Eyes on the road, please 04.08.10
NBC Bay Area has video from a Muni accident back in March that sent the bus’s only passenger to the hospital. The video shows the 10-Townsend driver with his head down starting a few moments before impact. Really, Muni driver?
F-Market, 10-Townsend Crash on Market St. 04.06.10
Photo by Flickr user b00nj
Update (8:25 p.m.): MTA says that the operators of the Muni vehicles were also taken to hospitals.
Update (7:10 p.m.): MTA reports that five people were taken to the hospital with non-life-threatening injuries, and 10 were treated at the scene of the accident.
Update (6:26 p.m.): The Examiner reports that 13 were injured, and that an automobile was also involved.
Original post: SF Appeal has the story; unknown injured. MTA reports injuries, but number and nature are unknown as of yet. We’ll update this post when we get more info.
10-Townsend Blacking Out 01.07.10
Photo by Flickr user SlinkyDragon
Rush hour. Everyone’s tired. Everyone. Including the driver. But not the passengers.
I was on the 10-Townsend the other day coming home from Chinatown. Did the same ritual, boarded the bus, flashed my pass, found a seat, and we headed up the hill. At the same time, the back door was having a problem of closing and reopening itself.
At the same time, a couple more people got on at Stockton, and the bus started to get pretty noisy when it came to the mob of passengers mingling. Then, when the bus got to Mason, the back door started to open and close repeatedly without anyone stepping on it. Then, all of a sudden—–
Everything was dark and silent.
I looked around. Everyone seemed surprised and quiet as if someone had taken over the bus in a somewhat-deserted street with something that looked like a bus being the only thing visible. Fortunately, the bus I was on started up again and up Nob Hill the bus negotiated, and I got to my destination safely with a 12-Folsom bus following us!
Obit-lettes: 21-Hayes, 10-Townsend 12.03.09
Photo by Flickr user kodama (home)
SFMTA’s December 5 service changes include the elimination of portions of bus routes, in addition to the total elimination of some routes, and in other cases, increased service. A few riders wanted to share their thoughts on those parts of routes that will go the way of the dodo come this Saturday. First, here’s Noah, sparing no words for how he really feels about lopping off the Fulton portion of the 21-Hayes:
Good riddance.
Before the death of the Fulton portion of the 21-Hayes, people who lived on Fulton between Stanyan and 8th Ave had the benefit of two buses, the 5 and the 21. People who boarded the 21 on Hayes anywhere East of Divis had the benefit of zero buses during rush hour, because the 21 was always too full to stop.
Now, those of us who ride the 21 in a neighborhood where only the 21 goes by actually have a bus we can ride during rush hour.
SF Appeal has a helpful explanation of what exactly will be happening to the 21.
Next up is Muni Diaries favorite Tara, with a tale of woeful days ahead without her 10-Townsend:
Once BART drops me off at Embarcadero each morning at about 8:50, I scramble frantically, depending on what the NextBus prediction says, to Fremont and Market, awaiting my golden chariot: the 10-Townsend. It, usually reliably, takes me from downtown to the north end of town. It’s quiet, filled with polite folks (except for that one old guy I fought with that time), and rolls through one of the most thriving parts of town at 8:55 a.m. on a weekday. That said, it, um, pretty much empties by the time we pass Sansome and Lombard.
Though some lines are meeting their demise come Dec. 5, others, like the 10, are simply getting rerouted at certain points. Though yuppies like me should be able to deal with a minor glitch in his or her morning bus routine, yuppies like me end up having the biggest shitfits over this very thing. Total White Whine, if you will.
The long and short of it is that the 10 is now turning west on Jackson, instead of taking me all the way north, to my building at North Point and Stockton. I will miss you, that-part-of-the-10. Instead of jamming to my iPod or reading some to-be-a-movie-soon novel from Oprah’s list of recommendations, I usually preferred to stare out the window and watch the hubbub unfold. These are people going to work, bustling around in their businesswear and messenger bags. It actually makes me happy to be going to work, too, like we’re all in some sort of metropolitan club from 9-6 on weekdays. The best part was getting to see it all from my chariot, above the fray. I can still do some of that…but then I’ll have waited 10 minutes for a 10 minute bus ride, only to require another 15 minutes of walking. I might just have to bid adieu to the 10 altogether and walk the whole way, as it might not be worth the hassle when all is said and done.
Ultimately, if it’ll save Muni some cash, I can deal with it. The only thing it does is force me to leave the house about 15 minutes earlier in the morning, allowing me time to walk from downtown to Way Up There. Or, it forces me to hop on a 9x or a 9BX (soon to be rechristened the 8X, etc.), in the event I feel like a nice pushy morning ride or an elbow to the ribs is needed to jolt me awake for the day ahead. Either way, I will deal with it. But it doesn’t stop me from complaining about it here.
We’ll give you a break, Muni, if it’ll save you the cash. But try to cut us some slack next week while we all begrudgingly try to turn the speeding freight train around on our befuddled morning selves.
Check back tomorrow for the last of our Muni obituaries. It will be an all-day tribute to the almost-dearly departed 26-Valencia.
Contrition and Acceptance on the 10 08.12.09
Photo by Flickr user heather
Lady by door gets bumped, says to offender: You could say “excuse me.”
Offender: I did say excuse me!
Lady: You could say it louder.
Offender: EXCUSE ME. How’s that?
Lady: It’s over. Hello, goodbye.
Offender: UGH. *exits*
Lady: Whatever. Bitch.
You people and your newspapers and your sense of entitlement… 07.23.09
Photo by Flickr user messtiza
I’m going to get a lot of hate mail for this one, especially since I’m also the person who hates disabled people with casts, as well as small, innocent children on field trips.
It’s really kind of funny. Twenty-somethin’ gal with her BlackBerry and her text messaging and her internets. Older gentleman with his morning newspaper. Odd-couple comedy in the making!
So this man gets on the bus and grabs a seat next to me in a disabled section crowded with fellow commuters. I check to make sure there aren’t other older or pregnant folks trying to nab a seat, then get back to my internets. The gent opens his newspaper (the San Francisco Examiner, which I used to write for) and extends one side of it and his arm far into my seat/space. I politely say, “Excuse me,” and, thinking the issue is over, am actually surprised when he, clearly affronted, wants to know what I was excusing-me for.
Hmm, OK. I note as politely and even-voicedly (though also kind of flustered and surprised) as I can that his newspaper is in my space, and that if he could just fold up a bit more, that would be great. As easy as it could be to tell him he needed to back the F up, I first incorrectly said (who knew I’d actually have to explain it) his paper was touching me. OK (calm vibes), I guess it’s not exactly touching me, but it’s hovering over my lap, and I’m personally folded up as much as I can be, you know? I happen to agree with the fine etiquette ladies at Muni Manners, who noted in a post about this very phenomenon that folding your newspaper to lessen your impact, but still get your news, is the safe and courteous thing to do for all. (more…)
WTF Is This? Mini-Fridge? 07.01.09
Heh. Maybe this can become a regular Muni Diaries feature. Tara sent us this photo from the 10 stop at Stockton and North Point … along with this penetrating question:
Is it wrong to kind of wish the mini fridge was still in this box? It’s AC/DC powerd AND can do hot, also.
Are your editors simply out of the consumerist loop? WTF is a mini-fridge, any-freakin’-way?
Send your WTFs and other poignant observations of life on Muni to us!
Creative punishment for fare-jumping? 04.30.09
I don’t know about you, but I can appreciate a certain level of honesty with some things, including breaking the law. Especially if you get caught. (“Ah. Yes, officer, I know how fast I was going. Very fast, indeed”.) By the same token, I also appreciate subtle, off-script ways of punishing people for doing so.
Fare jumpers often seem more nonchalant than anything else. They keep their heads down as they wrench those back doors open by their fingernails, and generally don’t say much or cause a ruckus while they’re trying not to get squished in the doorway.
This gal on a 10-Townsend one afternoon put them all to shame.
10-Townsend Hits Cyclist 11.12.08
I don’t know what is more scary on the road: taxis or Muni buses. Probably Muni. This morning, while riding my bicycle to work because from 8:30 to 10:00 it’s impossible to get on Muni at Church and Market, I saw a young woman squirming in pain on the ground at Townsend and Fourth. The 10-Townsend was stopped at an angle, the bicycle was in the middle of the road, and the driver seemed upset. No, frustrated. Her bus was packed, and everyone stared on from inside as the woman on the ground called for help. Other cyclists and pedestrians were trying to help, calling 911 and assuring the injured cyclist to stay on the ground despite the bus driver’s hysteria.
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)
The 47, my new best friend 07.10.08
I had another harrowing experience waiting for my F car this morning on Market at Van Ness. Two alleged trolley-bus Fs (their signs said they were, in fact F buses, and included “Market/Wharves” and everything) came by after a long while…and both drivers said they were stopping at Eighth Street. If you didn’t know, Eighth Street is about 3-4 blocks from where I was standing. And the F train is a charming little streetcar that is mostly for tourists, and therefore hideously unreliable. It is, unfortunately, among the fastest ways to get from the Embarcadero BART station to the northeast end of town, second only to walking, if you have time. It might (might) tie the 10-Townsend or the 9x, though both are crazy crowded in the mornings.
I hadn’t seen an F train for 15 minutes at least, and Jeff, my partner in life and Muni Diaries, said NextMuni was estimating it wouldn’t be there for another 20 minutes. I thought I had to take a cab to work for the third time in a month – a ride that costs at least $10 more than the $0 it normally does. My golden solution was a 47-Van Ness, which hit its scheduled stop on Van Ness at Market right after I got there. The driver was helpful when people asked questions, and it put me a block from my office. Thank you, 47. I always liked you better than that dirty sister of yours, the 49.
Meanwhile, people gathered at the F stop across the way in greater numbers, looking expectantly up Market for a car that probably still hasn’t gotten there.
I wasn’t that late (got in around 9:25 instead of 9:10), and I don’t mind the ride. It’s just unfair (and highly lame) when you have to play guessing games with your commute. If this keeps up, I might just break up with the F train altogether – this time, I mean it.
