2010 Bay to Breakers, Muni style 05.17.10
Photo by @johnxorz
Burrito Justice posted this photo over at Mission Mission this morning. We, of course, applaud any and all Muni costumery. So if you wore or took pictures of any other Muni homages at yesterday’s crosstown footrace, send ‘em in: muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com
Here’s the 26 hanging out with the 4, a discontinued line that I miss dearly:
Photo by Flickr user Steve Rhodes
We also spotted other great Bay to Breakers fineries on and around Muni yesterday:
Photo by Flickr user Ed Morita
Photo by Flickr user Lynn Friedman
Photo by Flickr user Steve Rhodes
Photo by Flickr user ebaypoet
Spotted on BART:
Photo by Flickr user jwelcher
Copenhageners wish their bus driver a happy birthday 05.17.10
From smallerdemon, just another of the 1,000s of ways Europe kicks our asses.
This reminds us of Muni operator Tammy, who showed her appreciation for her 33-Stanyan passengers by throwing bus parties her last couple of days driving that route. Any 24-Divisadero riders out there get to meet Tammy yet?
Thx, Neatorama
Weekend Photos: Facing Forward 05.14.10
Photo by Troy Holden
A week into the service cuts, you’ve let us know in pictures and in stories how these cuts are affecting you. Meanwhile, new audit and cut backs on fare enforcement drove most of Muni news this week:
- St. Francis Circle Rail-Replacement project schedule changes to being Monday (SFMTA)
- Muni Says It Agrees With Its Audit, Still Wants to Rebut It (SFAppeal)
- Fare inspectors aren’t law enforcement officials (Bay City News via SFAppeal)
- Graffiti moniker helps solve Muni case (Examiner)
- Supervisors Prepared to Reject SFMTA Budget if Muni Service Cuts Stay (StreetsBlog SF)
- Muni cuts back on fare enforcement in light of profiling concerns (Examiner)
- New Muni attendance policy in the works (Examiner)
- City Audit Slams Muni Labor, Management (SFWeekly)
- Suspicious package (burrito) disrupts the N (CBS5)
This Sunday is Bay to Breakers so if you’re not running/walking/stumbling under the influence, be sure to check out the impacted Muni schedule due to the race.
Oh hey, is that a Muni Banksy in that photo below?
Enjoy the pictures and your weekend. And if you take any Bay to Breaker photos on Muni, we want to know, like, asap!
Photo by Thomas Hawk
Photo by Flickr user dumbeast
Photo by Flickr user optimal tweezer
Best Wedding Exit Ever from Car-Free Challenge 05.14.10
Sure, yesterday was bike-to-work day, but for a lot of us, every day is bus-to-work day. To celebrate being car-free and to raise some funds, an organization called TransForm is holding a “car-free challenge” whereby you can set a personal low-mileage goal and have the chance to win some movie passes, a goodie bag, and moral points for the environment. Transform’s promo video, “The Best Wedding Exit Ever,” is pretty hilarious too.
Photo Diary: 38-Geary Reimagined 05.13.10
Photo by Shaun Roberts
I found this photo of the 38-Geary by photographer Shaun Roberts by chance on Flickr. The man in the foreground looks very Jason Bourne to me, very me-against-the-world, alone in the big city kind of thing. Or maybe I’m just projecting…you decide.
Got great photos of Muni? Send it our way and join our Flickr pool.
Predictions May Not Be Valid 05.13.10
Photo by post author, Julie
This post is by Muni rider Julie, who happens to be one of our favorite people. Julie is the creator of iliveheresf.com and a founding member of SF-based photography site calibersf.com. She’s also Broke-Ass Stuart’s “Broke Ass of the Week” this week, but we swear we didn’t coordinate that one.
Tuesday was my first day on Muni since the new changes to the system took effect. Yes, the impact was noticeable. Yes, I was late. (You might have been late too, so it’s not like I’m telling you something you didn’t know already.)
I’m phobic about being tardy. I don’t know where I got this personality defect from, but I’ve had it for a long time. So when I know that I’m going to be late, and there’s nothing I can do about it, I tend to let it overwhelm me, which I know is stupid but it happens nonetheless. Today was the first day where I seriously considered not buying a Muni pass for June, the pass of which, up until today, had been an emblem of my San Franciscan-ness. But I couldn’t help scowling: What was I paying for, anyway?
I was supposed to talk to a class of high school students about photography, and portraiture specifically, at the request of a friend of mine who organized this group. It wasn’t just a bunch of regular students, but a group of “at-risk” kids: kids who had been expelled from other schools or could no longer attend regular high schools. This school is their last chance of getting some sort of education. My friend had set this class up months ago, after a luncheon we had where I loaned him my DVD of Born Into Brothels and we talked about the transformative power of photography. And here I was, mentally swearing a blue streak that I let that last Yellow Cab pass me by, thinking the N-Judah would come when it said it would. I envisioned this group of kids patiently and eagerly waiting for me and my wisdom to arrive, and here I totally blew it.
Tell us: How are the service cuts affecting you? (with update) 05.12.10
Photo by Flickr user Rubin 110
Update:
Perhaps as evidence of service cuts hurting everyone’s commute, rider JimmyD sent in pictures from his commute this evening and asks why a single car train is running at rush hour. Here’s the crowd at Embarcadero Station around 5:10 p.m. today:
Photo by JimmyD
How has your commute been this week?
Original post:
It’s now been five days since Muni enacted its latest service cuts, a whopping, decimating 10 percent reduction on just about every route in town. In less serious times, we’d be forced to joke about how service couldn’t possibly be reduced further, right? Wrong.
We see people’s toils and troubles on Twitter. We experience them ourselves in our commutes and our attempts to simply connect with our friends and colleagues. The cuts are real, and we feel them.
But now, we want to know how they’re affecting you. Share your stories in the comments, please.
(In related news, Streetsblog SF reports that the Board of Supervisors was set to discuss the SFMTA budget and the recent Muni audit at today’s 1:30 p.m. meeting.)
Letter No. 2 From a Muni Operator’s Wife 05.12.10
Photo by Flickr user catbagan
This week sure has seen an onslaught against Muni operators. First, we had the mayor slamming the TWU for not agreeing to a set of budget-reducing concessions. Then, on Tuesday, the Board of Supervisors-commissioned audit of Muni found that excessive overtime and other employee behaviors are costing the agency (and thus by extension, you and me) millions of dollars. Though, it should be noted, not nearly enough to have closed a $28.8 million budget deficit.
Hell, even Tara had a post this week griping about a bus driver’s behavior.
So, what do things look like from the other side, from the driver’s seat, so to speak? This brings me to a letter we received a few weeks ago from a veteran Muni operator’s wife. This is the second letter we’ve received from the spouse of a Muni operator (read the first one here), wanting give their views on what it’s like to drive the bus here. We want to share with you some of the salient points of this most recent letter.
Debating the What and Where of Caltrain’s ‘Pimp Seat’ 05.11.10
Photo by Flickr user jovenjames
Over the past couple of weeks, we’ve seen a variety of tweets from Caltrain riders who expressed glee in nabbing the “pimp seat” on the train. This made us wonder: What is the pimp seat on the train? So we took to Twitter to find out.
Luckily, readers and riders were happy to help; consensus is that the pimp seat is on the upper level of an old-school car. It’s the double seat at the very back, giving riders room to stretch out and store their stuff, too.
There also appears to be a decoy pimp seat:
And thoughts on if it’s fair for shorties to grab this special spot:
Finally, @Ryan sent a picture of how awesome the pimp seat can be:
Are these guys right? Is this the best seat on the train?
Freestylin’ 49, Part 2 05.11.10
Photo by Flickr user DaveFayram
I hate bagging on Muni drivers, whether it’s via the relative anonymity of the interwebs, to a friend at a party, or to their faces. It accomplishes nothing, as you’re still shit out of luck even after you’ve gotten worked up, right? But I had to say something this time.
Background: I spun this yarn a few weeks ago about a 49-Van Ness/Mission that inexplicably stopped at 14th Street, instead of continuing further south like it’s supposed to. Fine. Whatever. But during each of the three times this has happened to me, news of the offbeat route was announced with an inside voice that could shame the quietest church whispers. The 49 isn’t exactly quiet, either. All signs indicated that this was indeed a 49 that went the full route.
During my charmed third time on the 49-Stops at 14th Street, the bus pulls to a stop, and the same driver (at the same time of day) opens all the doors. He steps outside the bus, walks the length of one side, and notifies people with his inside voice, “last stop…last stop…last stop.”
As 50 people stare at one another confusedly, wondering if the driver simply bailed to the gas station for a snack, I stepped outside and asked if this was the last stop. I said he needs to actually announce this to people next time, because no one can hear him. That is why 50 people are still sitting on his bus.
His response: “The PA is broken, what do you want me to do?”
Hmm.
Yes, PAs break, especially on Muni, where a lot of things break all the time. And he’s apparently driving the same broke-ass bus every time, hence the regular lack of aurally acceptable announcements. Shitty. But come on; why did he go outside, first of all, instead of walking the length of the inside of the bus?
Consider this another plea for better communication between drivers and passengers.
If you’re curious, the bus turns east on 14th Street after slowly emptying its confused load of folks.
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