To the man who lost his scarf on the 28-19th Avenue bus this morning at Geary and Park Presidio, a young lady found your scarf. It appeared after the crowd moved a bit. The scarf is sort of neutral, brown, or brown and gray striped. Also, it is a long/large wool scarf.

We noticed many things about you, too. For instance: you had arm tattoos and you were slender.

The young lady who goes to SF State will carry it in her bag as she rides the 28 frequently and she will look for you for a few days at the same general time. She is an art/earth sciences major at SF State and obviously very kind. I hope you see her so you can get your warm scarf! In the meantime, try to stay warm.

Sincerely, Maria

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Update (12:45 p.m.): We just heard back from SFMTA. Apparently, when the machines are broken, drivers are not supposed to make cardholders pay, regardless of whether the rider has his/her Fast Pass loaded on the card. Here’s a document SFMTA says they sent to operators notifying them of this change in procedure:

So, in Lisa’s case (see “Original post,” below), the driver was wrong to ask her to pay. Maybe that driver didn’t get the memo, literally. It’s dated June 29, which was Tuesday, the day before Lisa’s incident.

Original post: What do Fast Pass holders do when Clipper readers don’t work? You’ve paid $70 or so for the Fast Pass, but should you still pay the $2 if the Clipper reader can’t read your card?

Muni rider and Clipper Card holder Lisa shares this story (excerpted):

I was trying to catch the 28 [Wednesday] morning around 6:30 a.m. at 19th Ave and Holloway and the translink readers on the bus were down. The driver tells me I have to pay cash fare when the reader is down and that’s policy. I tried to explain to her that that made no sense as I had a monthly pass and, therefore, had already paid regardless of the reader.She said no, it’s policy, that I had a translink card and not a pass. I said, I paid for a pass, your readers are always down, I ride everyday and no one has ever said this to me before. But she still said I had to pay. So, in the end, I refused to pay on principle, and the driver would not allow me to ride, despite having paid my $70 for my monthly pass. I was 20 minutes late to work. I should have just gotten on the back with the rest the fare dodgers.

We don’t see any information on the Clipper site about this situation (neither the FAQ page nor Clipper with specific transit agencies pages). And we can easily envision this situation happening with increasing frequency as more and more riders use Clipper with their Fast Pass loaded onto the card.

What do you think? How do you think this situation should be handled? Even better, has Clipper considered this situation and devised a fix for it?

We asked SFMTA and will update you as soon as we hear back.

Related: Akit has a post up today about Clipper/Fast Pass holders whose passes aren’t loading by the first of the month, and aren’t being given the 3-day “grace period.” Kinks, they abound!

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Keith Montanez, photo by Michael Rhodes

The always excellent folks at Streetsblog SF introduced the first installment of Muni Rider Profile last week. The idea of breaking down the “invisible bubble between riders” is exactly what propelled us to do Muni Diaries, so I just absolutely love the idea behind Streetsblog’s profile series and look forward to seeing more. In this profile you’ll see Keith Montanez, SFSU student and regular 28-line rider:

The 28-19th Avenue passes through two cities, a national park, Golden Gate Park, and the city’s second largest undergraduate institution, touching both the southern and northern border of San Francisco as it travels over city streets and two highways, with dramatic views of the Bay and the Golden Gate Bridge along the way. It’s a key route for San Francisco State University students, as well as teenagers who live and go to school in the Richmond and Sunset districts, which seem to be the largest groups that identify it as “their” route.

Keith Montanez is one of those students, a gregarious audio production major at SF State whose personality pops out despite the dreary grayness on 19th Avenue on a Wednesday afternoon. He’s easy to talk to and instantly engaging, and probably shares many of the same frustrations with his fellow Muni riders, but apart from trips with his friends, talking to a random fellow rider seems to be an unusual event.

Read the rest of Streetsblog’s Muni Rider Profile, written by Michael Rhodes.

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Here we are, arrived at another wet weekend. The worst might be over, though. In which case, go Go forth and have your fun. (srsly, that hard-ass rain lasted, what, 14 minutes?) Don’t forget to go gripe talk to public officials (in government, police, MTA) at a City Hall hearing on Monday.

Here’s your MTA weekend traffic advisory:
Construction on San Jose Avenue between Geneva Avenue and Niagra Avenue will require the closure of both northbound lanes and one southbound lane of San Jose Avenue from 11 p.m., Friday to 4 a.m., Monday.

Beginning at 1:45 a.m. Saturday, the M-Ocean View Muni line will turn back at Plymouth and Broad streets. A Muni bus will provide service between Plymouth Avenue and Broad Street and San Jose and Geneva avenues on Saturday and Sunday.

Also, the N-Judah track repairs will pick up this evening. Pay attention, folks!

Traffic Detour/Construction Schedule: 7 p.m., Friday, Nov. 20 – 5 a.m., Monday, Nov. 23

Muni Bus Shuttle Schedule:

8 p.m., Friday – 1 a.m., Saturday
6 a.m., Saturday – 1 a.m., Sunday
8 a.m., Sunday – 1 a.m., Monday

Note: The N-Owl service will operate until 6 a.m. Saturday; 8 a.m. Sunday; and 4 a.m. Monday

Additional Muni routes affected: 28-19th Avenue, 29-Sunset, 91-Owl, N-Owl

That, as they say, is all. Enjoy the photos!

Photo by Flickr user Troy Holden

Photo by Flickr user ebtmikado

Photo by Flickr user Whole Wheat Toast

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If you liked this Muni diary, you might like:

1. Weekend Photos: City Bus
2. Weekend Photos: Here’s Lookin’ At You
3. Weekend Photos — First Week of the New Decade on Muni

Whenever I am on the bus, at least a handful of people have headphones plugged firmly into their ears. It’s like we’re riding the same bus but to very different soundtracks. What’s everyone listening to? I spent yesterday afternoon on a couple of Muni lines to poll some random fellow passengers and find out.

Today’s Muni playlist:

On the 33, Tenaya is listening to The Mystic Krew of Clear Light, a heavy metal band out of New Orleans. In front of him, Jesus is listening to Hoobastank‘s The Reason. Jesus’s friend, Julio, was listening to a psycho punk band called skz1 (I think). These guys got off at Haight and Ashbury. A short time later John boarded the bus, listening to his own production of disco and filter house, a new term I learned today. (According to John, Daft Punk is an example of this genre.)

On the 28, Katrina, who was sitting behind me, kindly shared an earbud with me so I can hear Owl City‘s “Fireflies.” In front of us, J.P. Lanigan was listening to Sum 41.

Our Muni soundtrack today also included some comedy — Wilder got on the 28 listening to comedian Daniel Tosh.

On my way home on the L, Jan Dalley introduced me to Her Space Holiday (she was listening to their song called “Sleepy California.”)

Right before I got off the L, rider Andy (nice hat, by the way!) made my day when he told me he was listening to Nina Simone‘s “Don’t Pay Them No Mind.”

You can listen to almost all the songs I found from these kind passengers on the YouTube Muni Playlist below (YouTube didn’t have a video of Nina Simone’s “Don’t Pay Them No Mind” so I substituted a fantastic live version of “Ain’t Got No…I’ve Got Life.”)

What are YOU listening to on the bus?

- Eugenia

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Muni rider Rose sends us this gruesome photo and description. Help her solve the mystery.

This greeted us last week at the Park Presidio-Geary stop for the 28. No, not a fake Halloween set, a real one with remnants of breakfast. What could be the story behind this?

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