Riding on a cable car going up Powell through Chinatown, the driver waved to an older woman with a toddler who were standing on the street corner. He had a big smile on his face as the woman waved back to him. He was beaming as he wrenched the brakes, throwing his entire body weight into it. He turned around and said to the passenger closest to him:

Did you see that lady back there with that child? Well, years ago when I was driving this same cable car, a woman pushing a baby carriage was riding in my car. She got off the cable car but somehow the cable car started moving with the baby still onboard! She chased after the cable car but she wasn’t fast enough. So she flagged someone down to give her a ride to chase after this cable car. Finally she got me to stop and she was reunited with her child. Well this woman and I became friends, and her baby girl - the one who was left in my cable car - grew up and ended up marrying my son. And that little kid with her just now? That’s my grandchild.

This was one of the most charmed Muni moments in my life. I don’t know how else to explain it. His happiness and pride made me feel like a million dollars.

On November 15, 2008, The Sisters of Perpetual Indulgence led a march down Market - and thus begin the setting straight of Prop 8 supporters…

They went down Market, left on Stockton, and into the Stockton tunnel…

…and while walking down Stockton, right around Pacific, we saw this man:

(He’s the fat asian guy that was looking at me)

End of America!
No more generation!
End of America!

That is exactly what he said. After that, I heard boos from the crowd.

We then made a right on Broadway…

…and a left on Columbus…

…and down Columbus and Taylor through Fisherman’s Wharf (yes they jumped the cable car turnaround…

…and up the hill on Polk Street.

Right around there, it seems that the cops were out in full force attempting to keep us at one lane of traffic, still, we nearly swallowed up both directions of Van Ness Avenue.

First off, it’s in (and underneath) a building — and a really old, cool building at that. Second, because it’s connected to the also-nifty Twin Peaks Tunnel, it’s really deep underground and the only access to the platforms is down a long elevator ride or several flights of steps, evoking the Tube stations/tunnels in London. Third, and I know this is really peculiar of me, it has that funky smell of something that’s been deep underground a long time. You can tell you’re about to get to the station (after more than a mile of being underground) because you can smell it.

I’ve studied other transit systems and love it when stops/stations are structured like this. Some of London’s Tube stations are in moderately interesting buildings (and they’ve discussed turning the famous Battersea Power Station into another one. Moscow’s metro system — which I’d love to travel one day — has fancy, historic buildings as many of its major stations. I guess San Francisco is more like Paris, where everything’s underground and all you get is a nondescript staircase leading down — except for a few exceptions, such as Forest Hill and West Portal.

Anyone else got a favorite Muni station?

– Beth W.

You can see the rest of Matt’s protest-day photos in his Flickr photostream.

If you’ve got more transit-related protest pics, send ‘em in.

Email us here and we’ll get the images posted. We’ll post videos, too, if we have the bandwidth.

Read more about it here: S.F.: Muni stop lacks device announcing times.

I would LOVE to have the NextMuni service at every shelter. In the mean time you can check out Jenny’s post on txtMuni if you want that information on your fingertips.

I live along the 31-Balboa line. Though I only know two other people who live on this line, I highly recommend a ride just for the quick-and-dirty, 40-minute lesson in San Francisco neighborhoods and people. It starts on Market, just south of the Financial District. It goes past the nicer parts of Market (until you hit the mall), then past the not-so-nice parts (mind the needles). Straight through the Tenderloin it goes, through the Western Addition and Fillmore, past Laurel Heights and into the Richmond, toward its final stop by the ocean. By extension, you can imagine the bus has a range of clientele, from FiDi yuppies to awkward USF students to cadres of obnoxious, fearless teenagers to petite Asian ladies armed with pink plastic bags.

You can probably tell where I’m going with this. No, I’m not race-baiting; I despise all willing disrupters of the bus ride equally.

But let’s focus on those obnoxious, fearless teenagers for now. They were not only loud talkers; they used the rude, yet effective “Can I get by, shit!?” to cut through the standing crowd. They then used the actual bus as a drum to accompany their impromptu song for which people silently (read: passive-aggressively) shot them angry looks. The irony meter (and everyone’s patience) tipped when a man aggressively asked them to quiet down. He then proceeded to yell into his phone about some hot chick at Starbucks.

I think that ride even beat my morning journey on the F; the one with a whole classroom of eight-year-olds.

What do you think is the loudest line? Please let me know so I can avoid it at all costs.

Tara Ramroop isn’t that loud. OK, maybe she is, but never on the bus.

That was then. But I’d only make a few modifications today.

In simplified form:

1) pedestrians
2) cyclists
3) mopeds and scooters
4) motorcyclists
5) public transit
6) privately owned cars
7) service trucks

Thoughts?

San Francisco is impossible for parking, Muni is insanely packed in the morning, but does the healthy, fun, alternative of riding one’s bike to work have to mean risking your life? That intersection is notoriously bad and a major bike route. It sure would be nice to have a bike lane there, and Muni drivers to be aware of their mass.

(License plate 1147248, bus #8330 9:10 am)

First, I listened to a man chatting with someone on the phone, who gave the most recent play-by-play results he had been watching for all day. He then demanded a free lunch if Obama reached 350 electoral votes. Results right now (9 a.m. on Thursday) show he’s at 349, with no major network yet calling North Carolina for the president-elect.

Then two boys got on with their moms. They were buddies, clearly, talking about school and their Halloween costumes, particularly which Halloween superstore had the best Batman costume.

Boy 1 was Hispanic, and said he lives wayyy down the 49, meaning he probably lives in the Excelsior, or somewhere else near City College on the south side of town. He had a few things to say about Tuesday’s election.

Boy 1: Everyone gets to vote today. Where are you from?

Boy 2: Los Angeles.

Boy 1: Oh. That’s near Mexico, right?

Boy 2: Yeah, kind of.

Boy 1: Well, I’m from Mexico, and McCain wants us to leave. He wants all the Mexicans to leave and go back to Mexico. But Obama wants us to stay.

Make of it what you will.