The good folks that brought you these fun transit enamel pins have a mashup for you this Pride weekend: these “Gay for Transit” stickers celebrate our love for public transit and features accurate (and adorably illustrated) vehicles in San Francisco, Los Angeles, Chicago, and Boston.
What’s even better is that all the profits made by June 30will be donated to local Bay Area orgs that support LGBTQ+ people: Oakland LGBTQ Community Center, Larkin Street Youth Services and Trans Lifeline.
The San Francisco stickers are also available with a BART design, as well as in t-shirt form if you so desire.
Thanks to rider Lauren P. for tipping us off the transit.supply store goodness.
How do you express your pride? Join us to add an entry to our collective journal.Tag us on Facebook, Instagram, or Twitter—or, our email inbox is always open to hear your Pride weekend stories!
As he carted his belongings to the bus stop, Kurt Schwartzmann knew that he relied on the kindness of the Muni driver, lest he face another cold night on the streets of San Francisco. When the bus door opened on one particular night, he was relieved to see the familiar face.
This was a lifetime ago, before Schwartzmann conquered his struggle with drug addiction, found his way as an artist, and met his now-husband. While he was homeless, Muni had become the refuge for Schwartzmann.
We first met Schwartzmann on Instagram when he posted about his art series, and we were thrilled that he told his story at Muni Diaries Live in April at Rickshaw Stop.
Growing up in Fresno as a young gay man, Schwartzmann said that San Francisco had always been a symbol for “freedom of expression and refuge from intolerance.” In honor of Pride weekend, we are sharing his story in today’s podcast episode. Take a listen:
Muni driver Tammy has a very reasonable request: could we please look up from our phones as we get ready to board the bus?
From Tammy:
I wanted to ask you if you could start a dialogue with your followers regarding “Passengers waiting for the bus while distracted by [their] cell phones.” It has become increasingly frustrating to provide great customer service when my passengers are not prepared to board the bus…
Muni Driver Tammy
In case you’re wondering: the bus doesn’t stop at every stop by default: Tammy says that drivers pay attention to body language, especially when it’s a multiple-line bus stop. “In order to keep the service going, we look at the potential passengers standing at the bus stop to see if they want the bus, and then if we see that they do, we stop.”
Tammy says that passengers are looking down at their phones, or worse, with earbuds in their ears. As the driver approaches the stop, often nobody is looking up. “It’s not until you get ready to pull off, they look up and then all of a sudden they start waving” when the bus is already in motion.
Yikes. That sounds about as annoying to the drivers as it is for the riders. You might remember Tammy as the Muni driver who threw a surprise party on the 33-Stanyan for her riders when she was switching routes. Years later, she continues to brighten days for riders, even inspiring two visiting travelers to write to us recounting their experience with Tammy. We still get occasional dispatches about Tammy sightings, which are always a delight.
We have to admit that we’re also guilty of feeding the phone addiction at the bus stop while we wait. It sounds like it would make everybody’s lives easier if we looked up every once in a while with our Clipper card or fare in hand, and make some kind of motion to the bus driver to stop. What do you think?
Muni is probably our longest love-hate relationship, a widespread phenomenon that became the focus of one bus rider’s one-woman play. That woman, Ady Lady, is a writer and performer. She’s written and performed two solo shows: Sara Jane Tried to Shoot the President and From Piss to Bliss, the latter of which was about her desperate attempt to lead with love while riding Muni.
Update: She’s still working on it.
Ady Lady told her story at Muni Diaries Live at Rickshaw Stop earlier this spring. For everyone who missed it (or can’t wait for the encore), here’s her story:
If you have your own Muni story to pitch to our podcast, email us at muni.diaries.sf@gmail.com. And remember to rate us on iTunes if you like what you hear.
Another good reason to get a Clipper card: Muni cash single fare is going up again this July from $2.75 to $3. According to the SFMTA, pre-paid fares (a la Clipper or Muni Mobile) is still $2.50.
The upcoming fare increase applies to cash fares, which critics are saying is a “back door poverty tax.” (Updated with this Hoodline story for more details on the criticism).
The monthly M and A passes are also going up. Here are the main changes:
Single Ride Fares
Current
July 1, 2019
Regular Adult: Cash (Clipper card fare remains the same)
$2.75
$3
Discount single ride*: Cash and Limited-Use Tickets
$1.35
$1.50
Monthly Passes
Current
July 1, 2019
Monthly M pass (Muni only)
$78
$81
Monthly A pass (Muni + BART within SF)
$94
$98
Discount monthly* and Lifeline Pass
$39
$40
* Youth (ages 5-18), Seniors (65+), People with Disabilities
