30-Stockton and 45-Union/Stockton Reroute to Last Four Years 12.22.11
Photo by Jamison Wieser
Muni Diaries has learned that the 30-Stockton and 45-Union/Stockton will be rerouted in the Union Square area beginning next month due to Central Subway construction. The reroutes will last “approximately four years.” A temporary shuttle will be implemented for the 8 routes.
From the SFMTA:
[A]s of Jan. 21 the 30 Stockton and 45 Union-Stockton Muni routes will be rerouted from Stockton and 4th streets to Mason and 5th streets for the duration of Central Subway construction around Union Square, approximately four years. A temporary 8 Shuttle route will be in place between Broadway and Kearny Street and SoMa to ensure sufficient downtown capacity on the 8X Bayshore bus routes.
The 30 and 45 routes use trolley buses that require an overhead catenary wire system to power the vehicles. As construction advances for the Central Subway Union Square utility relocation and station construction, these routes must be modified to accommodate the construction activity along Stockton Street. More flexible motor buses are used for the 8X routes and will be used for the 8 Shuttle that will continue to operate down Stockton Street during peak service hours until later in the construction schedule.
Central Subway Transit Impacts
30 Stockton and 45 Union-Stockton Reroute
Southbound buses travelling to 3rd and Townsend streets will be rerouted onto Sutter Street, then south on Mason Street, east on Market Street and south on 5th Street.
Northbound buses will remain on their regular route.8 Shuttle Service
The 8 Shuttle will operate seven days a week from 9:30 a.m. to 6:30 p.m.
The shuttle route will begin at Kearny and Pacific then left on Broadway, left onto Stockton Street, cross Market Street onto 4th Street, turn left onto Folsom Street and left on 3rd Street.
The terminal for the Chinatown Shuttle will be at Kearny and Pacific.
The 8X/8AX/8BX Bayshore buses will maintain their current routes, according to the agency. The lines “will be rerouted at a later date to accommodate additional construction activity.”
Update: Semi vs. Muni — Were You There? 07.22.11
Photo by @mikepreuss
Update (2:17 p.m.): More from our eyewitness and picture-taker: these vehicles were definitely touching and not moving at the time this photo was snapped, he says. Geographic location — and a commenter below — indicates that something’s directionally amiss. Still wondering what happened if anyone knows.
Rider @mikepreuss witnessed an accident between the 30-Stockton and a semi a little after midnight Friday morning. This looks to be around Chestnut and Pierce. Were you on this bus or near the scene? Let us know what you saw. Hope everyone was okay.
Muni Broke My Apartment Window 07.07.11
Photo by Paolo Lucchesi via Inside Scoop/SFist
See a close-up of this unfortunate accident.
Just when you think you’ve seen everything…
Was something in the air this morning on Muni? 05.19.11
Photo by Todd Lappin
To whit:
Muni driver greeted me with a smile, “good morning sir, everything good today.”. #5578 rt. 30 you are an example. – @sgharms
I think I might have boarded Muni airline 30x. Busdriver said that we might expect sunny weather on the other side of the broadway tunnel. – @bmson
This #Muni driver is entirely too cheery for his AM 30x clientele. Not complaining–it beats the usual driver surliness. – @sfkatya
After I filled out a scathing survey on MUNI, this lovely T-Line driver waited for me as I ran for the train. Karma? – @katinaminer
This makes us wonder: If the operators union were to craft a totally coordinated, skillfully executed PR campaign to be friendly and efficient, would it change your opinion of the system as a whole?
And keep up the good attitudes, Nice Drivers.
Muni Rider So Cute You Could Eat His Ears 04.15.11
This afternoon I hopped on the 30 Stockton headed towards Union Square. I came face to face with this absolutely *adorable* Pomeranian puppy! When I asked the teenaged guy who was carrying him how old he was he replied, “3 months.”
Which he immediately followed with, “You wanna buy him?”
I can barely afford to feed myself these days so an extra mouth to feed was out of the question.
Ok, so we know SFMTA hasn’t banned pets, the pup should be wearing a muzzle according to regulations, blahblahblah, but can we just admire those cute little ears and watery little eyes for a minute?
Bring Extra Seating On Muni 02.22.11
Rider John C. saw a passenger with a curious-looking cargo. Read on:
Once we reached Stockton and Columbus, an older gentleman ambled onto the train carrying some sort of tall black metal or plastic apparatus, a pinwheel, and a few helium balloons on string. It was the balloons which first got my attention. President’s Day, a joyous holiday I’m sure for a few history buffs out there, isn’t a holiday I typically associate with party favors.
At the point when the gentleman paid his fare and shuffled back toward me, the bus was full in terms of seating capacity and probably about 20% full in terms of those of us who were standing. He had some difficulty keeping his whole package together, and I soon saw why – the black bulky thing he was holding was a tall stool.
He set his stool down next to the occupied second row of frontward-facing seats and hopped onto it, converting his row into a row of 3. (Perhaps he knew that this is the row with the most legroom…you can tell I had spent much of the prior day in United Economy cabins.) He then deployed his pinwheel and balloons and started an incoherent lecture on how people needed to stay out of his way because he had a bad back. This went on as we proceeded down Stockton until I took the blurry shot I’ve included here. Sorry for that, it was a moving bus after all.
Once we reached Clay Street, a bunch of us moved to exit. Our stool-sitter had to get up and move out of the way in order for all of us to get out and he was not happy about it. He harrumphed loudly until one of the last women to exit said, “you know, that’s about the coolest thing I’ve ever seen on a MUNI bus. That’s a great idea.” I wasn’t thinking anything close to that, but I think it made his day as he immediately stopped complaining and let us all leave. I pictured him getting off at Market St. and transferring to BART, lording over a train to Fremont. Or maybe he set up shop somewhere with his balloons and pinwheel. Did anyone else see this guy on President’s Day?
Who Can Outwalk Muni: SF Examiner or Willie Brown? 02.14.11
Photo by Mike Koozmin/Examiner
Who can walk faster than Muni? Intrepid SF Examiner reporter or Da Mayor?
You might remember another man attempting a similar challenge to best the bus. In September 1998, the San Francisco Chronicle reported, “Mayor Walks, Muni Runs“:
The race began at the Civic Center station at 7:40 a.m. Brown, stung by a Chronicle story on Tuesday that said walking down Market Street was as fast as riding beneath it, said he wanted to give the Municipal Railway another chance. He donned his sharpest Panama hat, Rockport wingtips and orange polka-dot hankie for the jaunt.
Looking at young Mr. Reisman, I can only surmise that his gait may be faster than the mayor and that he may be wearing footwear more appropriate for power-walking than Willie’s wingtip shoes. You can read more about Reisman’s trip at SFExaminer.com.
Time Running Out to Cover This Muni Shelter with Stories 11.22.10
You might already know that we scored a real Muni bus shelter for Julie Michelle’s I Live Here:SF exhibit at SOMArts this month, thanks to the generosity of the SFMTA. You can see photos of the bus shelter being delivered over at I Know Alyssa Jones.
On the bus shelter, we’ve provided some blank story cards so you can write your own Muni story and post it (yes, on real paper!). You can also caption some fun Muni cartoons by Michael Capozzola, who draws “Surveillance Caricatures” in the San Francisco Chronicle’s 96 Hours section.
We’ll be posting some of the stories and cartoon captions from the gallery here on Muni Diaries. I already saw some funny anecdotes and captions when I was at SOMArts this Saturday. So get over to the exhibit for Julie Michelle’s amazing photography, Chris Rusak‘s text-based art, and Rick Prelinger‘s Lost Landscapes film, and partake on a little Muni fun.
SOMArts (934 Brannan between 8th and 9th Streets) will be open this Tuesday and Wednesday from noon to 7 p.m., and then Tuesday, Nov. 30, for the closing night reception.
Rocking Muni for the Giants 11.02.10
Video by Amber Wolf of Wiz Bang Photography
Watch the 33-Stanyan wade through the thicket of toilet paper and Giants fans in the Castro in the video above.
Fans in the Marina atop a 30-Stockton (photo by @jcsnotes):
More fans in the Marina took over the 2-Clement (photo by SHUN [iamtekn]:
I got a couple of pictures of guys hopping on top of a soon-to-be-stranded 14-Mission, on Mission Street, in (you guessed it) the Mission:
Amy grabbed this short video of that same 14-Mission:
Ariel has a shot of the 22-Fillmore stuck in the Mission:
Giants fans on Muni were burning up Twitter last night too:
“Some guy stepping off the L announced GIANTS 3-0!! Driver repeated it over the PA. No reaction from riders. Me: Really? Giants!” @wallbounce
“people are sitting on 30s here on Chestnut. First Clipper now this. Anarchy!! Let’s go Giants clap x5″ @jcsnotes
“28 driver now leading @SFGiants cheer.” @dalbizo
“I’ve never experienced anything like last night in SF after the win… I just remember running through cloudy MUNI buses #SFGiants” @cementone
Indeed. Indeed.
Congrats to the 2010 San Francisco Giants!
Photographer Kristen Holden: Love Stories on Muni 04.26.10
Photographer, poet, and model Kristen Holden‘s pictures of Muni riders have caught our eye for a while. We found her on Flickr as “SFLoveStory” and tracked her down to find out what makes Muni such a great subject. Holden grew up in Chicago and has lived in San Francisco for almost seven years. She lives in Russian Hill with her musician boyfriend and their “talentless dog.”
What is it about Muni that inspires you to take photos there?
This simple answer is: I ride a lot and I shoot my surroundings more than I do anything else. But what makes Muni rife for photographic capture is that the exterior environment is always changing around the same structure or, like, bones of the scene. There are endless characters to make up stories about.
What’s it like taking pictures on Muni?
I think people generally assume I’m a tourist. Once in a while someone will ask me about my camera and why I shoot film (I’m currently shooting with a second-hand Canon EOS Elan II SLR with a Canon 50mm f/1.8 lens.)
Got a favorite Muni line?
I ride the 45 and 30 to get from Russian Hill, where I live, to downtown and vice versa. I take the 47 and 49 quite a bit. Oh, and I’m one of those weird people who actually rides the 19…it gets the closest to the film-processing center I go to in SoMa. I love the cable cars and streetcars too. The mint-green colored streetcar from Brooklyn (Car 1059?) is my favorite.
You can see more of Holden’s photographs on her website, Kristen-Holden.com.
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