Taking Flight on the T 05.19.10
Photo by Julie Michelle
Ed. Note: Julie Michelle of the wonderful I Live Here:SF sent us this story of a heartbreaking encounter on the T. Sometimes — a lot of times — we pass by people down on their luck on the street or on Muni, and there seems to be so little we can do to help. But when a fellow passenger asked Julie to talk for a minute, Julie decided that she can do more for this woman than to simply listen.
“Do you mind if I just talk to you for a minute?” the woman sitting next to me on the T said today.
We had been sitting next to each other for several minutes before she spoke, but it took only seconds after I chose the seat next to her that I realized she was crying. I could have sat in another part of the train, but it was raining when I got on at Third and Jerrold, and her seat was the closest to the door so I grabbed it. After I noticed her crying next to me, I thought perhaps that I should move to another seat and let her have her privacy, but then I also didn’t want to move, thinking that would make her feel exposed.
Outwardly I did what most of us do when faced with a stranger’s sadness: I looked out the window.
Inwardly, I wanted to put my arm around her. I was so sorry I didn’t have a Kleenex to give her.
She pulled a 2×3 photo of two children out of her purse. That made her cry again. Then she took some official looking papers out of a wet manila envelope and started to look through them. Despite my best efforts not to look at the papers, I couldn’t help catching a glimpse or two. The paperwork looked like some sort of application for emergency financial aid. The woman put the The woman put the papers back in the wet envelope.
The train kept moving, stop to stop. Slowly. Leaving Bayview, now entering Dogpatch.
“Can you tell me what time it is?” she asked me. I pulled my phone out of my pocket and told her it was 12:30. Then she added: “Do you mind if I just talk to you for a minute?”
She said it so quietly I almost didn’t make out the entire sentence.
“Of course you can,” I said.
Read the rest of the story on Julie’s blog.
Third Group Attack on T-Third Line 03.30.10
Photo by Flickr user sfistrita
Last weekend saw another violent group attack at a T-Third station in Bayview SFGate reports. This is the third of such attack since January:
The latest attack happened at 7:45 p.m. Saturday at Third Street and Williams Avenue. The victim, a 29-year-old man, was riding home on the T-Third line when a group of five youths, all about 14 to 16 years old, started to punch him, police say. The youths got off the train but the victim stayed on and reported the attack to the operator, said police spokesman Officer Albie Esparza.
The man was treated at San Francisco General Hospital and released, according to the police spokeman. As SFist and ABC7 pointed out, a woman was attacked by a group of teens last week on a Muni platform on Third Street. The surveillance camera recorded what appears to be a teenager grabbing her by the neck and throwing her on to the rails. A 15-year-old has been arrested in connection with that attack, ABC7 reports. The woman is recovering.
Another man, who was 83, was attacked by a group of teens from behind after he left a bus stop on Third; he died in March.
We’ve heard our share of Muni violence, ranging from some fisty fracas to a really touchy situation involving guns (and let’s not even mention the fights caught on YouTube). But this group situation seems like a scary new thing. Police are stepping up patrols in the Third Street corridor, according to CBS5.
We hope police are able to bring the situation under control soon, and we can return to regular, nonviolent, non-criminal Muni coverage.
T-Third Incident on Williams and Third 03.25.10
Rider Tony T sent us some photos of a Muni-related incident on Wililams and Third, which happened a little after 9 a.m. today. Tony said it involved a pedestrian. SFMTA’s spokeswoman confirms:
Between
9:459:04 a.m. and just after 10 a.m., regular light rail service on the T Third Line was disrupted due to an accident between a light rail vehicle and a pedestrian at 3rd Street and Williams Avenue.Bus shuttles were deployed between Custer Avenue and Armstrong Avenue. They will remain in place while the LRV service is restored.
The pedestrian was transported to SFGH with reportedly non life-threatening injuries.
Motor coach shuttles were being dispatched, Action News SF reports.
More pictures after the jump.
‘T stands for terrible T line!!!’ 02.10.10
Photo by Troy Holden
Coming on the heels of Tuesday’s Central Subway groundbreaking ceremony, here’s a gripe about another of MTA’s recent new products, the T-Third. Muni rider Frankie has the following to say:
The T Line may be the worst thing Muni has ever planned. Coming home everyday at 5pm waiting at the Carroll station can be maddening! Eight times out of ten, the train takes half an hour to forty minutes at RUSH hour! Some trains will not even stop at Carroll but will stop at Williams. Or some trains in the other direction (on the way to Bayview) will end their destination at Williams and then return downtown. Wasn’t this line suppose to be serving the Hunter’s Point/ Bayview better? This line is only serving the Bayview/Hunter’s Point symbolically. The 15 line is sorely missed. The T-line was a HUGE waste of money. Not to mention how SLOW these trains are as well. Couldn’t some of the N Judah trains continue to Sunnydale as well? SF Muni has ALWAYS been notoriously unreliable and the T-Line is the perfect example. I’m sure I am not the only one who despises the T-line.
So, T-Third riders, let’s hear it: How has Muni’s newest toy fared for you?
New form of payment? 02.08.10
Photo by Flickr user foreverdigital. Most likely not the man in the post below but still, youv’e got some respectable balloon animal creations there, Sir.
Ed. Note: Rider Rufus saw some interesting bartering going on last week on the T. This is the second balloon animal—related post that we’ve gotten in the last week or so. Is there a revival that I don’t know about?
Last night I was on the T headed home towards 3rd st at around 10:45 p.m.. This guy gets on with this bag and a bunch of balloon creations. He goes up to the driver’s window and says something I can’t hear because I’m listening to my music.
He goes back to his bag and proceeds to take out a balloon and a pump. In as fast as 40 seconds, the guy made a balloon dog, takes out a marker and gives it a face. He then gives it to the driver and receives a transfer in exchange and goes back to his seat. My only thought was “Only on Muni….”
T-Whiz: Pee on the T 09.09.09
Photo by Flickr user MarkPritchard
This tweetable diary arrived in our inbox last week:
Just had a guy take a leak next to me on the T @ 4th and King. He got off at the next stop. Must have been urgent.
Everyone knows in this town, when you gotta go, you gotta go.
Photo Gallery: Inaccurate or Outdated Muni Signage 08.13.09
Found this amazingly neato photo set on Flickr the other day. It was shot and assembled by Octoferret, to whom we owe a humble thank you. In light of upcoming Muni lines slated for extinction, we feel this is a moving tribute to the routes that time has forgotten.
July Post of the Month — The Proof-of-Payment Game 08.03.09
Did you spot a Muni fare inspector this month? Chances are you did. So did Plug1, who sent us a post about the stepped-up Proof-of-Payment situation, our most popular post in July.
On the stepped-up Proof-of-Payment game 07.28.09
Photo from Plug1
You might have noticed (we have, on buses, trains, and Twitter) a few more Muni fare inspectors lately. A few more, or, in some cases, 10 more.
It’s happening. Muni is finally getting very serious about ensuring that all riders pay and/or show proof of payment.
The following just arrived in our inbox from the tireless Plug1:
as i off-boarded my T Train this morning at EMB/Folsom, i was greeted by no less than 10 SFMTA Fare Inspectors, accompanied by 4 officers from the SFPD. it was definitely a very thorough operation, almost like a dragnet or DUI checkpoint. everyone was checked and several tickets we administered. naturally, i fired off a few shots with my iPhone. i also met Robert Wolfgang, who is the (new) Security & Transit Fare Inspection Manager. we talked about Fare Evasion, Fare Inspector #32, and how Judson True might in fact be the hardest working man at Muni. Mr. Wolfgang seemed fairly serious about enforcing Proof of Payment, acknowledging that far too many people evade paying fares daily, some even running off when confronted by a Fare Inspector.
Muni trip turned Muni strip 07.08.09
Photo by Flickr user lexflex
The following account by Sonia involves real people doing real things. Really.
My mighty, mighty good man David and I were heading to an A’s game and decided to take the T-train from our apartment in Dogpatch to Embarcadero, where we could catch BART to the Oakland Coliseum or whatever it is called now. (For the record, I am a Giants fan, but David likes the A’s. Since both of us are good sports, we go to both teams’ games. Apparently, this is a no-no in the Bay Area. Too bad!)
So anyway, apparently, we picked the wrong weekend to use public transportation. Not only was it Gay Pride Weekend, but the Vans Warped Tour was also going on. The T was positively packed with drunk, sunburned people.
Even though the train was crowded, a woman in her tiny shorts, halter top and stripper heels decided to treat the handrail like a stripper pole. She lifted herself up and swung her leg over the railing, hanging upside down.
