Jesus” rides muni too.
Makes me wonder: WWJD if he did have to ride Muni.
Breaking up is … easy to do, on Caltrain 03.31.10
Photo by Flickr user ruba8
Caltrain is generally thought of as a somewhat civilized form of public transportation. People get on, open their laptops, read their newspapers, and generally keep to themselves. The one exception? Cell phones. For some reason, people forget that when they are riding on the train and talking on their phones, other people — lots of other people — can hear them.
A month or two ago, I sat in front of a man who was on the phone with his best friend’s girlfriend — whom he had recently slept with. He was trying to convince the woman to leave the friend and hang out with him.
On a recent morning, a very impassioned woman on the SB 220 was on the phone with her boyfriend. Things… things did not seem to be going well in this love affair.
“It’s not the drugs, it’s not the alcohol. It’s you,” she said into the phone. “It’s always about you. I need you to agree not to call and harass me at work anymore”
I will give this woman credit — for whatever the drama was, she managed to maintain an infuriatingly calm tone throughout the conversation.
And so it continued.
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Vote for Muni Diaries in the SF Weekly Web Awards 03.30.10
Make that “the revenge of the nerdy Muni riders”!
Please vote for us at the SF Weekly 2010 Web Awards. We’re gunning for these categories: 1. Best SF Twitterer and 28. SF’s Best Social News/Aggregator Site. I mean, this is a democracy and I am not trying to influence you on how you vote, but if you find yourself wondering who you should vote for, the answer starts with Muni and rhymes with Diaries…
Oh, what am I saying? Please vote for us! Winners will be announced on Wednesday, April 7.
Vote for Muni Diaries for Best SF Twitterer and SF’s Best Social News/Aggregator Site here.
Third Group Attack on T-Third Line 03.30.10
Photo by Flickr user sfistrita
Last weekend saw another violent group attack at a T-Third station in Bayview SFGate reports. This is the third of such attack since January:
The latest attack happened at 7:45 p.m. Saturday at Third Street and Williams Avenue. The victim, a 29-year-old man, was riding home on the T-Third line when a group of five youths, all about 14 to 16 years old, started to punch him, police say. The youths got off the train but the victim stayed on and reported the attack to the operator, said police spokesman Officer Albie Esparza.
The man was treated at San Francisco General Hospital and released, according to the police spokeman. As SFist and ABC7 pointed out, a woman was attacked by a group of teens last week on a Muni platform on Third Street. The surveillance camera recorded what appears to be a teenager grabbing her by the neck and throwing her on to the rails. A 15-year-old has been arrested in connection with that attack, ABC7 reports. The woman is recovering.
Another man, who was 83, was attacked by a group of teens from behind after he left a bus stop on Third; he died in March.
We’ve heard our share of Muni violence, ranging from some fisty fracas to a really touchy situation involving guns (and let’s not even mention the fights caught on YouTube). But this group situation seems like a scary new thing. Police are stepping up patrols in the Third Street corridor, according to CBS5.
We hope police are able to bring the situation under control soon, and we can return to regular, nonviolent, non-criminal Muni coverage.
Three Cup Shuffle Scam on Muni 03.30.10
Photo by Flickr user photine
Muni rider Adam saw a group of people scamming Muni passengers on the 24 recently with the infamous “three cup shuffle” scam. I’ve heard about this scam being carried out on tourists at Fisherman’s Wharf and in some other tourist-heavy cities, but Adam’s description of what happened seems more threatening:
Today a friend witnessed a group of people gambling/scaming passengers on Muni. One guy would do the ‘which cup is the bottlecap under’ and bug nearby passengers about money, while flashing cash. A nearby passenger refused to pay attention so two other guys came up and threatened the guy into giving up his cash on hand. This was on a 24-inbound. They jumped off in the Haight. Not 10 minutes later another friend texts me that this same group of guys (whom he sees all the time) are on the 71-inbound doing the same thing. They intimidated a guy out of $40.
Adam said he called 311 and was transferred to SFPD, who then transferred him back to Muni. Adam also reports that the 311 operator would not take an anonymous report, but on the 311 site I found that you can indeed file an anonymous report about Muni.
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Muni Saved My Life! 03.29.10
Photo by Flickr user Let There Be More Light
Literally. A scary guy was tailing me from Il Pirata to Mighty on Utah. I left Mighty when I saw scary guy pay the cover and ran onto 16th street. I was under the freeway looking back when I saw the scary guy again. A 33 bus pulled to the side of the road and said, “You look like you need some help.” I got on the bus and the driver dropped me off at 16th and Mission BART. He never asked for cash. That Muni driver saved my life. GO MUNI!!!!!
Floral-Shelter Mystery: Solved 03.29.10
Super-sleuth Muni rider Carlos cracked the case of the blooming bus shelter:
I went by yesterday. Clearly shows it is for a Degree deodorant ad.
We can all go about our business now.
Weekend Photos: Flowers on the bus 03.26.10
Photo by Flickr user davitydave
Pardon us while we do our best to round up an apparently very busy week, transit-news-wise:
- Muni may cut down on stops (SF Examiner)
- Transit districts may avert cuts with CA tax funds (SFGate)
- Eyes on the Street: 511 ID Numbers Going Up at More Muni Stops (StreetsblogSF)
- Suspect In Muni Stabbings To Be Arraigned Wednesday (KTVU)
- More Questions Than Answers From MTA After Muni Hits Parked Car, Injuring One Rider (SF Appeal)
- Free Muni Rides for Golden Gate Ferry Passengers Ends Next Week (Akit)
- Muni Operator Wage Measure Now Official (StreetsblogSF)
- Will Influx of State Money Prevent Muni Service Cuts? (SF Weekly)
- TransLink Now Accepted on Muni Cable Cars (Passes Only) (Akit)
- Throw That Ticket Away; Muni Can’t Make Fare Cheats Pay (SF Appeal)
- Safety boss leaves Muni (SFGate)
- MTA Board Chairman: Spending State Windfall Will Provoke Tough Choices (StreetsblogSF)
- SF Transit Riders Union Holds First Meeting, Debates Priorities (StreetsblogSF)
- Extensive AC Transit service changes go into effect Mar. 28 (California Beat)
- As Expected, [NYC] M.T.A. Trims Service (NY Times)
Also, today from 4 p.m. to 7 p.m., TransLink will give away adult cards at metro stations and shelters from West Portal to Powell Market and Main (thx: Akit).
And lastly, we want to share a bit of exciting, behind-the-scenes news with you all: While we work on publishing your submissions every day, we’ve also had something else up our sleeves. Sometime in the next few weeks, we will be rolling out a new look for Muni Diaries — same site, but easier on the eyes. We’ll do our best to hold your hands through any adjustments, though they’ll be slight and mostly of the pretty-making variety. Stay tuned. And have a wonderful weekend!
Photo by Troy Holden
Photo by Flickr user eviloars
Photo by Flickr user Dawn D
Muni Gear: ‘Fe-MUNI-st’ 03.26.10
Rider Jon sent us this baseball cap: “FeMUNIst — Information gladly given, but safety requires avoiding unnecessary conversation.”
This message is also available in the form of a tank top or maternity shirt (?!)
Ride Muni like a boss. Our Fast Pass Clipper card holders and Muni Diaries T-shirts are all on sale 
