A moment of connection on Muni

In the last few weeks we have all been re-examining social justice in our communities, and on our Facebook Page and Twitter, you’ve brought up great discussions around the role of public transit in race and class in San Francisco. We’ll continue these conversations while still bringing you stories of people connecting in the city and on Muni.

Today’s story is from a submission by Muni Diaries reader Wil. How often do you let a moment of connection pass you by? In this story, Wil shares a conversation with a stranger on the bus. This story is read by Dayne W.

Hear Wil’s story:

Photo by @ptpower.

Vintage Muni: Geek out on this Bay Area transit ruin porn

vintage-muni_6

Sure, everything feels like this right now. But there is is still beauty to be had if we all look closely — or if you’re, say, just wandering around in Colusa County.
Hat tip to Jack, who found the mother lode of Bay Area ruin porn by doing just that. He said this appeared to be a facility where they restore buses, but he’s keeping the exact location close to the vest to protect the undoubtedly very cool work being done here.
This treasure trove featured old Muni buses — including the 18-Sloat pictured above; the artist currently known as the 18-46th Avenue, the East Bay’s AC Transit, and even the ye olde Key System.

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Video: A Day In The Life of a Muni Transfer

The life of a Muni transfer ain’t easy, especially if you’re bigger than everybody else. Mike Torchia and John Espey blew up a Muni transfer to take it around town, and fellow passengers acted like it’s no big deal. Which is why I love San Francisco, really.

But will station agents let these filmmakers catch a ride using their life-size transfer? One way to find out, if you’ve got 10 minutes handy for this ode to the humble transfer.

To Muni-Bubble or Not to Muni-Bubble?

Aw, such an adorable message, innit?

May Be
Its Time To Take Thoes
Things Out of Our Ears
&
Look Up From Our
I-PHONS
{By The Way Its Givin People
Double Chins}
&
Say Helloo To The
Person Next To
You
What DO You Think?

[sic the whole damn thing]

If I had to guess, I’d say that Muni riders are pretty evenly split on whether to hide themselves away from fellow passengers. We don’t so much do the 100-yard stare as just immerse ourselves in music, podcasts, reading, porn, whatever. About half of us do, anyway. 48-52, if I had to guess.

How do you ride Muni?

Via Tweets From the T.

Muni Route Nicknames


Photo by SlinkyDragon

The other day over drinks, my friend Blair told me all about her beloved/behated “Phantom Folsom” (the 12-Folsom). I hadn’t heard that one before, probably because I rarely ride that route.

But it got me thinking: Besides the infamous “Dirty 30,” what are some other good Muni nicknames?

The Kids Are All Right

Kids. They do the damnedest things.

A group of 11-17-year-old youth media producers from BAYCAT shot, edited, and produced the movie above. It’s all about SFMTA/Muni.

There’s some fun history from a cable car gripman, and then the movie takes a closer look at the business of getting around San Francisco, for better and for worse.

Kids. These are some of the same kids whose laptops were pathetically stolen last month. BAYCAT, the nonprofit that serves these kids, is hosting a fundraiser to help replace the lost equipment, tonight at Cigar Bar. Help out if you can. RSVP here.

Via Ariel at Mission Mission.

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