Girls to the front: A women-only train experience

Living in the city in which “Muni humper” incidents polluted our transit experiences not once (the first we were tipped off was in 2009), not twice (2017), but three times (2017 the sequel), I’m more than a little wary of crotch-to-shoulder distance. I’m also more than a little wary, full stop.

Japan, Mexico, and Brazil, among other nations, recognized this pervasive (and disgusting) problem and did something about it with women-only trains. In Osaka recently with girlfriends, I finally got to experience one of these myself—and it’s as good as I thought it would be.

In addition to beholding the wonder of trains running like clockwork, amid a culture that demonstrated an amazing level of public politeness and modesty, I appreciate the acknowledgement that the female experience on public transit —or at work, or in our home lives, or, or, or…—can be different in a bad way. Also them seats were heated and Hello Kitty is on the train car wrapper.

San Francisco ladies have a lot to be proud of in spite of the occasional frotteurism that can taint (as it were) our journeys. One Muni hero looked an attacker right in the eyes in defense of a fellow passenger and an entire set of women formed a literal line of defense between another Muni passenger and her assailant.

Not everyone knows (or believes) it, but Muni Diaries is a lady-driven venture. Join us this Saturday at Muni Diaries Live for IRL stories and merriment. Tickets and details in the link.

Pics by roopisonfire and travel buddy Ericka.

Bart Simpson takes over Muni shelter

bart on muni shelter by commutelife

Bart (Simpson, that is) has taken over this Muni shelter. Don’t look at me, I didn’t do it — someone else way more awesome did. And who will ever get tired of a little Bart-BART mashup, like the time when the Simpsons clones took over the BART train, or the time when this funny crafter worked “eat my shorts” into this needle point?

Thanks to @commutelife on Instagram for this photo submission! Got your own Muni or BART moment? Tag us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter. Our email inbox muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com is always open!

The future is on its way to T-Chinatown Station

t chinatown muni by cameron rogers

When is the future coming? In this case, it’s already on its way from San Jose. This photo came from reader Cameron Rogers, who spotted this T train being transported on the freeway. Notice the sign? The Chinatown station hasn’t even been built yet!

In case you haven’t been around Chinatown lately, the new station will be on Stockton and Washington (just around the corner from Good Mong Kok Bakery where you can buy the best shrimp dumplings in the city—seriously). The scheduled opening of the station is December 2018.

Hat tip: Todd of the always-on-point Bernalwood.

Vintage Muni: Geek out on this Bay Area transit ruin porn

vintage-muni_6

Sure, everything feels like this right now. But there is is still beauty to be had if we all look closely — or if you’re, say, just wandering around in Colusa County.
Hat tip to Jack, who found the mother lode of Bay Area ruin porn by doing just that. He said this appeared to be a facility where they restore buses, but he’s keeping the exact location close to the vest to protect the undoubtedly very cool work being done here.
This treasure trove featured old Muni buses — including the 18-Sloat pictured above; the artist currently known as the 18-46th Avenue, the East Bay’s AC Transit, and even the ye olde Key System.

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