“Love Poem” For Muni

Posted November 8, 2012

Ed Note: A love poem submitted by Muni rider Stephanie captures exactly how some of us feel in our morning commute. We kept her all-caps because…it’s just appropriate, know what I mean?

I REALLY LOVE MUNI.
I TAKE MUNI EVERYDAY.
MUNI MAKE ME LATE TO SCHOOL AT LEAST ONCE A WEEK
SOMETIMES SOME MUNI DRIVERS PASS THE BUSSTOP.ACTUALLY THAT BUS IS NOT FULL.I REMEMBER TWO BUSES ALL PASSED THAT STOP LAST TIME!AT THAT TIME,I LATE TO SCHOOL ABOUT HALF HOUR!I JUST WANT TO SAY ##$%##$%^&*%%##^$%^&*%*

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Another helpful sign from our friends at Muni

Posted October 30, 2012

Head-scratching is the theme on Muni Diaries this week. Which should surprise … no one. Sarah’s got a story to keep the ball rolling …

This is what I encountered last night at Caesar Chavez and Valencia while waiting for (looking for) the 12. Yup, some Muni worker thought it was appropriate to tack up a completely blank sign telling me that the stop had moved somewhere for some period of time.

In the end, I was still able to flag down the driver, but I got a verbal lashing for standing in the wrong spot. I tried to explain to him that the sign provided me with zero information about WHERE to wait, but he just kept screaming at me and then took off so quickly that I fell over on the bus.

Another fun evening with our friends at Muni!

Got a Muni head-scratcher? Share it here on Muni Diaries.

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Charlie’s Feelings About Muni

Posted September 26, 2012

Rider D happened upon a dog clairvoyant on the bus the other day. Here are some insights.

Yesterday afternoon I was on an inbound 1 California dozing off here and there during the ride. At one point I hear a young woman’s voice next to me say, “It’s ok Charlie we’re almost there…” I awake from a semi-snooze to see a young woman holding a small poodle-looking dog on her lap.

Poor Charlie was trembling away and obviously not enjoying the ride. I had to chuckle and asked the owner what kind of dog she was. She explained that Charlie was some kind of mix and that Charlie really hated public transportation. She even hated coming into the city on the ferry the previous day! This despite the fact that the Bay was nice and calm.

As shaky as she was, Charlie was still friendly enough to lick my hand when I petted her. Charlie and her owner still had a way to go as they were going to take BART back across the bay.

Charlie if you’re reading this I just wanted to let you know that you’re not alone!

Yes, I know, Charlie’s not wearing a muzzle. But how would Charlie have been able to share his feelings about public transit if he had to wear one? Oh, and hai, we have lots more posts about cute animals riding public transit.

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Muni Assault on the 49-Van Ness

Posted September 21, 2012

Photo by Saito S

Mariana was assaulted on the bus earlier this week, and was brave to share this harrowing tale with us. After Brittney Gilbert’s terrifying recent account, it’s just terrible to hear yet another case of assault. Passengers, be aware of your surroundings.

So yesterday I was sexually “something” on public transportation and it was pretty fucking scarring and terrible. I don’t know if it counts as harassment or assault. All I know is that it happened.

[Tuesday] after work I hoped on the 49 Muni bus on my way towards the Tenderloin to celebrate a friends birthday. It was 8pm and I got on the bus like I do pretty much everyday of the week.

At Grove and Van Ness, a Hispanic man in his 30s gets on and sits next to me. I am on my iPhone trying to figure out directions to my friend’s place before I realize that this man has his erect penis out and is touching himself while slowly grazing my shoulder with his other hand and looking at me.

I immediately freeze and don’t know what to do. I could reach for my pepper spray. I could shout and yell at him. Instead, I somehow will my legs to move and go to the front of the bus where I promptly inform the bus driver what is happening. He immediately stops the bus (near Eddy and Van Ness) and walks to the back where I told him the guy was located. At this point the guy realizes that I’ve told the bus driver and he jumps up and gets off the bus and runs off towards Eddy and Polk.

I am sitting by myself in the front, shaking and willing myself not to cry. The bus driver apologizes to me and then keeps going. I get off a couple of stops down and still shaking, make my way towards my friend’s house.

We need to be more vocal when we see this stuff happen on the bus. I always thought I was the type of girl who would shout and scream if this happen, but when it happened to me, I was too shocked and scared to make a scene. Anyone else around me could have helped me, but no one did.

Earlier this year, the Bay Citizen reported that sex crimes on public transportation are extremely under-reported. Have you reported crimes on the bus, and how do you react when something like this happens around you?

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Should Muni Drivers Stop for You?

Posted September 19, 2012

Photo by Christina B. Castro

Remember that one time when you ran for the bus and the driver stopped for you? Not everyone’s so lucky, says Alex.

I witnessed a wretched behavior by the driver of the 43 Masonic the other day. At the corner of 7th Avenue and Lawton, I get on the bus and the driver slowly makes his right turn onto 7th Avenue. Suddenly a guy is running after the bus, exclaiming his intent to board. Several of us on the bus tell the driver, who is making the turn but is only going about 5 mph and has the hopeful passenger in his sight.

Traffic on 7th Avenue is light and the driver could easily stop. I have waved down the 43, 44, and 36 at this spot before. But the driver just ignores us all and heads for Forest Hill Station. As I disembark, I ask why he didn’t stop for the guy. The driver says, “He should’ve been at my stop in time!” To which I retort: “After cutting service by 10%, increasing Fast Pass prices, and oh yeah the 6% raise you got last week, couldn’t you do better? He said a bad word. Several, but I had to walk away quickly lest a moment of poor impulse control arose.

What do you think: should the driver stop for people running after the bus, within reason? We also just learned that Muni was only 57.2 percent on time in August, so maybe one factor outweighs the other?

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“Gas” “attack” on the 38L-Geary

Posted September 17, 2012

Photo by fiveinchpixie

Update: We asked SFMTA spokesperson Paul Rose about the incident. He says that on Saturday,: “At 3:30 p.m. at Geary and Stockton, a group of youths threw what appeared to be a smoke bomb through the rear open window. The operator opened the door so passengers could exit. No injuries. No arrests.” So there you have it. A smoke bomb. Glad no one was hurt.

Muni rider D experienced quite a shock the other day on the bus. Here’s the story.

So the other day I was headed home on an outbound 38L when an extremely frightening incident happened. At about 3:20 or so I boarded an outbound 38L at the temporary Stockton St. stop. The doors had just closed and right before the bus had pulled away from the curb I heard something small clatter to the floor and heard hissing as though a can of soda had been shaken up and opened.

A woman started yelling, “DON’T TOUCH IT!! GET AWAY!!” I then saw something small rolling on the floor which emitted tan smoke. EVERYONE got up and RAN toward the front. The bus stopped and I yelled out, “TEAR GAS!! OPEN THE DOORS!!!”

The driver did and everyone swarmed off. I didn’t smell anything nor were my eyes stinging so I figured it wasn’t a chemical weapon but I wasn’t going to stick around and find out the hard way!

Once off the bus I made my way to the front and told the driver what had happened.

Everyone got on a 38-Geary that was right behind the 38L so there wasn’t any wait. The 38L stayed parked for a few minutes, which blocked traffic for a bit. It then pulled up and stopped in front of Union Square out of the traffic lanes.

I seriously doubt the onboard cameras caught anything given Muni’s dismal record of maintaing them. That plus I’m guessing whatever it was had been tossed in one of the open windows in the back of the bus. I do think that the security cameras in place of a number of shops probably *did* catch whoever tossed the object in the window so hopefully the cops will catch them.

This time it was just something harmless, but next time….

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