Sleep is the New Black on Muni 07.20.11
Oh, that’s how I feel most mornings, not just Monday! Turns out that your time on transit is a hot time for sleeping.To wit:
Photo by Ian Brown
Photo by Flickr user indieink
Photo by Flickr user SFNoob
Photo by Tito Perez
Okay, off to get my second cup of coffee now.
Muni News: More About the Bayview Shooting 07.19.11
By now we know that the man shot by police officers after a Muni fare inspection was Kenneth Wade Harding, a Washington State parolee “sought for questioning in the slaying of a Seattle woman,” according to SFGate.
Harding was paroled in April from prison in Washington after serving time for an incident in Seattle in which he tried to force a 14-year-old girl into prostitution, court records show.
Seattle investigators were seeking Harding as a person of interest in a shooting Wednesday that killed 19-year-old Tanaya Gilbert and wounded three others, said Seattle police spokesman Sgt. Sean Whitcomb.
…
Harding was stopped at 4:44 p.m. Saturday by two uniformed officers who, while patrolling Third Street between Oakdale and Palou avenues, were conducting a fare inspection on a Muni light-rail platform.
When the officers tried to talk to Harding, he ran into Mendell Plaza and fired a gun from under his arm, police said.
The officers fired back, hitting Harding, police said.
Read all the coverage of this story from the past two days:
- Muni Fare Evader Killed by SFPD Was Washington Murder Suspect (SFist)
- SF Muni Drivers Face Violent Attacks After Fatal Police Shooting (CBS Local)
- March against shooting scheduled tonight (Uptown Almanac)
- Victim in Seattle shooting linked to Kenneth Harding wasn’t pregnant (SF Examiner)
- Activists Call For FBI Investigation After SFPD Shoots And Kills Man During Muni Fare Inspection (SF Appeal)
- Man shot during police chase was murder suspect (Sacramento Bee)
- Person Of Interest Met With Parole Officer Hours Before Shooting (KIROTV)
- SFPD Says Man Killed by Police in Bayview-Hunters Point Shot First; Video of Shooting Aftermath (KQED)
- Community Reaction To SFPD Shooting Of Man During Muni Fare Inspection Continues (SF Appeal, also SFist)
- S.F.: Anger in Bayview over fatal shooting by cops (SFGate)
- Mayor, City Officials Meet With Community Members On Fatal Police Shooting (SF Appeal)
- SF police arrest 35 in protest of fatal shooting (SFGate)
See our earlier roundup of the shooting last weekend.
Help a Website Out: Your Old Fast Passes Wanted! 07.19.11
At Muni Diaries, we don’t have a Donate button or many ads, but we do have a little merchandise shop, and this is where you can help. You can help us make a little change to pay our web developer by donating your old Fast Passes! We’ll turn your old Fast Passes into the fantastic Clipper Card holders you see in this post (crafted by Heathered), and the sales will help support our story-telling endeavors and make this site better-looking and more fun to browse. Plus, we’ll give you one of the card holders (your choice) as a thank-you.
So, if you have a stack of old Fast Passes that you don’t know what to do with, won’t you consider donating them to Muni Diaries? Email us at muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com and let us know!
BMW Makes Over BART. No, Seriously. 07.19.11
Photo by Timothy Wells
BMW’s DesignworksUSA announced a contract to design future trains for Bay Area Rapid Transit (BART), the commuter rail system serving the San Francisco Bay Area. The contract calls for DesignworksUSA to design the exterior, interior, and train operator controls.
The current trains on the BART system, despite their streamlined look, are actually the oldest fleet of commuter rail cars in the country. The rail system uses a broad gauge rather than the standard gauge of most rail in the U.S., so cars must be custom-designed.
(also see BART’s official announcement)
Since the project won’t be completed until 2017, I hope there’s time for me to suggest some interior improvements. How about some of that supple buttery leather and titanium trim? But then again, features like “rear seat entertainment” could have a whole different meaning when it comes to BART…
Hat tip: BART Don’t Lie
Muni news: Lengthy Muni overhaul, new streetcar, new Muni chief 07.19.11
Photo by franciscophile
- Major Muni overhaul project could take years (SFGate)
- Lawsuit pending over ads on Muni buses (ABC 7)
- Bay Area transit agencies look to trade leaders (SFGate) | BART leaders dispel rumor (SF Examiner)
- F-Market Car 1040: Newest All Over Again (Market Street Railway)
- Muni, SF police to meet with Tenderloin residents about unsafe bus shelters (SF Examiner)
- Muni could get new chief today (SFGate)
What the DUCK is waiting for Muni? 07.19.11
It’s not everyday you see a giant duck, monkey, and either an opera singer or Mother Earth waiting for a bus when it wasn’t anywhere near Bay to Breakers time.
Any idea what movie was being filmed when D spotted these characters at the bus stop?
Clipper Card citation nightmare 07.18.11
Photo by Michela
I live in the East Bay and take BART into work regularly, but I take Muni only rarely. However, I purchased 10-ride ticket for my Clipper Card about six months ago because I do take Muni on occasion.
One night last month I stayed in San Francisco after work for an event, and I decided to take Muni to Embarcadero BART. I got on at 3rd and King, and tagged my card to the reader at the middle door. It beeped and I sat down. When I got off at Embarcadero, a transit officer stopped me and asked to check my Clipper Card. I was stunned when she said that the last time I had tagged in was that morning at El Cerrito del Norte BART. She did not have a record of me tagging out at 16th and Mission that morning, or tagging on at 3rd and King.
I did nothing illegal here besides use the damn card that they are asking us to use. For heaven’s sake, I have more than $200 in general funds on that Clipper Card, *plus* seven rides of a ten ride muni ticket — why would I cheat? But my protest was denied and so I’m going in for a in-person hearing.
Has this happened to you? If so, let us or Rebecca know.
A pleasant morning Muni experience 07.18.11
Photo by Tito Perez
Jim needs to get something off his chest.
I just want to say thank you to the 44-O’Shaughnessy outbound driver who picked me up at 9th Ave. and Kirkham around 8:20 a.m. last Friday for being such a great driver!
and…
Thanks for giving a short and friendly honk farther on to a man and his daughter walking toward the Laguna Honda and Clarendon stop, asking them if they needed to be picked up by the bus. (answer was yes…with smiles all around)
You really made my day!
Who made your day today? Share your Muni story on Muni Diaries.
Fare evader shoots at SFPD; cops fire fatal shot back (updates) 07.16.11
Update (4:18 p.m. Sunday): SF Appeal reports that the suspect’s gun has been recovered.
Update (8:29 p.m.): The Examiner now reports that the suspect in the shooting near Oakdale and Third has died from wounds he received after being shot by SFPD. The Examiner reports that:
“the two officers were conducting Muni fare inspections on a T-Third Street light-rail train when they detained the suspect on the platform at Third and Oakdale. The man bolted from the platform and fired back on the two officers, Andraychak said. That is when the cops shot at the suspect, with one officer kneeling down to take aim, according to one witness.”
SF Appeal also reports the story. SFGate’s report.
Original post: The Examiner is reporting that a man was shot by SFPD in the Bayview after deboarding a T-Third not having paid fare. We’ll bring you updates as we get them.
Muni News: SFMTA wants feedback, BART cops get tasers 07.16.11
- SFMTA Would Like Your ‘Feedback’ In Re: Nat Ford’s Replacement (SFist)
- Mayor wants leader, collaborator in new Muni director (SF Examiner) | (Streetsblog SF)
- Muni’s Not Moving Half The Time, And Other Findings From The Better Market Street Project (BCN via SF Appeal)
- All BART Police to Get Tasers, But Will They Use Them? (SF Weekly)
Ride Muni like a boss. Our Fast Pass Clipper card holders and Muni Diaries T-shirts are all on sale 
