Muni’s Got Your Ticket to the Gun Show 12.07.11
Octoferret says:
On the 76 line in the Marin Headlands.
My second favorite is ‘General Manager’ on the northbound 19-Polk.
“General Manager” is a great WTF-inducer. I have two others tied for first, though: the running ticker of gibberish and Sassy Muni Bus. Please Ho, indeed.
To answer your burning question, though, there is apparently a place called Rifle Range in the Marin Headlands. The National Park Service says you can find those purty Mission Blue butterflies there. Nowadays, it appears to function more as a venue/public space than a shooting range. Please give us a break for giggling, though, as we don’t see “rifle range” on many things around here.
Go ahead, make my day: drop some photo goodies in our award-winning (finalist-making) Muni Photos Flickr pool.
Muni Ray Charles 12.07.11
Photo by Andy Callahan
Mr. Eric Sir, take it away …
Who says Muni isn’t worth $2?
Last Thursday night I was in a foul mood and in desperate need of some cheering up before the ohGr show at Bottom of the Hill.
The bus cleared out when we hit 16th and Mission and that’s when I spotted the source of the sound: Muni Ray Charles.
Make no mistake, Muni Ray Charles is a black man wearing a suit and sunglasses (at 9pm, no less) who “sings” in his own unusual way.
Passengers kept their distance as Muni Ray Charles rocked himself out like an overwound wind-up toy. Like most other passengers, I was ultimately unsuccessful in suppressing my laughter. His performance was so vigorously impassioned it was impossible to stay in a bad mood for long.
A few stops after Mission, Muni Ray Charles finished the performance, fist-bumped a few passengers, yelled “BACK DOOR!” and was on his way.
For You: Fast Pass Surprise Prize 12.06.11
Just found a #muni fastpass from ’97 in a book i got @ Green Apple months ago. #FTW
Circa 1997! This is some kind of weird personal trifecta of three things I love: Fast Passes, books, and Green Apple (follow them on @greenappleguy!). My world is blown.
You too can geek out on Fast Passes — we have Fast Pass Clipper Card holders on sale at the Muni Diaries Etsy store. Made with real Fast Passes just like the one above. Check ‘em out.
Muni News: Muni thefts, new Muni union leaders, BART copper thieves 12.06.11
Photo by mike dillon
- Alert San Francisco cops stop pickpockets on Muni (SF Examiner) || (BCN via SF Appeal)
- Extraordinary Circumstances only for cell phone interruptions (BART.gov)
- Johannes Mehserle Cleared of Police Brutality Charges (SF Weekly)
- What’s the Best Design for Van Ness BRT? (Streetsblog SF)
- Muni fares are throwing riders off the bus (SF Examiner editorial … yep, you read that right)
- Muni union’s frustrated members to pick new leaders (SF Examiner)
- Good news for Muni riders? (City Insider)
- Copper thefts around tracks bedevil BART officials (SFGate)
- Man on Muni Brutally Stabbed Over Cellphone (SF Weekly)
- Muni Thieves Target Cellphone Users In Three Robberies Monday (BCN via SF Appeal)
TEP Environmental Review Meetings Today and Tomorrow 12.06.11
SFMTA has announced that it has prepared its Transit Effectiveness Project (TEP) for environmental review. It is holding public meetings this evening and tomorrow so you can get a sense of the proposal as it exists today.
Details:
One South Van Ness Ave., Floor 2
6:30 p.m. on Tuesday, December 6, and Wednesday, December 7
More info on the meetings here. More on TEP here.
Muni in Top Form 12.06.11
Kyle and his friend, whose evening was saved by some very nice people.
We arrived at Van Ness station and offboarded onto the platform. We had just barely climbed the top of the stairs to the mezzanine level when my date exclaimed “Oh God! My purse!” She had left her purse on the train.
Surely her cash and belongings were now lost in the clutches of the city forever, to be divvied up and forgotten about. I quickly made my way to the station operator booth and told the operator, “She left her purse on the last inbound J train!”
The operator quickly picked up his phone and called the train, told them the situation, nodded his head and put down the receiver. “They have it, wait downstairs on the outbound platform and look for train 1502, should be here in 20 or so minutes, happy holidays!” he said with a warm smile.
We thanked him and made our way to the platform to wait. When train 1502 rolled in, I entered the front car and was greeted by a friendly operator who was laughing and telling us how lucky we were and wishing us well.
It was all a pleasant and smooth experience, the kind you don’t usually expect from a Muni ride, especially when you are starting with a bad situation. I wrote a compliment on the SFMTA website for all the operators involved in the ordeal. Happy Holidays and wish you all the same fortunes on your commute.
Or at least let’s hope we can turn a small misfortune around like Kyle did. Hey, what’s your Muni diary today?
Van Ness clusterfuck for a few more years (at least) 12.05.11
Image of one proposal for Van Ness BRT courtesy of SFCTA via The Bay Citizen
Bus rapid transit (BRT) is a proposal that, among other things, creates dedicated lanes and prioritized signals for public transit vehicles. The result, ideally, is that Muni fast-tracks through clusterfucked corridors more efficiently than it does now. (See also: 49-Van Ness, 38-Geary, and OMFG ARRRGH).
However, the approval and implementation of BRT plans and proposals has been the opposite of efficient.
Streetsblog discusses the holdup of the proposal for BRT along Van Ness Avenue, one of several asphalt parking lots in San Francisco that Muni has the privilege of navigating.
Van Ness BRT is in many ways the first of its kind in the United States, and its scope has grown to include a complete overhaul of the street. The project’s environmental impact report/statement, released last month in compliance with state and federal requirements, also included a burdensome level of analysis.
Read the rest of the story at Streetsblog SF.
An N-Judah/Prius Sandwich 12.05.11
Muni rider Andrew sends this dispatch from Carl and Willard around 10 a.m.:
Looks like Muni is at it again (or in this case, may actually be the victim!). A car has become wedged between an outbound N Judah train and a parked car. Although nobody wanted to discuss what actually happened, it looks as though the grey [sic] car tried to take a right onto Carl st directly in front of an oncoming N Judah. Bummer.
Bummer indeed. And bummer that no Muni employees could explain what happened to Andrew. Anyone else have more info on this?
Photo Diary: My Parents on Muni 12.05.11
Photo by Alfredo M.
The people in the photo are my parents, Alfredo and Maria. The photo was taken in the Mission district in 1987. I asked my parents about it some months ago and was actually surprised to hear that the photo was taken the day they found out they were going to have a baby. The baby was me, their first born. By the look on my dad’s face, I’d say they were really happy.
Sexy Norway Bus Diaries 12.03.11
We found this TV ad for the bus in Norway (Nettbus) via @HollyHollsHoll and, let’s just be honest, we’re green with envy.
It’s well-produced, sexy, and made me want to live in Norway for a second. But I hear the winters are bad.
Ride Muni like a boss. Our Fast Pass Clipper card holders and Muni Diaries T-shirts are all on sale 
