Letting out at Sacramento and Fillmore 01.06.11
Photo by Roshan Vyas
Roshan has this disgusting and far-too-common story to share:
As I got closer, I noticed why no one was standing there: In the middle of the covered shelter area, someone had left a giant pile of poop. This was no dog dropping either. This was human. Everyone was rightly standing outside the shelter and I joined them there.
Checking my phone while waiting for the 1, I noticed the following email from my other half, who had left for work 10 minutes earlier.
Subject: Alert! Poop at muni stop!!!!!
Body: Watch out!Indeed. It was quite the harrowing experience and made for a great story.
As the day went on, questions like “Who would do that?!” and “Who is responsible for cleaning that up?!” came up. Was it the City? Was it a neighborhood association? Was it Marc?
When I got home that night, the pile was gone, but a giant stain remained. Not only that, some of the substance was also left behind as footprints walking away from the pile. Someone had accidentally stepped right in it! How could that happen?! My theory is that it was someone getting off the back of the 1 during the day, who just jumped off the Muni looking forward to getting some Peet’s coffee and maybe a $50 dog bowl at Jonathan Adler.
Little did they know that their day, their summer, was about to be ruined.
That person’s experience is why I now take a moment to look down before jumping off the Muni. If you are waiting behind me, now you know.
You were warned.
Share your Muni stories, photos, video, and ephemera here on Muni Diaries.
Drawn diary: J-Church reader 01.05.11
Your chance to own a Muni-form! 01.05.11
And OMG, it took all my strength to resist buying this, and instead, passing it along to you. I love you that much, mkay?
Muni Diaries iPhone App Review: Smart Ride 01.04.11
There seems to be no shortage of Muni apps for iPhone. We think that’s a good thing; a little competition should lead to a better product, right? Here to review one of the latest apps is Muni rider Stephanie. Stephanie reviewed Smart Ride, which is free from the iTunes store, by the way. Here’s her take:
As a habitual SF Muni rider for close to 10 years, I have become keen on new Muni iPhone apps. Bottom line, they’re nothing but useful. They save riders time by showing arrival times of any given bus. I recently downloaded Smart Ride, and enjoyed its features. First of all, it’s free. That’s huge to me, because I really only download free apps, no matter how popular they are. I’m sure a lot of Muni riders will appreciate this also.
The user interface is clean and easy to understand. The app asks for permission to locate your current location, and proceeds to bring up a page of nearby stops and their next arrival predictions. Smart Ride also displays the approximate distance (in feet) to each bus stop. This may seem frivolous, but it’s actually pretty interesting to know which stop is technically closer to you!
The app also features a live map and a directory of different public transportation agencies. I found this a positive thing, since it would be useful when traveling in different cities. I particularly like the fact that the directory stays on your chosen agency (SF Muni) even when you are using the other features of this app. I find it frustrating when some apps reset once you veer away from a certain location, and the user is forced to go back through the motions of choosing their preferences again.
From my experience, Smart Ride’s predictions have been accurate, and I have enjoyed using this application. The Favorites feature sets it apart from some Muni apps out there. It allows you to save your frequently used stops, which is extremely helpful when you’re in a rush! Overall, I am pretty pleased with Smart Ride. It covers all the bases, and is quick and easy to understand. Thanks for saving me time, Smart Ride!
Thanks, Stephanie. Now when is the Android app market going to explode? Too much to ask, I know ;)
Previous iPhone app reviews on Muni Diaries:
Photo Diary: So Much Muni Going On 01.04.11
Photo by davitydave
I almost titled this post: Visual Muni Diarrhea. I hope it’s obvious why I elected not to.
How Chicago does it 01.03.11
Image by Give a Minute
The campaign is called Give a Minute. It’s a pretty and well-functioning way for CTA to reach out to its constituency. And Give a Minute is active in Memphis, New York, and San Jose, also. Yes, San Jose. We hope our own SFMTA is taking notice.
And so, to plagiarize, “Hey, San Francisco, what would encourage you to walk, bike, and take Muni more often?”
Thx: Daily Dish
Getting Hitched at the Muni Yard 01.03.11
Photo by Jessica Palopoli, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved.
We were supposed to have our wedding out at Fort Miley – near Land’s End – with the Golden Gate Bridge and all that in the background. Then the weather surprised us by raining all day and we had to move our ceremony – and photoshoot – to our reception venue, at the Verdi Club (on Mariposa and Potrero).
In the months leading up to the wedding I had done some thinking about where we would do the photoshoot if the wedding rained out, so I’d mused that we could use the Muni yard, which is a half-block away from the Verdi Club – as a backdrop. It was graphically interesting and very San Francisco! We were lucky enough to have a short break in the deluge, long enough to take a few photos.
The Muni pictures are awesome and definitely showcase our city, even if it’s not in the way I’d originally planned. Oh – and we wanted to actually go in the yard and take photos by the buses, but the security guy at the gate of the yard wouldn’t let us.
I guess we can rest assured that the Muni yard is pretty secure. Thanks, Heather and Ed!
Photo by Jessica Palopoli, Copyright 2010, All Rights Reserved.
Imagining Muni as Mainframe 01.02.11
Photo by Steve Rhodes
Don Asmussen, SFGate’s Bad Reporter, recently spun quite the imaginative yarn: Muni: Legacy. In it, Asmussen tells of heroic feats, mysterious disappearances, Clipper fails, and, finally, victory? It’s accompanied by some nifty imagery, also.
Read the entire strip here.
Ride Muni like a boss. Our Fast Pass Clipper card holders and Muni Diaries T-shirts are all on sale 
