Your place to share stories on and off the bus.
Update: KPIX reports that service has been restored to the N-Judah following this morning’s derailment.
Original post: CBS has the report of this morning’s N-Judah derailment. We’ll update as necessary. Anyone experience this? Let us know in comments.
You never know what you’re gonna learn when you take a leisurely walk in San Francisco.
Tara and I headed out to the ocean from 28th Avenue and Balboa the other day. We took Balboa, but decided to walk back up Cabrillo to see what was in a mixed-use development neither of us knew about. As we approached La Playa, we noticed some large signs behind a group of trees, topped by clown faces. Once we overcame our indignation that clown imagery would be so wantonly employed in public, we decided to inspect. It turns out the signs serve as a marker, a written history of Playland, which used to exist at that spot. That part we already knew. What we didn’t realize was the extensive street car and steam bus circuits that served the amusement park back in the day.
Matt Yglesias, prominent blogger of politics and public transportation, takes on what it means to be poor and the question of car ownership in our nation’s capital.
It’s a good, quick read. Many of the arguments Yglesias makes apply to our situation in San Francisco. I especially liked this bit:
The progressive move isn’t to keep subsidizing cars, but the reverse — to use congestion charges and performance parking fees to raise funds that improve the quality of service on the bus lines that poor people rely on.
I am starting to come around on tax incentives for folks to buy hybrids and other ultra-fuel-efficient cars. But even with such lures, the poor will be left out. Similarly, I’ve been a fan of congestion pricing for dense, urban areas, but not without adequate public transit already in place. That caveat prevents such a system from being just here in San Francisco under present circumstances, as Muni/BART are ill-equipped to deal with so many people choosing not to drive.
As I’ve said before, I’m hoping governments (especially federal) will reprioritize public transit and give it the funding it demands. True, more money alone won’t solve Muni’s problems. But shoring up the agency’s deficit can prevent fee hikes, a terrible idea in our current economic state. I’m excited that the incoming Obama administration is talking of exactly this kind of infrastructure funding. Now our new local government needs to get serious about overseeing big changes at SFMTA, and to help fund those changes.
I spotted this ad campaign on the side of an underground Muni trolley the other day. I’m having trouble totaling up the number of things wrong with it. I mean, sure, it’s a smart idea for pedestrians in SF not to use their headphones when there are buses stampeding through the streets, but I don’t think the fact that someone didn’t hear the bus is an excuse for the driver to plow over them as though they weren’t there. Second, why is the bus in this ad speeding away after knocking the dude to the curb?
What else is wrong with this ad campaign? What do you think of it?