Muni Diaries » BART

Strangest PSA Video Featuring BART

eugenia — Mon, 06 Feb 2012 16:05:48 +0000

There is a tech conference in town over President’s Day weekend, and reader Jeremy A. shared its incredibly strange yet hilarious PSA video about the closure of the westbound deck of the Bay Bridge that holiday weekend. Notice the wind in Barbie’s hair as she rides through BART with her rotund companion.

From what I can gather, the people who made the video are a part of the SMB MVP Community Roadshow (Sponsored by HP and Microsoft), an event featuring Windows Storage Servers. Alas, my geek cred has its limits. But who cares — there’s a talking Barbie and a garden gnome telling you to ride BART!

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BART Plans to Order New Cars in May

eugenia — Fri, 13 Jan 2012 00:07:16 +0000

Byebye, gross cloth seats and BART cars that smell like…you name it.

Last summer we told you about the proposed new BART cars and seats. Today SFGate reports that BART plans to order the first batch of these cars in May.

BART plans to buy a slick new ride – 260 new rail cars – for about $1 billion in May. The cars will sport a sleek modern look, cleaner seats, digital information displays, even air conditioning that works on hot days. And if transit officials are pleased, and can come up with another $2 billion or so, they’ll buy another 515 cars.

Don’t get too excited, though. After BART orders the new cars and the contract is awarded, the first of the test batch of new cars may arrive at the beginning of 2015.

Read the rest of the report.

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Three Bloggers Walk Into BART…

eugenia — Tue, 10 Jan 2012 20:00:00 +0000

And the journey turns into the best BART ride ever.

From Brokeass Stuart, who always knows how to turn on the fun:

We were all coming back from Allan’s (from MissionMission) birthday in Oakland. Ariel (also from Mission Mission) started doing flips on BART and eventually there were like four people doing them at a time. It was awesome!

See the rest of the acrobatics (and the romantic connection they inspired) at MissionMission.

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Takin’ ‘em off for No Pants 2012

jeff — Mon, 09 Jan 2012 16:37:44 +0000

Update: @ralfwyn sent us his No Pants 2012 video:

Original post: There were legs and buns aplenty for 2012′s annual No Pants Subway Ride. Bhautik Joshi snapped all the photos here. If you have more photos or stories from yesterday’s Improv Everywhere event, send them our way please.

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Watch Out For Your Parked Bike at BART Stations

eugenia — Wed, 04 Jan 2012 15:55:06 +0000

Photo by K. Todd Storch

Vic from MissionMission had his bike stolen on BART last week, even though he did everything right. After reporting the theft, Vic got some advice from BART police.

I took away the following advice from them:

Write down the serial number of your bike. You’ll need it if your bike is ever recovered. Seriously, do it now. Put it in your phone or something.

Powell street BART is most secure. Due to people traffic and location of the bike area, they have had the least amount of theft there.

Don’t park a bike in public for more than a couple of hours if you expect to keep the bike. Get a beater.

Write BART about improving bike security. They don’t listen to the BART cops, they do listen to you. You can do so online here.

Vic also had some great suggestions for BART to improve bike security. Read all about his saga at MissionMission.

What tips do you have for fellow bicyclists?

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Looking into BART’s crystal ball

jeff — Tue, 03 Jan 2012 22:00:07 +0000

Photo by Christopher Carfi

Sometimes I think of BART and Muni as siblings. It’s a complicated relationship. One is clearly spoiled, enjoying the easy life while the other gets beat up and mocked on an hourly basis. One gets arcade money while the other gets pantsed. BART lives in the hills, while Muni reconstructs cardboard shanties each night and begs for spare change.

Anyway, SFGate has an article up with the headline, “BART planners begin work on new vision for future.” Yeah, there are people whose job it is to plan for Muni’s future. But the details of what’s in store for BART make Muni seem like a bicycle with wooden wheels.

“Planners are working on a new vision for the future – one that could include express trains, all-night service, new stations along existing lines, trains traveling different routes and extensions to Livermore, Ocean Beach, Brentwood and Crockett.”

BART to Ocean Beach? Helloooooo!!!!! That would beat the hell out of the long slog of an N-Judah ride, amirite?

Read the rest of the story on SFGate. What do you think of the proposals? What would you do if you could plan for BART’s future?

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Have you seen the accordion-playing cyclist on BART?

jeff — Tue, 20 Dec 2011 22:00:27 +0000

@pkannofisbump has. She shared the photo above, and thinks he’s quite good.

If you have seen or heard this fella, send us your stories, photos, and (we hope) videos.

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Visualizing BART to Marin (and Napa and Sonoma)

jeff — Thu, 08 Dec 2011 00:00:19 +0000

Take that, George Lucas!

Via all-around cool site 10 Times One, we discovered this amazing conceptual map by Jake Coolidge of what a more extensive BART network might look like. We sure do love the idea of all those lines spreading out over San Francisco.

And we know full well this is bound to become reality, oh, never. Still. This. OMG, BART to shuttle me around wine country? Big yes.

Clicky for a bigger version of the map.

Thanks, Jake and Nico!

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Bruce Lee Raps on BART

eugenia — Tue, 22 Nov 2011 22:00:31 +0000

BART rider Nick saw this Bruce Lee look-alike rapping on BART last week (note: not Halloween!). Yes, Bruce Lee. Rapping. On BART. Words that shouldn’t belong in the same sentence, but then again, anything can happen on Muni and BART!

Click the video to see Bruce Lee in his full rhyming glory.

Thanks, Nick!

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Man Struck and Killed by Train at 24 Street BART Station

eugenia — Mon, 21 Nov 2011 03:29:01 +0000

Photo by Brandon

The 24 Street BART Station has reopened after closing for several hours this afternoon due to a fatality on the tracks. A man stepped out on the tracks and was struck by the BART train, reports The San Francisco Appeal:

According to BART spokesperson Luna Salaver, a man reportedly laid down on the tracks in front of A San Francisco International Airport-bound train at 3:20 this afternoon.

As of 5:15 PM, BART says major delays continue in the SFO, Millbrae and East Bay directions, but the 24th Street station has reopened.

MissionLocal has an eyewitness report:

The train travelling from 16th street came to an abrupt stop at the 24th St. Mission station, according to Mike Meenan, a passenger on the train. Meenan said the train driver announced an emergency evacuation over the loudspeaker. Meenan also noted that the conductor sounded shaken and out of breath when he made the announcement.

Then Meenan, who was sitting towards the front of the train, overheard the conductor ask: “Sir, are you under there?”

We’ll keep you updated if more information becomes available.

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